A proposed framework for developing indicators of ecosystem health

Abstract

Considerations involved in developing a suite of indicators to monitor regional environmental health, similar in conception to management use of 'leading economic indicators', are described. Linkages between human activities and well being and the state of the environment are considered essential to the evaluation of general environmental health. Biogeochemical and socioeconomic indicators are mutually affected by environmental degradation and examples of both categories of indicators are described. Desirable properties in indicators of environmental health vary with their specific management use. Different indicators are called for when collecting data to assess the adequacy of the environment, monitor trends over time, provide early warning of environmental degradation, or diagnose the cause of an existing problem. Tradeoffs between desirable characteristics, costs, and quality of information are inevitable when choosing indicators for management use. Decisions about what information to collect for which purpose can be made more rationally when available indicators are characterized and matched to management goals.

Plankton community composition in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region revealed by PCR-DGGE and its relationships with environmental factors

“…Planktonic organisms exhibit complex and sensitive responses to environmental stimuli that are manifested through changes at the individual, population, and community levels of organization. Therefore, the plankton community is generally considered to be a good indicator of water quality, and ecosystem changes are reflected in relatively rapid shifts in density and community composition (Bianchi et al, 2003;Cairns et al, 1993;Leppard and Munawar, 1992). However, the analysis of the community composition by classical * Corresponding author.…”

Fresh Water-Related Indicators in Canada: An Inventory and Analysis

“…Two further issues are the narrow perspective of indicators (i.e. current indicators do not enable decision-makers to assess the broader picture such as conflicting demands or land-water management practices) limiting their utility (Cairns et al, 1993); and the lack of commonality, limiting utility and comparability across jurisdictions. Both of these latter issues are compounded by Canada's incomplete and inconsistent environmental monitoring and reporting, related to the absence of a national reporting framework or system (Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD), 2010; National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE), 2010).…”

National forest reporting in selected European countries and in Slovenia

“…Zaradi kvalitativnih lastnosti kazalcev, kot so relevantnost, merljivost, družbena sprejemljivost, finančna učinkovitost (Cairns, McCormick in Niederlehner, 1993), in njihove mednarodne veljave (kazalci, dogovorjeni v procesu Forest Europe), je bila primerjava med poročili izdelana z nizom 35 vseevropskih kazalcev (Forest Europe, 2002, 2015b. Kazalci so bili ustrezni, saj so bila poročila izdelana pred njihovo novelo poleti 2015 (Forest Europe, 2015c).…”