Ecological Impairments Sample Clauses

Ecological Impairments. Ecological beneficial use impairments are intimately interconnected, and in Lake Erie include: degraded fish, wildlife, phytoplankton and zooplankton populations; loss of fish and wildlife habitat; eutrophication or other undesirable algae; degraded benthos; fish tumors or other deformities; and bird or animal deformities or reproduction problems. Therefore, the status of these beneficial use impairments needs to be integrated to develop a more comprehensive understanding of stressor impacts to the system as a whole. Fish tumors or other deformities, bird or animal deformities or reproduction problems, and benthic impairments caused by chemical contaminants are covered in detail in section 4.3, but are also mentioned in this section because dysfunction in the ecosystem is caused by contaminants as well as other stressors. Table 4.9 summarizes both the types of impairment and impairment conclusions for the noncontaminant related ecological impairments. The ecological beneficial uses were assessed in relation to historical conditions, existing management goals and objectives, out-of-system references (where available), and recent concerns, as applicable. Impairments occur to all of the beneficial ecological uses of the lake. To fully understand the causes of impairment as outlined below, it must be understood S e c t i o n 4 S e c t i o n 4 that population impairments are often a subset of habitat impairments. Therefore, this ecological use synthesis starts by addressing habitat to document the causes and extent of impairment. The underlying causes (stressors) of the habitat degradation are examined. Habitat impairment information is grouped by stressor because each stressor generally affected a broad range of habitat types. Population information is organized by impairment results, rather than by stressors causing impairment, because population impairments integrate across trophic levels to the whole ecological community. One of the criteria for determining habitat impairment is inability to support healthy benthos, plankton, fish, and wildlife populations. So, when the status of these populations is summarized, lost and degraded habitat is one of the key causes of population impairment. The key reasons for habitat impairment, called primary stressors, are hydrology changes associated with land use, nutrient and sediment loads, invasion of non-indigenous species, and contaminants. All of these primary stressors are the result of human use of the Lake Erie e...