Assessing the Ecological Risk of a Municipal Solid Waste Landfill to Surrounding Wildlife:a Case Study in Florida

摘要

To assess the ecological risk of siting a new municipal solid waste landfill near aNational Wildlife Refuge in Florida, we carried out a retrospective assessment at alarge waterbird colony located near an existing active landfill. Monitoring data col-lected over twenty years, including flight-line counts both at dawn and midday, showsthe mixed-species, communal roost was active continuously from 1987 through 2007.The largest number of birds counted in any single flight-line count was 14,750 birdsrecorded in July 2007. The numerically dominant species recorded during flight-linecounts were, in approximate order of abundance: White Ibis, (Eudocimus albus), CattleEgret (Bubulcus ibis), Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerules), Great Egret (Ardea alba),and Tricolor Heron (E. tricolor). Breeding bird censuses revealed this site served alsoas a nesting colony each year since 1987; annual total nest numbers peaked in 1987 at5,127 nests. Taxa richness increased over the monitoring period with new species nest-ing or roosting in the colony; in particular, the endangered Wood Stork (Mycteriaamericana) began nesting at this site in 1995 and eventually became one of the numer-ically important species. Nest success at the landfill colony was similar to or higherthan success probabilities reported at other colonies in south Florida. Fidelity to thiscolony site was likely related to the area's environmental predictability in terms of- 1)food supply and, 2) the low, temporally constant level of predation. In general, residentwaterbird populations at the colony were sustainable over the monitoring period, i.e.,maintained abundance, survived and reproduced at rates comparable to other colonies.Therefore, although there was evidence of organism-level impacts, there was no evi-dence that landfill-related stresses propagated up and had population- or community-levelconsequences.