Indicators are routinely used to report the status and trends of human health, economy, educational achievement, and quality of life. Some environmental indicators, such as for water and air quality, are routinely reported and used to inform personal, management, or policy decisions. Other environmental indicators, particularly those that do not relate directly to human well-being, have been harder to define, interpret, or use. These indicators may be just as useful and important in describing the ability to provide ecosystem good and services, or less tangible quality of life measures, but they may be suspect because of the quality of data or even the source of the information.
Aggregate measures of ecosystem services: can we take the pulse of nature?
Meyerson, L.A., J. Baron, J.M. Melillo, R.J. Naiman, R.I. O'Malley, G. Orians, M.A. Palmer, A.S.P. Pfaff, S.W. Running, and O.E. Sala
Understanding potential effects of energy development and other land-use changes, as well as the effects of climate change, on southwestern Wyoming's ecosystems will first require a synthesis (comprehensive assessment) of what is currently known and may be acquired via short-term, rapid assessments, retrospective analyses, and modeling future scenarios. By synthesizing this information, Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) partners can amass a body of baseline information against which to compare future conditions and ascertain ecosystem trends associated with land-use and other changes. The Baseline Synthesis Task entails six subtasks, the overall objectives of which are to (1) build a conceptual framework for understanding how ecosystems of the WLCI region function and interact; (2) determine which factors are the primary drivers of change on the landscape; (3) stratify the WLCI landscape to ensure appropriate design of research and monitoring programs; (4) identify and characterize important wildlife habitats for prioritizing and focusing future studies and management actions; (5) ascertain the effects of historical changes on the landscape and how they may interact with current changes; and (6) model potential outcomes of change based on differing scenarios of land-use. To understand how land-use changes affect southwestern Wyoming ecosystems, FORT scientists will first identify primary stressors (drivers of change), then evaluate indicators of change pertaining to these stressors for their suitability as parameters in monitoring and research programs. Using the selected parameters, a set of comprehensive assessments will be conducted to provide the foundation of geospatial data and other information needed for research, monitoring, modeling, managing, and mitigating the effects of land-use and climate change.
Diatom Mapping With EPA
The EMAP program within EPA has requested technical support and professional services to assess the ecological condition of streams in Region 8 and to provide transfer of technology on methods to state and tribal partners. The project goal is to 1) develop and analyze indicators of ecological stream condition and associated stressors and 2) develop an assessment of ecological stream condition in Region 8. The IAG partners will work together to evaluate assessment questions, develop indicators based on available monitoring and GIS landscape data, develop condition class thresholds based on reference conditions or numeric criteria, interpret the indicators, and report the findings in EMAP assessment documents. The initial phase of the IAG will focus on development of an index of biological integrity (IBI) for the periphyton for the Southern Rocky Mountains. A review of issues and results of the IBI for the Montana Northern Plains periphyton IBI will also be done. If warranted, additional IBI development work for the Montana Northern Plains will be performed. Landscape indicator development work for both the Southern Rockies and Montana Northern Plains will focus on nutrient and excess clean sediment models. Additionally, some diatoms appear to have the behavior of highly invasive organisms. Species like Didiomosphenia can greatly alter stream and fish habitats, drastically reducing the number of adult fish. The same maps and models created for other species can be used for invasive native species.
Integrated Assessments Research
Major stresses to Colorado Front Range ecosystems are and will continue to be population growth, land use, water use and quality, and climate change. These ecosystems are valued for the goods and services they provide and for the quality of life that makes this region attractive. Because there is every sign that rapid environmental change will continue to occur, the time is right to take stock of the Colorado Front Range’s natural capital. This task aims to develop improved understanding of the vulnerability of ecosystems to human-driven alterations and climate variability and change. Further, it will address the feasibility of different management strategies that can be used to reduce ecosystem vulnerability. The long-term goal is to make use and reuse of natural resources of the Colorado Front Range more sustainable. The Science Impact project, "Taking America's Pulse: Developing Indicators of Environmental Condition for the Colorado Front Range," strives to formulate justification for indicators of condition, involve stakeholders and experts to formulate the questions and the choices of indicators, hold focus group meetings to refine the indicators and methods, and present the sets of indicators and rationale to a broad user community. Indicators will be developed for rangeland, croplands, urban areas, mountain ecosystems, and fresh-water resources.
In modeling relationships among aquatic species and habitats, there is a major need to incorporate sediment considerations into physical habitat predictions. This study improves physical habitat assessment techniques and models by incorporating sediment, substrate, and habitat dynamics, including metals concentrations. Linking these physical habitat characteristics (Geoindictors) and macroinvertebrate community structure and fish species (Bioindicators) with water quality characteristics will lead to a more robust modeling of aquatic systems.