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Assessing Ecological Risk in Watersheds: A Case Study of Problem Formulation in the Big Darby Creek Watershed, Ohio, USA
Citation:
Cormier, S., M. Smith, S. Norton, AND T. Neiheisel. Assessing Ecological Risk in Watersheds: A Case Study of Problem Formulation in the Big Darby Creek Watershed, Ohio, USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 19(4(2):1082-1096, (2000).
Description:
The Big Darby Creek watershed, a highly valued ecosystem in central Ohio, USA, threatened by intensive agriculture and suburban encroachment, served as an example of how case specifics can be applied to refine and direct the planning and problem formulation stage of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ecological risk assessment framework. Big Darby Creek was selected as one of five national pilot risk assessment designed to provide specific examples of how to perform an ecological risk assessment and, at the same time, to refine and improve the assessment process. The case study demonstrates how characteristics of the watershed were used to give direction to the components of establishing goals, identifying and characterizing the resource and threats to it, selecting appropriate assessment endpoints, and developing conceptual models. The hypotheses generated in the conceptual model describe expected relationships and interactions between the ecosystem at risk, identified potential stressors, and ecological effects and set the groundwork for the analysis phase that follows problem formulation.