Alaksen National Wildlife Area: Reservoir suitability for the introduction of the endangered Western Painted Turtle
Weber, Darian (author) British Columbia Institute of Technology Ecological Restoration Program (Degree granting institution)
Research paper/project
author
British Columbia Institute of Technology
2019
99 pages
Alaksen National Wildlife Area located in Delta, BC is home to freshwater species in the former tidal marsh. The current agricultural landscape has left a legacy of high concentrations of heavy metals, trace amounts of organochlorine pesticides, and excess nutrients within the sediments and water of the brackish Fuller and Ewen Reservoirs. Arsenic and phosphorous exceeded Canadian water quality guidelines, while arsenic, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, and phosphorus exceeded sediment quality guidelines. There were trace pesticides known to be endocrine disrupters detected in the water and sediment, and combined low level toxicity effects are a concern. A preliminary ecological risk assessment on the metals was completed and the results indicate that there is a possibility of adverse effects for benthic invertebrates, but negligible risk for endangered Western Painted Turtles. However, compounding all the ecosystem stressors along with rising sea levels leads ANWA not an ideal place to introduce this species.
Western Painted turtles ecotoxicology risk assessment agricultural reservoir heavy metal endocrine disruptors
Turtles -- Ecology. Water-supply -- Environmental aspects.
Ecological Restoration Program
electronic
© Darian Weber, 2019. All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright heron may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphics, electronic, or mechanical including photocopying, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems – without written permission of the author.
Master of Science in Ecological Restoration