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Experimental Lakes Area
IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA, known as ELA before 2014) is an internationally unique research station encompassing 58 formerly pristine freshwater lakes in Kenora District, Ontario, Canada. In response to the International Joint Commission (IJC)'s 1965 recommendations related to transboundary pollution, the federal and provincial governments set aside these lakes to study water pollution. During the 1970s and 1980s, David Schindler, who was at that time 'Canada's leading ecologist', conducted a series of innovative, landmark large-scale experiments in ELA on eutrophication that led to the banning of phosphates in detergents. In an unexpected and controversial move that was widely condemned by the scientific community, in 2012 the ELA was de-funded by the Canadian Federal Government. The facility is now managed and operated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and has a mandate to investigate the aquatic effects of a wide variety of stresses on lakes and their catchments. IISD-ELA used the whole ecosystem approach and makes long-term, whole-lake investigations of freshwater focusing on eutrophication.
In an article published in AAAS's scientific journal Science, Eric Stokstad described ELA's "extreme science" as the manipulation of whole lake ecosystem with ELA researchers collecting long-term records for climatology, hydrology, and limnology that address key issues in water management. The site has influenced public policy in water management in Canada, the US, and around the world.
Minister of State for Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear, argued that "our government has been working hard to ensure that the Experimental Lakes Area facility is transferred to a non-governmental operator better suited to conducting the type of world-class research that can be undertaken at this facility" and that "[t]he federal government has been leading negotiations in order to secure an operator with an international track record." On April 1, 2014, the International Institute for Sustainable Development announced that it had signed three agreements to ensure that it will be the long-term operator of the research facility and that the facility would henceforth be called IISD Experimental Lakes Area. Since taking over the facility, IISD has expanded the function of the site to include educational and outreach opportunities and a broader research portfolio.
In 1968, the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada set aside an area in a sparsely inhabited region of central Canada, southeast of Kenora, Ontario, which is relatively unaffected by external human influences and industrial activities, for experimental studies of the causes and control of eutrophication and other types of water pollution. It included 46 small, deep, pristine lakes and their catchment areas in the Precambrian Shield.
The ELA project originated as a Canadian governmental response to the International Joint Commission (IJC)'s recommendation (1965) to Canada and the United States for additional support for studies on transboundary pollution in the lower Great Lakes.
In the 1960s, there was a widespread concern about the consequences of eutrophication but there was a lack of solid scientific evidence. Dr. W. E. Johnson of the Freshwater Institute of Winnipeg convinced the Canadian government that unimpeachable evidence could be obtained by experimental pollution of pristine lakes through controlled overfertilization of specified elements. The Experimental Lakes Area was established in 1968 by the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Dr. John Reubec Vallentyne and Dr. W. E. Johnson of the Freshwater Institute created the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA). While Vallentyne was Scientific Leader of the Eutrophication Section from 1966 to 1972, he attracted a stellar staff of scientists from around the world in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He recruited a junior scientist, David W. Schindler. Schindler, who would become one of the world's leading limnologists, would direct ELA projects from 1968 to 1989.
ELA was earlier co-sponsored by the Canadian Departments of Environment and Fisheries and Oceans, with a mandate to investigate the aquatic effects of a wide variety of stresses on lakes and their catchments and is now managed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Since the formation of Eagle-Dogtooth Provincial Park in 2003, a portion of the Experimental Lakes Area is part of this park. In particular Lakes # 109, 421, 625, and 938 are fully within the park, while Lakes # 110, 262, 309, and 428 have only portions or shorelines within the park.
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Experimental Lakes Area
IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA, known as ELA before 2014) is an internationally unique research station encompassing 58 formerly pristine freshwater lakes in Kenora District, Ontario, Canada. In response to the International Joint Commission (IJC)'s 1965 recommendations related to transboundary pollution, the federal and provincial governments set aside these lakes to study water pollution. During the 1970s and 1980s, David Schindler, who was at that time 'Canada's leading ecologist', conducted a series of innovative, landmark large-scale experiments in ELA on eutrophication that led to the banning of phosphates in detergents. In an unexpected and controversial move that was widely condemned by the scientific community, in 2012 the ELA was de-funded by the Canadian Federal Government. The facility is now managed and operated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and has a mandate to investigate the aquatic effects of a wide variety of stresses on lakes and their catchments. IISD-ELA used the whole ecosystem approach and makes long-term, whole-lake investigations of freshwater focusing on eutrophication.
In an article published in AAAS's scientific journal Science, Eric Stokstad described ELA's "extreme science" as the manipulation of whole lake ecosystem with ELA researchers collecting long-term records for climatology, hydrology, and limnology that address key issues in water management. The site has influenced public policy in water management in Canada, the US, and around the world.
Minister of State for Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear, argued that "our government has been working hard to ensure that the Experimental Lakes Area facility is transferred to a non-governmental operator better suited to conducting the type of world-class research that can be undertaken at this facility" and that "[t]he federal government has been leading negotiations in order to secure an operator with an international track record." On April 1, 2014, the International Institute for Sustainable Development announced that it had signed three agreements to ensure that it will be the long-term operator of the research facility and that the facility would henceforth be called IISD Experimental Lakes Area. Since taking over the facility, IISD has expanded the function of the site to include educational and outreach opportunities and a broader research portfolio.
In 1968, the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada set aside an area in a sparsely inhabited region of central Canada, southeast of Kenora, Ontario, which is relatively unaffected by external human influences and industrial activities, for experimental studies of the causes and control of eutrophication and other types of water pollution. It included 46 small, deep, pristine lakes and their catchment areas in the Precambrian Shield.
The ELA project originated as a Canadian governmental response to the International Joint Commission (IJC)'s recommendation (1965) to Canada and the United States for additional support for studies on transboundary pollution in the lower Great Lakes.
In the 1960s, there was a widespread concern about the consequences of eutrophication but there was a lack of solid scientific evidence. Dr. W. E. Johnson of the Freshwater Institute of Winnipeg convinced the Canadian government that unimpeachable evidence could be obtained by experimental pollution of pristine lakes through controlled overfertilization of specified elements. The Experimental Lakes Area was established in 1968 by the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Dr. John Reubec Vallentyne and Dr. W. E. Johnson of the Freshwater Institute created the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA). While Vallentyne was Scientific Leader of the Eutrophication Section from 1966 to 1972, he attracted a stellar staff of scientists from around the world in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He recruited a junior scientist, David W. Schindler. Schindler, who would become one of the world's leading limnologists, would direct ELA projects from 1968 to 1989.
ELA was earlier co-sponsored by the Canadian Departments of Environment and Fisheries and Oceans, with a mandate to investigate the aquatic effects of a wide variety of stresses on lakes and their catchments and is now managed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Since the formation of Eagle-Dogtooth Provincial Park in 2003, a portion of the Experimental Lakes Area is part of this park. In particular Lakes # 109, 421, 625, and 938 are fully within the park, while Lakes # 110, 262, 309, and 428 have only portions or shorelines within the park.