Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/L00870X/1
Assessing the use of Phoslock and propagule loading for rapid macrophyte recovery in lakes
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor B Spears, NERC CEH (Up to 30.11.2019), Pollution (Penicuik)
- Grant held at:
- NERC CEH (Up to 30.11.2019), Pollution (Penicuik)
- Science Area:
- Earth
- Freshwater
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Freshwater
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- None
- Abstract:
- About 36% of EU lakes fail ecological targets set by the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Phosphorus (P) pollution is the main pressure in these lakes and is associated with the dominance of harmful algal blooms, an increase in public health risk, a general reduction in biodiversity, and the loss of native macrophyte communities. These native macrophytes are critical for supporting the provision of a wide range of nature's services in the UK including the provision of clean water, biodiversity (relevant also under the EU Habitats Directive) and food supply. However, restoring lakes that have suffered from P pollution is notoriously time consuming and costly, mainly due to a lack of available measures for controlling legacy P stores and biological resilience processes. This project will develop the simultaneous use of geo- and eco-engineering approaches to address these issues. The legacy of P pollution in our lakes is manifest mainly in bed sediments and has resulted from prolonged inputs from agriculture, waste water and industry. As environmental regulators and water managers begin to clean up the catchments that feed our polluted lakes, many lakes are not recovering as expected. This is due mainly to the cycling of legacy P (i.e. biogeochemical feedback mechanism) between bed sediments and the water column of lakes after the successful control of catchment P sources. In the case of native macrophyte recovery, ecological recovery often lags behind chemical recovery and we hypothesis that this is due to the absence of desirable macrophyte propagules in the sediment seed bank after decades of absence (i.e. bottlenecks in biological distribution networks). This project will use world class experimental facilities (from cm2 to km2 in scale) to assess the combination of the geo-engineering product Phoslock (i.e. for P control) with macrophyte propagule loading (i.e. eco-engineering approach to enhance seed bank) as a novel method for speeding up the recovery of impacted lakes. The project will address the following specific objectives: (1) identify the optimum environmental conditions for growth in a range of target desirable macrophytes species; (2) assess whether these conditions have been achieved in lakes treated previously with Phoslock in the context of contemporary macrophytes communities; (3) examine the growth characteristics of desirable macrophytes species from propagules in the presence of Phoslock, and (4) scale up the combined geo- and eco-engineering approaches using replicated mesocosms and field trials. The project team includes partners from the UK's environmental regulators (Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural England, Environment Agency) as well as leading academic partners in the field of geo-engineering in lakes (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) and aquatic plant management (Stirling University) and is complimented with a world leading industrial case partner (Phoslock UK Ltd) involved in the supply and application of geo-engineering products for lake management. The team has collaborated extensively in the past and has an impressive track record, both in the production of research outputs and in translating these research outputs for the benefit of industry. The partners offer a unique set of world class research facilities specifically designed for ecological research in lakes. These facilities have been combined with the expertise of the supervisors and the vibrant research and training communities across all project partners to develop an engaging training plan. This plan will produce a highly skilled UK-trained postgraduate with specific expertise in cross-disciplinary research including Freshwater Sciences and Field Work, two areas highlighted as priority postgraduate skills needs by NERC.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/L00870X/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Industrial CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £83,515
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - Student Stipend | Total - RTSG |
|---|---|---|
| £16,226 | £56,292 | £11,000 |
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