BES Facebook pageBES 2008 Annual Symposium
Ecology of Industrial Pollution:
Remediation, Restoration and Preservation
Austin Court, Birmingham, UK
7 - 8 April 2008
Industrial processes have been shaping the landscape for many thousands of years and have had far reaching consequences for the ecology of all environmental media. Recent developments in legislation have put ecology at the centre of environmental protection (e.g. The European Union Water Framework Directive) however, this has raised several important questions: How do we monitor and assess ecological status of environments? What constitutes 'good ecological status'? Does industrial pollution always result in lower biodiversity? How can we use ecology in remediation technologies?
The School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences is joining with the British Ecological Society to stage a two-day conference that will address these questions. We will bring together researchers, environmental agencies, advisers, policy developers and consultants in order to provide a forum for developing an integrated approach to management of industrially polluted areas.
The symposium will be held at Austin Court, 80 Cambridge Street, Birmingham, N1 2NP. For travel details and more information about this venue, please use this link.
To view the Joining Instructions, please click here. If you have booked and not received a confirmation letter or a set of these instructions, please contact Hannah Doyle as soon as possible.
Sessions will include monitoring and assessment, ecological impacts, restoration of ecology, ecology and remediation, biodiversity and legal issues.
Programme:
MONDAY 7 APRIL
09.30 - 10.15
Registration and Coffee
10.15 - 10.30
Welcome and introductory comments
10.30 - 11.30
Keynote speaker: Professor Alan Baker, University of Melbourne, Australia
Metallophytes: a unique biological resource for ecological restoration and mine site remediation
11.30 - 12.00
Professor Bob Harris, University of Sheffield, UK
The Water Framework Directive and others
12.00 - 12.30
Dr William Purvis, Natural History Museum, UK
Lichens and industrial pollution
12.30 - 13.30
Lunch
13.30 - 14.00
Professor Ken Killham, University of Aberdeen, UK
The microbial ecology of industrially contaminated land: sorting out the bugs in the system
14.00 - 14.30
Professor Jon Lloyd, University of Manchester, UK
Biogeochemistry of radionuclides in the environment
14.30 - 15.00
Dr. Iwan Jones, CEH, UK
Ecological monitoring and assessment
15.00 - 15.30
Coffee
15.30 - 16.00
Dr Peter Gell, University of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Diatoms and reference conditions
16.00 - 16.30
Dr Alistair Grant, University of East Anglia, UK
Detecting the impacts of pollution in aquatic environments
16.30 - 17.00
Discussion/Questions
17.00 - 18.30
Poster session and wine reception
20.00
Conference Dinner
TUESDAY 8 APRIL
09.00 - 9.30
Dr Alistair Boxall, Central Science Laboratory, UK
Ecological risk of new and emerging pollutants
09.30 - 10.00
Professor Steve Ormerod, University of Cardiff, UK
Ecological responses following river restoration
10.00 - 10.30
Professor Mike Sadowsky, University of Minnesota, US
Diversity and evolution of micro-organisms and pathways for degradation of contaminants
10.30 - 11.00
Coffee
11.00 - 11.30
Professor Lorraine Maltby, University of Sheffield, UK
Sustaining industrial activity and ecosystem services: challenges and opportunities
11.30 - 12.00
David Knight, Natural England, UK
Brownfield Biodiversity: the value of open habitat mosaics on previously developed land
12.00 - 12.30
Paul Nathanail, University of Nottingham, UK
Ecological aspects of risk based contaminated land management - assessment and remediation
12.30 - 13.30
Lunch
13.30 - 14.00
Stephen Roast and Tim Gannicliffe, Environment Agency, UK
An ecological risk assessment framework for assessing risks to wildlife on contaminated land
14.00 - 14.30
Professor Terry Langford, University of Southampton, UK
The ecological recovery of the River Tame over 50 years: the significance of law, technology, economic evolution and biological processes
14.30 - 15.00
Dr Adrian Williams, APEM Ltd, Manchester, UK
The Manchester Ship Canal and Salford Quays: the industrial Legacy and ecological restoration
15.00 - 16.00
Hugh Potter, Environment Agency, UK
Future priorities and directions discussion session
16.00
Close and thanks
Excursion:
Day 1. Peak District
The Peak District was one of Europe's main producers of lead particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries. The unusual mineralization of the area results in the presence of veins that outcrop at the surface resulting in numerous surface hillocks which contain residual galena and other ores.
The lead rakes (rake being a local term to describe the presence of mineral deposits within faults in the limestone) support rare metallophyte-rich grasslands, that are of international importance. Some of the sites have been designated as candidate Special Areas of Conservation and Sites of Special Scientific Interest and are also an important component of the local Biodiversity Action Plan. It is estimated that there are only about 20 ha of these grasslands remaining within the Peak District highlighting their rarity and importance both on a local and national scale. The main species that occur on the lead rakes are Spring Sandwort (Minuartia verna, also known as 'leadwort'), Alpine Penny-cress (Thlaspi caerulescens), Pyrenean Scurvy Grass (Cochlearia pyrenaica) and Mountain Pansy (Viola lutea). Other important species that are found on the lead rakes include orchids, saxifrages, autumn gentian and kidney vetch amongst others.
We will visit a number of sites within the Peak District which are known for both their metallophyte communities and their importance for industrial archaeology. These sites will include Tideslow Rake and Magpie Mine.
Day 2. Parys Mountain
Parys Mountain has been the site of sporadic copper extraction from Roman times although it was not until the late 18th and early 19th centuries that major works were carried out. At this point Parys became Europe's premier copper mine exporting >3050 t/yr of copper together with minor amounts of lead and zinc ore. The ore was originally mined from shafts but was replaced by opencast mining until 1920 when all hard rock mining had ceased. The site is now covered by extensive spoil heaps together with some precipitation ponds which were used to extract copper from wastewaters.
Until recently a large pit lake was present but concerns about the collapse of structures underground and the potential release of large volumes of contaminated waters (as occurred at Wheal Jane in Cornwall) led to drainage works being carried out on site. However, drainage waters from the site still contaminate the local rivers (one being the Afon Goch or Red River). These waters can have a pH of 2-3 and contain high concentrations of Cu, Fe, Mn, Al, Zn and Ni.
The area is now an important industrial heritage site and supports important extremophile bacterial communities and lichens which cover the rock surfaces. In addition the old mine works have been colonised by bat populations and there are several bird species that use the area.
Day 3. Parc Mine, North Wales
The mountainous area of North Wales has been mined for lead and zinc over many centuries and Parc mine is a typical example, although it was worked up until the 1950s. The tailings heaps associated with Parc mine were a very important source of surface water pollution, contaminating not only the local water course but large areas of agricultural land on the flood plain. In the 1970s a reclamation project was put in place consisting of capping the spoil heap with quarry material followed by re-grassing. This successfully prevented the removal of particulate material from the spoil heaps but not leaching of the metals.
At present part of the site is y being considered within the Gwydyr Mines and Bat sites potential Special Area of Conservation. The area included within this designation was not capped as part of the reclamation scheme and as such is potentially of importance for its metallophyte flora (alpine penny-cress and broad leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine)). Other smaller mine sites within the catchment area of the Gwydyr Forest Mines are also important for their metallophytes including calmanarian grasslands.
We will visit Parc mine and several of the adjacent mine sites to examine the rare plant communities, archaeological features and remediation projects within the area.
