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OVERVIEW OF EPA'S LANDSCAPE SCIENCES PROGRAM
Citation:
Jones, K B. OVERVIEW OF EPA'S LANDSCAPE SCIENCES PROGRAM. Presented at Natura 2000, Montpellier, France, October 28, 2002.
Impact/Purpose:
The primary objectives of this research are to:
Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;
Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;
Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;
Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;
Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.
This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.
Description:
Over the past 10 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development's National Exposure Research Laboratory has expanded it's ecological research program to include the development of landscape metrics and indicators to assess ecological risk and vulnerability at multiple scales over large geographic regions . The goal has been to develop landscape metrics, indicators, and models that can be generated from newly available, wall-to-wall spatial data in a geographic information system. Landscape metrics and indicators capture spatial aspects and patterns of a range of environmentally important characteristics, including land cover, soils, topography, and geology. Additionally, the Landscape Sciences program has been developing a number of change detection methods to analyze historical landscape changes, and to determine how observed changes in landscape composition and pattern have affected ecological resources and associated processes. Finally, the Landscape Sciences program has been developing models and assessment tools to evaluate how alternative future landscape scenarios (e.g., different landscape futures based on different management options) might affect ecological resources. This oral presentation discusses the wide range of projects being conducted by the Landscape Sciences program, including the NATO/CCMS landscape initiative involving 15 European countries.