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USEPA National Exposure Research Laboratory 960 College Station Rd. Athens, GA 30605
burke.roger{at}epamail.epa.gov
Committee to Evaluate Indicators for Monitoring Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments, National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave., N.W., Box 285, Washington, DC 20055. 2000. 198 p. $39.95. ISBN 0-309-06845-2.
Indicators are designed to inform us quickly and easily about the present conditions, and over time the changes and trends, of something of interest. A large number of ecological indicators have been developed and used but often they are intended to inform decision makers about the status and trends of a few species or a particular ecosystem. These indicators typically do not provide a basis for evaluating the condition of ecosystems and how they are changing at the national scale. National-scale indicators are important because many environmental policies are formulated at the national scale. National-scale ecological indicators are difficult to develop and apply for a country as large and diverse as the USA.
This book is the report of the Committee to Evaluate Indicators for Monitoring Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments, which was established at the behest of the USEPA. The book consists of an executive summary, five chapters, a list of references, and three appendixes. The executive summary provides an effective and succinct overview of the report contents, and presents the recommended national-scale indicators and describes their selection, including discussions about scale and applicability, criteria for evaluating indicators, the conceptual models underlying each indicator, policy perspectives, timing and cost of implementation, care and handling of data, and research needed to enhance the present indicators as well as develop new indicators.
The five chapters provide further details and support of the recommended indicators. The introductory chapter discusses why ecological indicators are needed, including a brief history of prior indicator development efforts. The present study is discussed briefly, including the origin of the committee, the task with limitations, and the goals of the report. Briefly, the goals are to identify sources of data needed for indicator design and computation, suggest criteria for indicator selection, provide methods for integrating complex ecological information into indicators, propose indicators, and offer guidance for collecting, storing, interpreting, and communicating information for ecological monitoring. The key ecological processes and products that people value are discussed, the need to establish baselines so that trends can be evaluated is established, and indicator value and realistic expectations about indicator value are discussed.
The second chapter discusses the scientific underpinnings of indicators and how data used to construct the indicators are obtained. Useful data sources include data collected from the environment, both from the present and the past, experiments, and predictions from models that can be solved analytically and from computer simulations. Useful present environmental information sources include remote sensing from satellites and aircraft and ground-based measurements. The Committee points out that indicators are most likely to be useful to policy makers if they are understandable, quantifiable, and broadly applicable.
The third chapter provides a framework for indicator selection. The criteria for evaluating indicators are general importance, conceptual basis, reliability, temporal and spatial scales of applicability, statistical properties, data requirements including skills needed to collect the data, robustness, international compatibility, costs, benefits, and cost effectiveness. Information handling is discussed including data quality control, archiving, and assignment of responsibilities.
The fourth chapter provides details about the recommended indicators, including the major category of ecological information that each indicator addresses. The categories selected that are judged to encompass the nation's most important ecological issues are the extent and status of land cover and land use types, ecological capital, and ecosystem function and how it is changing with time for various ecosystems. Some indicators such as soil organic matter and land use are especially important because they are relevant to more than one ecological category.
The final chapter discusses application of the framework used for selection of national-scale indicators to the development of local and regional-scale indicators. Although the primary charge of the Committee was to develop national-scale indicators, indicators are needed that inform us about ecological status and trends at a range of spatial and temporal scales. Forests, as an example of an ecosystem type for which ecological indicators are needed, and species diversity, as an example of an indicator that can be usefully applied at a range of spatial scales, are discussed in detail.
The approximately 350 cited references appear to be highly relevant and of high quality and should provide interested readers access to much greater detail about the need for ecological indicators and the information used to select the recommended indicators. The first two appendixes provide useful and interesting discussions about some statistical and mathematical aspects of indicators and the final appendix lists the Committee members and provides detail about their professional backgrounds.
This book should be of interest to students and professionals in fields such as ecology, ecosystem management, and public policy. Further, the book can be read online for free at the National Academy Press website (http://books.nap.edu/books/0309068452/html/index.html), making it easily accessible to anyone.
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