IISD-ELA's position in Kenora District, Ontario, Canada.
IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA, known as ELA before 2014)[2] is an internationally unique research station encompassing 58 formerly pristine freshwater lakes in Kenora District, Ontario, Canada.[3][4] In response to the International Joint Commission (IJC)'s 1965 recommendations related to transboundary pollution,[5] the federal and provincial governments set aside these lakes to study water pollution.[6][7] 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.[8][9][10] 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.[11][12][13][14][15][16] 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.[17][18]
In an article[3] published in AAAS's scientific journal Science, Eric Stokstad described ELA's "extreme science"[3] 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.[17] The site has influenced public policy in water management in Canada, the US, and around the world.[3]
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.[19] Since taking over the facility, IISD has expanded the function of the site to include educational and outreach opportunities[20] and a broader research portfolio.[21]
^"2021-2022 IISD-ELA Annual Report" (PDF). 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
IISD-ELA IISD ExperimentalLakesArea (IISD-ELA, known as ELA before 2014) is an internationally unique research station encompassing 58 formerly pristine...
whole lakes at the ExperimentalLakesArea (ELA) which proved that "phosphorus controls the eutrophication (excessive algal blooms) in temperate lakes leading...
world. In whole-ecosystem experiments simulating acid rain at the ExperimentalLakesArea in Ontario, Canada, crayfish populations crashed – probably because...
68806; -93.69000 Lake 227 is one of 58 lakes located in the ExperimentalLakesArea (ELA) in the Kenora District of Ontario, Canada. Lake 227 is one of only...
689694°N 93.744889°W / 49.689694; -93.744889 Lake 226 is one lake in Canada's ExperimentalLakesArea (ELA) in Ontario. The ELA is a freshwater and fisheries...
of research at the ExperimentalLakesArea (ELA) in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Researchers added sulfuric acid to whole lakes in controlled ecosystem...
(Ensemble de Lancement Ariane), a rocket launch pad in French Guiana ExperimentalLakesArea, in northwestern Ontario, Canada Nay Pyi Taw International Airport...
behind what they saw.: 72–73 Similarly, veterans of experimental projects such as OXCART at Area 51 agree that their work inadvertently prompted many...
and North American lakes and reservoirs in the mid-20th century. Breakthrough research carried out at the ExperimentalLakesArea (ELA) in Ontario, Canada...
mercury have been studied at the ExperimentalLakesArea in Ontario, Canada, using research procedures including whole-lake ecosystem experiments and non-lethal...
Scientist Explains How Acid Rain is Still Making its Mark". IISD ExperimentalLakesArea. 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2020-07-06. "Sucker, White". igfa.org. International...
announced that they would match $1,000,000 of donations to IISD ExperimentalLakesArea (IISD-ELA), an internationally unique freshwater laboratory in...
into focus in the late 2010s, particularly by researchers at the ExperimentalLakesArea and Queen’s University, both in Ontario, Canada. Environmental...
conversion ratio (FCR) and nitrogen retention. Whole-lake experiments carried out at the ExperimentalLakesArea in Ontario, Canada, have displayed the potential...
large scale study on the fate and effects of microplastics at the ExperimentalLakesArea. The project is entitled pELAstic. Rochman received a Bachelor...
What it does to humans and what humans need to do about it". IISD ExperimentalLakesArea. 2017-09-23. Retrieved 2020-07-03. Grieb, Thomas M.; Fisher, Nicholas...
mercury deposition in Flin Flon Manitoba and the ExperimentalLakesArea Ontario (Canada): A multi-lake sediment core reconstruction". Science of the Total...
What it does to humans and what humans need to do about it". IISD ExperimentalLakesArea. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2020. Alan., Hoke, Robert...
blooms leads to eutrophication. An example of this is the Canadian ExperimentalLakesArea. Freshwater algal blooms are generally caused by excess phosphorus...
Researchers at the ExperimentalLakesArea in Ontario, Canada and McGill University have found that eDNA distribution reflects lake stratification. As...
Orihel was dubbed “Lady of the Lakes” by science magazine Nature for being a leading voice in saving the ExperimentalLakesArea, now known as the IISD-ELA...
Safety and Control Act, the Fisheries Act (for example, closing the ExperimentalLakesArea) all underwent major changes under Bill C-38 of the 41st Canadian...
for phytoplankton standing crop and production in the ExperimentalLakesArea and in similar lakes". Journal of the Fisheries Board of Canada. 35 (2): 190–196...
to fossil fuel based energy sources." Research conducted at the ExperimentalLakesArea indicates that creating reservoirs through the flooding of boreal...
reduced spawning in a seven-year whole-ecosystem study at the ExperimentalLakesArea in Ontario, Canada. Because the fathead minnow is fairly tolerant...
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