A spatial hierarchical framework for the co-management of ecosystems in Canada and the United States for the upper Great Lakes region

Over the past three decades, considerable effort has been invested in the development of complex and comprehensive ecosystem classifications and inventories in many parts of North America. Paralleling this has been an evolution in those hierarchical frameworks guiding the development and application of classifications. However, resource management agencies continue to grapple with the dilemma of applying multiple classification and inventory templates over large jurisdictions, especially as they attempt to address ecosystem management objectives. Given that Canada and the United States share ecosystems and that commitments have been made by all levels of government to make progress towards ecosystem-based approaches to management, there is a need to provide the proper tools. Comprehensive goals will not be achieved without collaboration and cooperation.This paper outlines the range of ecosystem classification approaches that exist in the Upper Great Lakes region. Canadian and American national hierarchical frameworks are briefly examined. Specific information needs and tasks are outlined which must be followed, independent of national boundaries, for the successful integration of planning and monitoring programs for large regional ecosystems.A general model is proposed for the development and application of an integrated, multi-scale and bi-national ecosystem classification, inventory and information system. This approach would facilitate data sharing and communication across jurisdictional boundaries.     

Monitoring the condition of natural resources in US national parks

The National Park Service has developed a long-term ecological monitoring program for 32 ecoregional networks containing more than 270 parks with significant natural resources. The monitoring program assists park managers in developing a broad-based understanding of the status and trends of park resources as a basis for making decisions and working with other agencies and the public for the long-term protection of park ecosystems. We found that the basic steps involved in planning and designing a long-term ecological monitoring program were the same for a range of ecological systems including coral reefs, deserts, arctic tundra, prairie grasslands, caves, and tropical rainforests. These steps involve (1) clearly defining goals and objectives, (2) compiling and summarizing existing information, (3) developing conceptual models, (4) prioritizing and selecting indicators, (5) developing an overall sampling design, (6) developing monitoring protocols, and (7) establishing data management, analysis, and reporting procedures. The broad-based, scientifically sound information obtained through this systems-based monitoring program will have multiple applications for management decision-making, research, education, and promoting public understanding of park resources. When combined with an effective education program, monitoring results can contribute not only to park issues, but also to larger quality-of-life issues that affect surrounding communities and can contribute significantly to the environmental health of the nation.     

Design elements of monitoring programs: The necessary ingredients for success

Natural resource managers must know the condition of resources entrusted to their steward-ship so that they can maintain unimpaired resources and know when to restore impaired ecosystems. Resource monitoring programs should be designed to provide indications of ecosystem health, define limits of normal variation, identify abnormal conditions, and suggest potential agents of abnormal changes. Development of a conceptual model that identifies all ecosystem components and their relationships is the first step in the design of such a diagnostic monitoring program. Design studies, with field testing on each selected system component, are required to determine the parameters to be measured and to establish monitoring protocols. The best approach to diagnostic monitoring appears to be based on the population dynamics of selected species relative to physical and chemical environmental factors. Both management and monitoring of natural ecosystems need to be recognized as experimental endeavors, and thus approached in an iterative fashion with the scientific method to reduce uncertainty and cost.     

Monitoring Long-Term Ecological Changes Through the Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network: Science-Based and Policy Relevant

Ecological monitoring and its associated research programshave often provided answers to various environmental management issues. In the face of changing environmental conditions, ecological monitoring provides decision-makers with reliable information as they grapple with maintaining a sustainable economy and healthy environment. The EcologicalMonitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN) is a national ecological monitoring network consisting of (1) about 100 casestudy sites across the country characterized by long-term multi-disciplinary environmental work conducted by a multitudeof agencies (142 partners and counting); (2) a variety of lesscomprehensive yet more extensive monitoring sites; (3) a network where core monitoring variables of ecosystem change aremeasured; and (4) geo-referenced environmental observations. Environment Canada is the co-ordinating partner for the network through the EMAN Co-ordinating Office. EMAN's mission is to focus a scientifically-sound, policy-relevant ecosystem monitoring and research network based on (a) stabilizing a network of case-study sites operated by a varietyof partners, and (b) developing a number of cooperative dispersedmonitoring initiatives in order to deliver unique and needed goods and services. These goods and services include: (1) an efficient and cost-effective early warning system which detects,describes and reports on changes in Canadian ecosystems at a national or ecozone scale; and (2) cross-disciplinary and cross-jurisdictional assessments of ecosystem status, trends and processes. The early warning system and assessments of ecosystem status, trends and processes provide Environment Canada and partner organizations with timely information thatfacilitates increasingly adaptive policies and priority setting. Canadians are also informed of changes and trends occurring in Canadian ecosystems and, as a result, are betterable to make decisions related to conservation and sustainability.     

Environmental Data in Decision Making in EPA Regional Offices

The mid-Atlantic region of the United States has a wide diversity of natural resources. Human pressures on these natural resources are intense. These factors have resulted in the collection of substantial amounts of environmental information about the region by EPA (both Regional and Research Offices), other governmental agencies, industry, and environmental groups. EPA Regional Offices comprehend first hand the importance of environmental data and are extremely supportive of investments in these data. Environmental data are used prominently in a variety of strategic planning and resource management initiatives. In EPA Region 3, the use of scientifically-sound environmental data is, in fact, one of our strategic programmatic goals. Environmental information is captured and assessed continuously by Regional staff, sometimes working in partnership with other Federal and State agencies, to derive relevant resource management conclusions. The restoration goals for the Chesapeake Bay are based on environmental indicators and resulting data. Attainment of the water quality objectives for streams and coastal estuaries are predicted on monitoring data. Our initiative in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands area uses environmental indicators to measure the condition of forests and streams. Landscape-level indicators will provide unique opportunities for the use of data in planning and management activities in support of the principles of community-based activism and sustainable development. Significant value is added to these data during their use by Regional managers. Regional programs, such as the Chesapeake Bay Program and several National Estuary Programs, are founded in environmental data. Environmental information is used by the Regional program managers to ascertain whether programs are accomplishing their intended objectives. Finally, Regional programs provide a crucial means for disseminating this information to broad segments of the public, so that a better informed and educated client base for effective environmental protection will develop.     

Addressing statistical and operational challenges in designing large-scale stream condition surveys

Implementing a statistically valid and practical monitoring design for large-scale stream condition monitoring and assessment programs can be difficult due to factors including the likely existence of a diversity of ecosystem types such as ephemeral streams over the sampling domain; limited resources to undertake detailed monitoring surveys and address knowledge gaps; and operational constraints on effective sampling at monitoring sites. In statistical speak, these issues translate to defining appropriate target populations and sampling units; designing appropriate spatial and temporal sample site selection methods; selection and use of appropriate indicators; and setting effect sizes with limited ecological and statistical information about the indicators of interest. We identify the statistical and operational challenges in designing large-scale stream condition surveys and discuss general approaches for addressing them. The ultimate aim in drawing attention to these challenges is to ensure operational practicality in carrying out future monitoring programs and that the resulting inferences about stream condition are statistically valid and relevant.     

Optimising the sampling effort in riparian surveys

Riparian condition is commonly measured as part of stream health monitoring programs as riparian vegetation provides an intricate linkage between the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Field surveys of a riparian zone provide comprehensive riparian attribute data but can be considerably intensive and onerous on resources and workers. Our objective was to assess the impact of reducing the sampling effort on the variation in key riparian health indicators. Subsequently, we developed a non-parametric approach to calculate an information retained (IR) statistic for comparing several constrained systematic sampling schemes to the original survey. The IR statistic is used to select a scheme that reduces the time taken to undertake riparian surveys (and thus potentially the costs) whilst maximising the IR from the original survey. Approximate bootstrap confidence intervals were calculated to improve the inferential capability of the IR statistic. The approach is demonstrated using riparian vegetation indicators collected as part of an aquatic ecosystem health monitoring program in Queensland, Australia. Of the nine alternative sampling designs considered, the sampling design that reduced the sampling intensity per site by sixfold without significantly comprising the quality of the IR, results in halving the time taken to complete a riparian survey at a site. This approach could also be applied to reducing sampling effort involved in monitoring other ecosystem health indicators, where an intensive systematic sampling scheme was initially employed.     

A rapid approach to rational water pollution control strategies

The formulation of rational wastewater control strategies is becoming increasingly important in many countries where, exploding urbanization, industrialization and/or tourism, often combined with improved standards of living and better awareness of the environmental problems, are resulting in enlarged pollution problems, but also in the availability of expanding financial resources for environmental protection. However, more often than one tends to believe, lack of planning, or planning with limited understanding of the principles involved, has resulted in solutions that are both expensive and incapable of addressing the key problems.As rigorous planning is extremely resource intensive, and for this reason impractical for most study areas, the development of a much simplified analysis procedure, capable of generating rational, near-optimum, strategies and detailed action programs, is required, if proper environmental management is to be widely practiced.In an effort to achieve the above objectives, a systems analysis approach is selected as the most suitable at rationalizing the allocation of available resources and at producing detailed action programs that promote implementation. In the context of this approach, new, easy to use models have been developed, while others, have been selected, adapted and streamlined in their use. The entire problem analysis and strategy synthesis procedures have thus been simplified and defined to a degree appropriate for widespread use, and the resultant procedure is actively promoted by WHO and UNEP.     

基于信息资源规划的流域水环境数据中心设计与实践

由于跨界和跨部门等原因导致的流域水环境数据信息标准不一,无法有效共享、综合利用等问题,是目前水环境信息使用过程中的主要问题之一.基于信息资源规划理论,充分调研水环境监测管理、政府规划与决策、科学技术研究和社会公众使用等对水环境监测信息的需求,以太湖流域为例,分析与水环境相关各种数据资源,研究流域水环境信息的数据体系及数据库体系,设计并建立流域水环境数据中心,初步完成太湖流域水环境数据的管理、分析及共享服务平台设计,为流域水环境监测信息综合管理做出了示范.     

Ecological assessments of surface water bodies at the river basin level: a case study from England

Ecological assessments of surface water bodies are essential in order to evaluate the level of degradation in freshwater ecosystems and to address the subsequent decline in services they provide. These assessments cover multiple aspects of the aquatic environment, particularly biological elements due to their ability to respond to all pressures within an ecosystem. Such assessments can enable the identification of the multiple pressures which threaten water bodies, facilitating sustainable decisions regarding their management to be identified. Here, the design requirements of the networks which facilitate ecological assessments are presented. A river basin district in England is used as a case study to investigate the number of elements monitored, the number of failing elements and the relationship between failing elements. Findings demonstrate the value of ensuring that monitoring networks are risk based and appropriately designed to meet their objectives. This therefore requires that monitoring is not only for the communicating of compliance but also for use iteratively so that the design of monitoring networks and ultimately management can be continually improved.     

Economics of place-based monitoring under the safe drinking water act, part II: Design and development of place-based monitoring strategies

The goals of environmental legislation and associated regulations are to protect public health, natural resources, and ecosystems. In this context, monitoring programs should provide timely and relevant information so that the regulatory community can implement legislation in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974 attempts to ensure that public water systems (PWSs) supply safe water to its consumers. As is the case with many other federal environmental statutes, SDWA monitoring has been implemented in relatively uniform fashion across the United States. In this three part series, spatial and temporal patterns in water quality data are utilized to develop, compare, and evaluate the economic performance of alternative place-based monitoring approaches to current monitoring practice. Part II: Several factors affect the performance of monitoring strategies, including: measurable objectives, required precision in estimates, acceptable confidence levels of such estimates, available budget for sampling. In this paper, we develop place-based monitoring strategies based on extensive analysis of available historical water quality data (1960-1994) of 19 Iowa community water systems. These systems supply potable water to over 350,000 people. In the context of drinking water, the objective is to protect public health by utilizing monitoring resources to characterize contaminants that are detectable, and are close to exceeding health standards. A place-based monitoring strategy was developed in which contaminants were selected based on their historical occurrence, rather than their appearance on the SDWA contaminant list. In a subset of the water systems, the temporal frequency of monitoring for one ubiquitous contaminant, nitrate, was tailored to patterns in its historical occurrence and concentration. Three sampling allocation models (linear, quadratic, and cubic) based on historic patterns in peak occurrence were developed and evaluated. Random and fixed-interval sampling strategies within the context of such models were also developed and evaluated. Strategies were configured to incorporate a variety of options for frequency and number of samples (depending on budget and the desired precision in estimate of peak concentrations).     

An argument for ecosystem level monitoring

One objective of environmental monitoring programs is documentation of qualitative and quantitative environmental changes in response to external stresses, including chemical contamination. Chemical contaminant, biological, and ecological measurements have been used as environmental monitors. Contaminant monitoring allows estimation of exposures; biological and ecological monitoring allow estimation of uptake and effects.Measurements of ecosystem homeostasis such as nutrient cycling processes have been shown to be good ecosystem level monitors. The rate of dissolved nutrient loss from ecosystems has been conclusively shown to increase as a function of chemical contamination until a new equilibrium is reached, the pollutant input has become negligible, or until nutrient pools have been depleted. Consequently, nutrient pools in environmental strata and in biota are altered and eventually depleted by chemical stress.The use of nutrient cycling to determine sensitive responses to and long-term changes for chemical contamination is an essential monitoring strategy for environmental management and compliance purposes. Measurements of export (rapid response) and pools (long-term consequences) are within current technology, are cost-effective, and allow rapid implementation of remedial measures or environmental controls.Paper presented at a Symposium held on 20–21 April 1982, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.     

Canadian ENGOs in governance of water resources: information needs and monitoring practices

Water quality monitoring involves a complex set of steps and a variety of approaches. Its goals include understanding of aquatic habitats, informing management and facilitating decision making, and educating citizens. Environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) are increasingly engaged in water quality monitoring and act as environmental watchdogs and stewards of water resources. These organizations exhibit different monitoring mandates. As government involvement in water quality monitoring continues to decline, it becomes essential that we understand their modi operandi. By doing so, we can enhance efficacy and encourage data sharing and communication. This research examined Canadian ENGOs that collect their own data on water quality with respect to water quality monitoring activities and information needs. This work had a twofold purpose: (1) to enhance knowledge about the Canadian ENGOs operating in the realm of water quality monitoring and (2) to guide and inform development of web-based geographic information systems (GIS) to support water quality monitoring, particularly using benthic macroinvertebrate protocols. A structured telephone survey was administered across 10 Canadian provinces to 21 ENGOs that undertake water quality monitoring. This generated information about barriers and challenges of data sharing, commonly collected metrics, human resources, and perceptions of volunteer-collected data. Results are presented on an aggregate level and among different groups of respondents. Use of geomatics technology was not consistent among respondents, and we found no noteworthy differences between organizations that did and did not use GIS tools. About one third of respondents did not employ computerized systems (including databases and spreadsheets) to support data management, analysis, and sharing. Despite their advantage as a holistic water quality indicator, benthic macroinvertebrates (BMIs) were not widely employed in stream monitoring. Although BMIs are particularly suitable for the purpose of citizen education, few organizations collected this metric, despite having public education and awareness as part of their mandate.     

Optimal Expansion of Water Quality Monitoring Network by Fuzzy Optimization Approach

River reaches are frequently classified with respect to various mode of water utilization depending on the quantity and quality of water resources available at different location. Monitoring of water quality in a river system must collect both temporal and spatial information for comparison with respect to the preferred situation of a water body based on different scenarios. Designing a technically sound monitoring network, however, needs to identify a suite of significant planning objectives and consider a series of inherent limitations simultaneously. It would rely on applying an advanced systems analysis technique via an integrated simulation-optimization approach to meet the ultimate goal. This article presents an optimal expansion strategy of water quality monitoring stations for fulfilling a long-term monitoring mission under an uncertain environment. The planning objectives considered in this analysis are to increase the protection degree in the proximity of the river system with higher population density, to enhance the detection capability for lower compliance areas, to promote the detection sensitivity by better deployment and installation of monitoring stations, to reflect the levels of utilization potential of water body at different locations, and to monitor the essential water quality in the upper stream areas of all water intakes. The constraint set contains the limitations of budget, equity implication, and the detection sensitivity in the water environment. A fuzzy multi-objective evaluation framework that reflects the uncertainty embedded in decision making is designed for postulating and analyzing the underlying principles of optimal expansion strategy of monitoring network. The case study being organized in South Taiwan demonstrates a set of more robust and flexible expansion alternatives in terms of spatial priority. Such an approach uniquely indicates the preference order of each candidate site to be expanded step-wise whenever the budget limitation is sensitive in the government agencies.     

Report on EU guidance on groundwater monitoring developed under the common implementation strategy of the water framework directive

The establishment of high quality long-term monitoring programmes is essential if the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) is to be effective. It is recognised that monitoring can be very expensive and so guidance is needed to establish cost-effective, risk-based and targeted groundwater monitoring across Europe that enables WFD objectives to be met. In this context, the Groundwater Working Group (WGC) of the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) of the WFD has developed recommendations aiming to implement consistent groundwater monitoring across Europe. This has been published on the internet in the form of a non-legally binding guidance document, which provides useful elements for the development and maintenance of networks at high standards and thereby provide the necessary information to assess (ground)water status, identify trends in pollutant concentrations, support establishment and assessment of programmes of measures and the effective targeting of economic resources. This paper presents this guidance document.     

An ecological framework for resource management in British Columbia

British Columbia's landmass encompasses a complex diversity of ecosystems as a result of its diverse physiography, geology and climate. Resource planners and managers, depending upon their management objectives, use ecological information at different scales, from the very broad regional level to the local or site-specific level. The Ecoregion Classification and the Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification systems provide the means for resource managers and others in British Columbia concerned with the environment to understand, manage, and communicate about the diverse ecosystems of the province.This paper outlines this multi-level regional ecological classification and describes how it is being applied by resource managers from various resource agencies and organizations responsible for forest, wildlife and habitat management in British Columbia.     

环境空气质量国家标准的演变与比较

环境空气质量标准是进行环境空气质量监测、评价和管理的重要规范。研究了环境空气质量国家标准的形成、现状与发展,重点分析了环境空气质量标准的演变内容和背景依据及新标准与典型发达国家或组织标准的差异。结果表明,环境空气质量国家标准的污染物项目、标准形式不断更新完善,浓度阈值更加严格,标准修订的依据和程序更加科学完善。虽然在某些方面仍与其他发达国家标准有一定差距,但总体来说,新标准的建立以及实施有助于我国建立更加完善的环境空气质量管理体系。     

Theoretical and practical criteria for the selection of ecosystem monitoring plots in Swiss forests

A great deal of attention has been paid to the selection of nature reserves. These are important from a conservation viewpoint but, for long-term evaluations, it is important to monitor ecosystems. The need for long-term monitoring plots has been recognized for some time in forest ecology. Of the natural ecosystems, forests are some of the most difficult to monitor because of the time-scales involved in the life-spans of the dominant organisms (100 1000 years). The selection of long-term forest ecosystem monitoring plots is a critical process involving decisions that need to remain valid for many years. Traditional sampling theory suggests that some form of systematic or random sampling may be appropriate, but this is usually inappropriate for the selection of ecosystem monitoring plots. Instead, the selection of plots more closely resembles some of the procedures that are used in the selection of nature reserves. In Switzerland, a monitoring programme has been established which uses a number of criteria for the selection of sites. These include site homogeneity, the abundance and sensitivity of the plant communities to change and the presence of pre-existing data series or monitoring equipment. In addition, the human factor is incorporated by selecting sites from throughout the country, with the willingness of the local forest managers to help with the project being an important factor influencing the final choice of plots. In contrast to most inventories, statistical representativeness is not a requirement for the programme, as the plots are treated as a series of case studies.     

Establishing the Canadian Community Monitoring Network

Community-based ecosystem monitoring activities in Canada are increasing in response to a number of factors including: (i) the needs of decision-makers for timely information on local environmental changes; (ii) limited use of government monitoring data and information by decision makers; (iii) government cuts to monitoring programs; (iv) the increasingly recognized need to include stakeholders in planning and management processes; and (v) the desire of citizens to contribute to environmental protection. To date there has been no network coordination of community based monitoring in Canada. This paper reports on the establishment of the Canadian Community Monitoring Network by Environment Canada's Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network Coordinating Office and the Canadian Nature Federation. Information on research prepared in support of network establishment is presented along with a discussion of the potential of the network.