PARENT SESSION
Symposium 20: Defining and Applying Environmental Indicators in Coastal Ecosystems
Organized by: R Howe and G Niemi
Thursday, August 7. 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM, SITCC Chatham Ballroom B.
Why do we need environmental indicators.
McDonald, Michael*,1, Levinson, Barbara2, 1 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, RTP, NC, USA2 STAR Grants Program, Washington, DC, USA
ABSTRACT- Coastal ecosystems are complex and dynamic. Establishing the condition of all the organisms and their relevant abiotic environment in any given estuary is not feasible. Environmental indicators are used as surrogates in these systems with the tacit assumption that the condition of the indicator represents the condition of the ecosystem. Benchmarks for these indicators to be measured against are also required in order to determine if there is an evironmental problem, the magnitude of the problem, where it is occurring, and what is causing it. Thus, these indicators must be generally applicable over a relatively wide regions of the country. Eventually, these same indicators may be required to establish the efficacy of management programs and policies being used to reduce the environmental problems. Developing environmental indicators to meet these needs has been a major research emphasis for EPA, intramurally through its Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program and extramurally with the academic community through its STAR grants program. As new environmental problems emerge, the next generation of environmental indicators will be required to establish coastal ecosystem condition. The results of these combined research efforts will provide better scientific assessment of the state of our coastal ecosystems, and better informed national, regional and local decisions on priority coastal issues.
Key words: coastal, EPA, indicators, environmental