Quantifying and Evaluating Ecosystem Health: A Case Study from Moreton Bay, Australia

As part of the program monitoring the ecosystem health of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia, we developed a means for assessing ecosystem health that allows quantitative evaluation and spatial representations of the assessments. The management objectives for achieving ecosystem health were grouped into ecosystem objectives, water quality objectives, and human health objectives. For the first two groups, aspects of the ecosystem (e.g., trophic status) were identified, and an indicator was chosen for each aspect. Reference values for each indicator were derived from management objectives and compared with the mapped survey values. Subregions for which the indicator statistic was equal to or better than the assigned reference value are referred to as “compliant zones.” High-resolution surface maps were created from spatial predictions on a fine hexagonal grid for each of the indicators. Eight reporting subregions were established based on the depth and predicted residence times of the water. Within each reporting subregion, the proportion that was compliant was calculated. These results then were averaged to create an integrated ecosystem health index. The ratings by a team of ecosystem experts and the calculated ecosystem health indices had good correspondence, providing assurance that the approach was internally consistent, and that the management objectives covered the relevant biologic issues for the region. This method of calculating and mapping ecosystem health, relating it directly to management objectives, may have widespread applicability for ecosystem assessment.     

A method for assessing environmental risk: A case study of Green Bay,Lake Michigan,USA

The Science Advisory Board of the US Environmental Protection Agency has recommended that risk reduction strategies become the centerpiece of environmental protection. The goal in developing such strategies is to identify opportunities for greatest reduction of ecological risks. This is a perspective that is significantly more comprehensive than the traditional focus on human health risks arising from environmental degradation. The identification of ecological risks upon which environmental protection efforts should be focused requires an ecological risk assessment methodology that is based on anthropogenic stressors affecting an ecosystem and a set of impaired use criteria. A methodology based on this concept is developed and discussed in this article. The methodology requires that risk values be assigned to each ecosystem stressor-impaired use pair that reflect the degree to which the given stressor contributes to ecosystem risk as measured by the given impaired use criterion. Once these data are available, mathematical analyses based on concepts from fuzzy set theory are performed to obtain a ranking of ecosystem stressors. The methodology has been tested by applying it to a case study involving Green Bay of Lake Michigan. A workshop was held in which 11 persons with extensive knowledge of the Green Bay ecosystem determined risk values through a group-consensus process. The analytical portion of the methodology was then used to rank the ecosystem risks (stressors) from several perspectives, including prevention management and remediation management. The overall conclusion of the workshop participants was that the fuzzy set decision model is a useful and effective methodology for differentiating environmental risk.     

Beneath the Straw: In Defense of Participatory Adaptive Management

Our recent paper advocating adaptive management of invasive nonnative species (INS) in Kings Bay, Florida received detailed responses from both Daniel Simberloff, a prominent invasion biologist, and Mark Sagoff, a prominent critic of invasion biology. Simberloff offers several significant lines of criticism that compel detailed rebuttals, and, as such, most of this reply is dedicated to this purpose. Ultimately, we find it quite significant that Simberloff, despite his other stated objections to our paper, apparently agrees with our argument that proposals for alternative management of established INS (i.e., alternatives to minimization/eradication) should not be rejected on an a␣priori basis. We argue that more specific development and application of adaptive approaches toward INS management, whether in Kings Bay or other appropriate case studies, would be facilitated if ecosystem managers and invasion biologists follow Simberloff’s lead on this key point. While Sagoff largely shares (and, indeed, served as a primary source for developing) our general arguments that challenge common moral and scientific assumptions associated with invasion biology, he does question our suggestion that participatory adaptive management provides an appropriate framework for approaching environmental problems in which science and politics are inherently entangled. We attempt to answer this criticism through a brief sketch of what participatory adaptive management might look like for Kings Bay and how such an approach would differ from past management approaches.     

The Relationship of Ecosystem Management to NEPA and Its Goals

/ The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) was intended to promote a systematic, comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to planning and decisionmaking, including the integration of the natural and social sciences and the design arts. NEPA critics have cited three key shortcomings in its implementation: (1) a lack of engagement with the NEPA process early in the planning process through interdisciplinary collaboration; (2) a lack of rigorous science and the incorporation of ecological principles and techniques; and (3) a lack of emphasis on the Act's substantive goals and objectives. In recent years and independent of NEPA, a policy of ecosystem management has been developed, which represents a fundamental change from a fragmented, incremental planning and management approach to a holistic, comprehensive, interdisciplinary land and resource management effort. We postulate that by incorporating ecosystem management principles in their planning and decisionmaking, federal agencies can address the shortcomings in NEPA implementation and move closer to NEPA's intent. A case analysis of EISs prepared by the USDA Forest Service before and after adopting an ecosystem management approach supports our hypothesis.     

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Challenges for Regional Ecosystem Management

An adaptive management approach is necessary but not sufficient to address the long-term challenges of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Adaptive management, in turn, has its own particular challenges, of which we focus on two: science input, and stakeholder engagement. In order to frame our discussion and subsequent recommendations, we place the current management difficulties into their historical context, with special emphasis on the 1990 Vision document, which attempted a broad synthesis of management goals for the ecosystem. After examining these two key challenges in the context of the GYE, we make several recommendations that would allow for more effective ecosystem management in the long term. First, we recommend adoption of the GYE as a site for long-term science research and monitoring with an emphasis on integrative research, long-term federal funding, and public dissemination of data. Second, we conclude that a clearer prioritization of legislative mandates would allow for more flexible ecosystem management in the GYE, a region where conflicting mandates have historically led to litigation antithetical to effective ecosystem management. Finally, we recommend a renewed attempt at an updated Vision for the Future that engages stakeholders (including local landholders) substantively from the outset.     

Theory into Practice: Implementing Ecosystem Management Objectives in the USDA Forest Service

In the United States and around the world, scientists and practitioners have debated the definition and merits of ecosystem management as a new approach to natural resource management. While these debates continue, a growing number of organizations formally have adopted ecosystem management. However, adoption does not necessarily lead to successful implementation, and theories are not always put into practice. In this article, we examine how a leading natural resource agency, the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, has translated ecosystem management theory into concrete policy objectives and how successfully these objectives are perceived to be implemented throughout the national forest system. Through document analysis, interviews, and survey responses from 345 Forest Service managers (district rangers, forest supervisors, and regional foresters), we find that the agency has incorporated numerous ecosystem management components into its objectives. Agency managers perceive that the greatest attainment of such objectives is related to collaborative stewardship and integration of scientific information, areas in which the organization has considerable prior experience. The objectives perceived to be least attained are adaptive management and integration of social and economic information, areas requiring substantial new resources and a knowledge base not traditionally emphasized by natural resource managers. Overall, success in implementing ecosystem management objectives is linked to committed forest managers.     

Goal and Trend Assessment to Define Coastal Ecosystem Management Initiatives

Initiating ecosystem management in a coastal region is facilitated if multiple stakeholders recognise common problems. New management initiatives arise from a comparison of shared goals embodied in law and in planning documents with trends in the environment and society. Applying this approach to the Narragansett Bay ecosystem in the north-eastern US produces four types of relationships. Each relationship leads to different actions that managers and others may wish to pursue. First, when trends are consistent with goals, management activities limited to monitoring are appropriate. For example, in the Narragansett Bay ecosystem, the trend of declining metal loading is consistent with the goal of increased water quality and requires only passive observation to confirm its continuation. Second, when trends important to achieve specific goals are uncertain or unknown, applied research is an appropriate management response. Recent questions about the causes of low oxygen in selected Bay waters and about the magnitudes of different nitrogen sources call for additional applied research. Third, when known trends are inconsistent with goals, then managers and stakeholders must collaborate to devise new programmes. Fisheries decline and increasing nitrogen loading are examples where new management initiatives are mandated. The former has received important attention through changes in state legislation. Finally, the goals themselves may be uncertain, as in the case of a major port development. In this situation, managers can play an important role in clarifying goals through creating processes to enable better understanding of underlying values.     

Goal and Trend Assessment to Define Coastal Ecosystem Management Initiatives

Initiating ecosystem management in a coastal region is facilitated if multiple stakeholders recognise common problems. New management initiatives arise from a comparison of shared goals embodied in law and in planning documents with trends in the environment and society. Applying this approach to the Narragansett Bay ecosystem in the north-eastern US produces four types of relationships. Each relationship leads to different actions that managers and others may wish to pursue. First, when trends are consistent with goals, management activities limited to monitoring are appropriate. For example, in the Narragansett Bay ecosystem, the trend of declining metal loading is consistent with the goal of increased water quality and requires only passive observation to confirm its continuation. Second, when trends important to achieve specific goals are uncertain or unknown, applied research is an appropriate management response. Recent questions about the causes of low oxygen in selected Bay waters and about the magnitudes of different nitrogen sources call for additional applied research. Third, when known trends are inconsistent with goals, then managers and stakeholders must collaborate to devise new programmes. Fisheries decline and increasing nitrogen loading are examples where new management initiatives are mandated. The former has received important attention through changes in state legislation. Finally, the goals themselves may be uncertain, as in the case of a major port development. In this situation, managers can play an important role in clarifying goals through creating processes to enable better understanding of underlying values.     

Comparing Environmental Flow Implementation Options with Structured Decision Making: Case Study from the Willamette River,Oregon

Many frameworks have been used to identify environmental flows for sustaining river ecosystems or specific taxa in the face of widespread flow alteration. However, these frameworks largely focus on identifying suitable flows and often ignore the important links between management actions, resulting flows, and valued ecosystem or social responses. Structured decision making (SDM) could assist the comparison of environmental flows by providing a mature framework to link management actions to objectives via environmental flow science. We describe SDM and illustrate its application using a case study focused on comparing environmental flow scenarios for the mainstem Willamette River, Oregon. In a short timeframe, SDM was applied to identify objectives, develop empirical and expert opinion‐based models, and compare flow scenarios while accounting for interannual flow variability and partial controllability. No scenario was clearly preferred based on available knowledge, largely because river flows could only be partially controlled through dam operations. Participants agreed that SDM was useful for comparing alternative dam operations, but that refined predictive models and additional objectives were needed to better inform basinwide flow decisions. In our view, SDM can provide more realistic comparisons of environmental flows by accounting for partial controllability and uncertainty, which may result in greater implementation of available flow management actions.     

Special species and ecosystem preserves: Colonial water birds in US national parks

An important aspect of developing a philosophical foundation for management of reserves using an ecosystem approach is the exploration of the relationship of ecosystem management strategies to the need for conservation of species of special concern Colonial water birds are species that may deserve special consideration They occur in over 25 US national parks, but in no case do the parks have a monopoly on the total protection or management of these birds As an agency responsible for such populations, the National Park Service engages in activities such as inventory, monitoring, research, and management, using an ecosystem management philosophy Most parks contain only segments of natural ecosystems, and management actions, even those undertaken from an ecosystem perspective, may not be in the best interest of an individual species Management strategies for widely ranging special species require a regional perspective, including plans that take into consideration the differing objectives of the agencies responsible for such species A matrix of the different management strategies in various areas may provide a suitable, perhaps the best, method for protecting special species In practice, any one strategy, such as management of remnant ecosystem patches or intensive single-species management, may not be successful alone     

Adaptive Management of Nonnative Species: Moving Beyond the “Either-Or” Through Experimental Pluralism

This paper develops the outlines of a pragmatic, adaptive management-based approach toward the control of invasive nonnative species (INS) through a case study of Kings Bay/Crystal River, a large artesian springs ecosystem that is one of Florida’s most important habitats for endangered West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus). Building upon recent critiques of invasion biology, principles of adaptive management, and our own interview and participant–observer research, we argue that this case study represents an example in which rigid application of invasion biology’s a␣priori imperative to minimize INS has produced counterproductive results from both an ecological and social standpoint. As such, we recommend that INS control in Kings Bay should be relaxed in conjunction with an overall program of adaptive ecosystem management that includes meaningful participation and input from non-institutional stakeholders. However, we also note that adaptive management and INS control are by no means mutually exclusive, in Kings Bay or elsewhere. Instead, we suggest that adaptive management offers a means by which INS control efforts can emerge from—and be evaluated through—ongoing scientific research and participatory dialogue about the condition of specific places, rather than non-contextual assumptions about the harmfulness of INS as a general class.     

Restoration of Marine Coastal Ecosystem Health as a New Goal for Integrated Catchment Management in Tolo Harbor, Hong Kong, China

This article demonstrates why it is necessary to have the restoration of marine coastal ecosystem health as a new goal for integrated catchment management in the coastal area of Tolo Harbor. The present goal of integrated catchment management (ICM) in the Tolo Harbor is based on water quality objectives. The performance of the ICM plan, the Tolo Harbor Action Plan (THAP), was evaluated using marine coastal ecosystem health indicators including both stress and response indicators. Since the implementation of THAP in 1988, some significant reductions in pollution loading have been observed: reduction of 83% of biological oxygen demand load and 82% of total nitrogen between 1988 and 1999. There has also been an improvement in the health of Tolo Harbor’s marine coastal ecosystem as evidenced by trends in physical, chemical, and biological indicators, although reverse fluctuations in some periods exist. However, such improvement can only be considered as the first sign of complete ecosystem health restoration, because ecosystem health covers not only physical, chemical, and biological aspects of an ecosystem, but also ecosystem service functions. The findings support the need to take the restoration and protection of marine coastal ecosystem health as a new goal rather than using water quality objectives. Steps necessary to further improve Tolo Harbor’s marine coastal ecosystem health are also discussed.     

Evaluating Ecosystem Management Capabilities at the Local Level in Florida: Identifying Policy Gaps Using Geographic Information Systems

Because ecosystem approaches to management adhere to ecological systems rather than human-defined boundaries, collaboration across jurisdiction, agencies, and land ownership is often necessary to achieve effective management of transboundary resources. Local natural resource and land use planners increasingly recognize that while ecosystem management requires looking beyond specific jurisdictions and focusing on broad spatial scales, the approach will partly be implemented at the local level with the coordination of local policies across larger landscapes. This article evaluates the collective capabilities of local jurisdictions to manage large transboundary ecological systems in Florida. Specifically, it combines plan evaluation with geographic information systems (GIS) techniques to map, measure, and analyze the existing mosaic of management across selected ecosystems in the southern portion of the State. Visual and statistical results indicate significant gaps in the management framework of southern Florida that, if filled, could achieve a greater level of consistency and more complete coverage of ecosystem management policies. Based on the spatial distribution of 58 ecosystem management indicators, notable gaps persist in the southwest coast, southeast coast, and central Everglades ecosystems, particularly for wildlife corridors and collaboration with neighboring jurisdictions. We also test for spatial autocorrelation of ecosystem planning scores and find that local jurisdictions with strong ecosystem management capabilities tend to cluster within specific ecosystems. Based on the findings, we make recommendations on how and where local plans can be strengthened to more effectively attain the objectives of ecosystem approaches to management.     

A landscape ecological approach to address scaling problems in conservation management and monitoring

Management of many African game reserves is today often still an art based on experience and intuition, rather than a science. Decision-making is based on an informal integration of accumulated individual knowledge and keen field observations. Data are generally poorly captured and curated. Until fairly recently, denominators of biological parameters (such as the unit of land or unit of plant production used as measurement) have generally been treated as being homogenous. The patchiness of landscapes and the issue of ecological scaling were ignored, often because of a lack of appropriate technical tools. The ecological data available on the 49,000-ha Songimvelo Game Reserve (SGR) result from a number of discrete survey and monitoring projects undertaken by different researchers, with different objectives, at different spatial and temporal scales. A landscape ecological approach towards research and monitoring is appropriate for an area of the size and diversity of the SGR. A combination of a database approach and spatial representation was used to consolidate and integrate data across temporal and spatial scales. Herbivore spatial and temporal distribution patterns were explored across three spatial scales. An understanding was achieved of the importance of landscape patchiness in controlling resource availability for herbivores. This insight is important in guiding management and monitoring of the SGR by placing perceived patch overutilization in its proper landscape context. The landscape ecological approach bridges the traditional scale-independent view to a more contemporary scale-related understanding of ecosystem diversity and functioning.     

PROFILE: Risk Assessment as an Environmental Management Tool: Considerations for Freshwater Wetlands

/ This paper presents a foundation for improving the risk assessmentprocess for freshwater wetlands. Integrating wetland science, i.e., use of anecosystem-based approach, is the key concept. Each biotic and abiotic wetlandcomponent should be identified and its contribution to ecosystem functionsand societal values determined when deciding whether a stressor poses anunreasonable risk to the sustainability of a particular wetland.Understanding the major external and internal factors that regulate theoperational conditions of wetlands is critical to risk characterization.Determining the linkages between these factors, and how they influence theway stressors affect wetlands, is the basis for an ecosystem approach.Adequate consideration of wetland ecology, hydrology, geomorphology, andsoils can greatly reduce the level of uncertainty associated with riskassessment and lead to more effective risk management. In order to formulateeffective solutions, wetland problems must be considered at watershed,landscape, and ecosystem scales. Application of an ecosystem approach can begreatly facilitated if wetland scientists and risk assessors work together todevelop a common understanding of the principles of both disciplines.KEY WORDS: Ecological risk assessment; Freshwater wetlands;Environmental pollution; Chemical stressors; Physical stressors; Biologicalstressors     

Science in the public process of ecosystem management: lessons from Hawaii, Southeast Asia, Africa and the US Mainland

Partnerships and co-operative environmental management are increasing worldwide as is the call for scientific input in the public process of ecosystem management. In Hawaii, private landowners, non-governmental organizations, and state and federal agencies have formed watershed partnerships to conserve and better manage upland forested watersheds. In this paper, findings of an international workshop convened in Hawaii to explore the strengths of approaches used to assess stakeholder values of environmental resources and foster consensus in the public process of ecosystem management are presented. Authors draw upon field experience in projects throughout Hawaii, Southeast Asia, Africa and the US mainland to derive a set of lessons learned that can be applied to Hawaiian and other watershed partnerships in an effort to promote consensus and sustainable ecosystem management. Interdisciplinary science-based models can serve as effective tools to identify areas of potential consensus in the process of ecosystem management. Effective integration of scientific input in co-operative ecosystem management depends on the role of science, the stakeholders and decision-makers involved, and the common language utilized to compare tradeoffs. Trust is essential to consensus building and the integration of scientific input must be transparent and inclusive of public feedback. Consideration of all relevant stakeholders and the actual benefits and costs of management activities to each stakeholder is essential. Perceptions and intuitive responses of people can be as influential as analytical processes in decision-making and must be addressed. Deliberative, dynamic and iterative decision-making processes all influence the level of stakeholder achievement of consensus. In Hawaii, application of lessons learned can promote more informed and democratic decision processes, quality scientific analysis that is relevant, and legitimacy and public acceptance of ecosystem management.     

Social, economic, and ecological impacts of the "Grain for Green" project in China: a preliminary case in Zhangye, Northwest China

This paper provides applications of the integrated assessment (IA) approach in a case study in the Heihe River Basin of Northwest China. Some socio-economic and ecological impact results of forestry land use scenarios are presented in the paper. While seven types of land use scenarios for carbon sequestration purposes were considered for the IA applications, this paper mainly presents impacts of land use scenarios within the Grain for Green (GFG) category [see Yin et al., this volume]. China's national Grain for Green Project was implemented in order to protect and improve ecosystems, while allowing an evolution of agricultural management practices compatible with raising peasants' incomes. Zhangye Prefecture, located in the Heihe River Basin of an arid area in Northwest China, was chosen as the investigation site of the IA case study. Based on fundamental orientation theory, the social sustainability impacts of GFG land use options were assessed. Between 2002 and 2004, the GFG project brought US$23.56 million yuan in net income to the prefecture's peasants. Project implementation resulted in a 1.71 Gg increase in net primary productivity (NPP), as well as a 44.36 Gg rise in net ecosystem productivity (NEP). This suggested that, in Zhangye Prefecture, the Grain for Green Project could enhance the sustainability and stability of the local society, increase peasants' net income, as well as protect and remediate local ecosystems.     

Structured Decision Making to Meet a National Water Quality Mandate

Water quality criteria are necessary to ensure protection of ecological and human health conditions, but compliance can require complex decisions. We use structured decision making to consider multiple stakeholder objectives in a water quality management process, with a case study in the Three Bays watershed on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. We set a goal to meet or exceed a nitrogen load reduction target for the watershed and four key objectives: minimizing economic costs of implementing management actions, minimizing the complexity of permitting management actions, maximizing stakeholder acceptability of the management actions, and maximizing the provision of ecosystem services (recreational opportunity, erosion and flood control, socio‐cultural amenity). We used multi‐objective optimization and sensitivity analysis to generate many possible solutions that implement different combinations of nitrogen‐removing management actions and reflect tradeoffs between the objectives. Results show technological advances in controlling household nitrogen sources could provide lower cost solutions and positive impacts to ecosystem services. Although this approach is demonstrated with Cape Cod data, the decision‐making process is not specific to any watershed and could be easily applied elsewhere.