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What Should We Monitor? Indicators of Human Disturbance and Ecological Impact
Citation:
Lehrter, J. What Should We Monitor? Indicators of Human Disturbance and Ecological Impact. Bays and Bayous Symposium, Mobile, AL, December 02 - 04, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
The abstract is intended to foster discussion for the monitoring and indicators panel at the Bays and Bayous meeting.
Description:
Ecological indicators are physical, chemical, and biological measures of environmental condition that change predictably with levels of human disturbance. Historically, indicators have been used to monitor and assess the status and trends of coastal waters and to diagnose the major human stresses on these systems. Indicators may also be used to identify and prioritize restoration objectives and to communicate with citizens about critical habitats and ecosystem services that are valued by coastal communities. There is a rich knowledge of many indicator threshold levels that have been adopted for water quality management such as for toxins, pathogens, and dissolved oxygen. However, less well characterized are ecosystem thresholds for other stresses such as land use change and habitat loss, sediments and nutrients, resource extraction, and climate change. Diagnostic research linking potential ecological indicators to these stresses is needed. Also, since we cannot monitor everything, there is a need to identify the most critical issues confronting our coastal waters and to prioritize the development of an indicator set for long-term monitoring. The objective of this presentation is to initiate discussion about future monitoring of indicators in the bays and bayous of the northern Gulf of Mexico. A review of indicators already monitored will be presented and challenges and opportunities for development of other indicators will be highlighted.