Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Biography 17.1. DAVID SCHINDLER
David Schindler (Fig. 17.5) is one of the most influential sci-
entists who have studied human-caused pollution in aquatic
systems. Although he is best known for his eutrophication
work at the Experimental Lakes Area in Canada, he has con-
ducted important research on basic ecosystem processes, acid
precipitation, organic carbon contamination, and the influ-
ence of global change on aquatic ecosystems. Currently, he is
concerned about the cumulative effects of anthropogenic in-
puts (Schindler, 2001).
Dr. Schindler always loved lakes and ponds, but he en-
tered the aquatic sciences by accident. He began college as
a physics major but was hired as a technician in a limnological laboratory. After
reading some topics off the shelf there, he was hooked. For him, the three most in-
fluential topics were Hutchinson's Treatise of Limnology, Vol. 1 (1957), Elton's topic
on animal invasions (1958), and Tinbergen's topic on animal behavior (1951).
Schindler has more than 200 publications, many in the top scientific journals.
He has honorary PhD degrees from several universities and has won major awards,
including the Stockholm Water prize, the G. E. Hutchinson Award of the American
Society of Limnology and Oceanography, and the Volvo Environment prize. Schindler
is involved in many national and international committees and panels related to hu-
man impacts on aquatic systems.
All three of Schindler's children chose careers involving aquatic systems. His
family also joins him in competitive dog sled racing, his favorite hobby and sport.
Schindler suggests that all undergraduates work on writing skills because com-
municating and publishing scientific discoveries are crucial to a successful scientific
career. He sees a resurgence in research on eutrophication, particularly on problems
related to non-point sources of nitrogen and phosphorus. He thinks there will be a
realization of the problems associated with mercury and organic contaminants and
more research on dealing with these problems in aquatic systems.
F IGURE 17.5
David Schindler.
and not organic carbon additions, are clearly responsible for nuisance al-
gal blooms in lakes (Fig. 17.1).
RELATIONSHIPS AMONG NUTRIENTS, WATER CLARITY, AND
PHYTOPLANKTON: MANAGING EUTROPHICATION IN LAKES
The relationships among nutrient loading, algal biomass, and lake clar-
ity were documented clearly by Vollenweider (1976). This represented a mile-
stone in lake management because it allowed managers to predict the out-
come of nutrient control strategies. The watershed forms the natural unit for
nutrient management (Likens, 2001). The models are based on empirical data
relating watershed loading to in-lake nutrients and nutrients to algal biomass
(Figs. 17.6 and 17.7) and provide a conceptual framework that links nutri-
ent supply to lakes with phytoplankton biomass and water clarity (Fig. 17.8).
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