Interactive effects of climate change with nutrients, mercury, and freshwater acidification on key taxa in the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative region

• Published in: Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management
• Main Authors: Pinkney, Alfred E, Driscoll, Charles T, Evers, David C, Hooper, Michael J, Horan, Jeffrey, Jones, Jess W, Lazarus, Rebecca S, Marshall, Harold G, Milliken, Andrew, Rattner, Barnett A, Schmerfeld, John, Sparling, Donald W
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2015
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ieam.1612; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fieam.1612; https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ieam.1612

Abstract The North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative LCC (NA LCC) is a public–private partnership that provides information to support conservation decisions that may be affected by global climate change (GCC) and other threats. The NA LCC region extends from southeast Virginia to the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Within this region, the US National Climate Assessment documented increases in air temperature, total precipitation, frequency of heavy precipitation events, and rising sea level, and predicted more drastic changes. Here, we synthesize literature on the effects of GCC interacting with selected contaminant, nutrient, and environmental processes to adversely affect natural resources within this region. Using a case study approach, we focused on 3 stressors with sufficient NA LCC region‐specific information for an informed discussion. We describe GCC interactions with a contaminant (Hg) and 2 complex environmental phenomena—freshwater acidification and eutrophication. We also prepared taxa case studies on GCC‐ and GCC‐contaminant/nutrient/process effects on amphibians and freshwater mussels. Several avian species of high conservation concern have blood Hg concentrations that have been associated with reduced nesting success. Freshwater acidification has adversely affected terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the Adirondacks and other areas of the region that are slowly recovering due to decreased emissions of N and sulfur oxides. Eutrophication in many estuaries within the region is projected to increase from greater storm runoff and less denitrification in riparian wetlands. Estuarine hypoxia may be exacerbated by increased stratification. Elevated water temperature favors algal species that produce harmful algal blooms (HABs). In several of the region's estuaries, HABs have been associated with bird die‐offs. In the NA LCC region, amphibian populations appear to be declining. Some species may be adversely affected by GCC through higher temperatures and more frequent droughts. GCC may affect ...