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ECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF ESTUARIES IN THE GULF OF MEXICO
Citation:
Engle, V D., P. Bourgeois, J M. Macauley, AND J K. Summers. ECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF ESTUARIES IN THE GULF OF MEXICO. Presented at Gulf of Mexico Symposium 2000, Mobile, AL, April 9-12, 2000.
Description:
The predominantly shallow estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico are ranked highest in the Nation in terms of water surface area, freshwater inflow, and wetlands area. Estuaries are an ecologically and economically valuable resource in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) in the Louisianian and West Indian Provinces has monitored indicators of sediment, water, habitat, and biological quality in order to evaluate the ecological condition of estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico. EMAP's assessment of ecological condition was integrated with current and historical information from other federal and state monitoring programs in order to evaluate the overall state of estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico. The ecological value of Gulf estuaries was linked with consequences of human usage and land use patterns to estuaries. Priority ecological issues for Gulf estuaries include freshwater inflow, water quality, harmful algal blooms, sediment contaminants, habitat change, biological integrity, and public health. An environmental report card was produced to rank the condition of estuaries in each Gulf state and overall with respect to these priority ecological issues. Our final report provides a guide for scientists, citizens, environmental managers, and policymakers to use to evaluate management decisions and research directions.