IISD Experimental Lakes Area

The IISD Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) is a research facility in northwestern Ontario consisting of 58 lakes and their watersheds used for whole-ecosystem experiments. For over 50 years, the facility has provided long-term data sets used for global climate modelling and has influenced environmental policies, such as those restricting phosphorus to prevent algal blooms. Current and past research focuses include the impacts of climate change, oil spills (specifically diluted bitumen), microplastics, pharmaceuticals (such as synthetic estrogen), and other contaminants like mercury and acid rain.

• The IISD-ELA consists of 58 small lakes and their watersheds in northwestern Ontario, Canada, allowing scientists to conduct experiments on whole ecosystems to observe responses from the atmosphere to fish populations.
• Research at the facility identified phosphorus as the primary driver of algal blooms, which led to global policy changes restricting phosphorus entry into rivers and lakes.
• The facility maintains one of the world's most comprehensive long-term data sets on freshwater lakes, created since 1968, which supports regional and global climate modelling.
• The ELA conducts specific research on pollutants and contaminants, including recreating oil spills to study diluted bitumen, proposing whole-lake microplastics experiments, and discovering that synthetic estrogen can cause male fish to produce eggs in their testes.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d.). IISD Experimental Lakes Area. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/iisd-ela-brochure.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. IISD Experimental Lakes Area. n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/iisd-ela-brochure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=IISD Experimental Lakes Area |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/iisd-ela-brochure.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopmentndiisd, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{IISD Experimental Lakes Area}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/iisd-ela-brochure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }