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EMAP WESTERN UNITED STATES LANDSCAPE CHARACTERIZATION OREGON DATA AND PRODUCT BROWSER
Citation:
Heggem, D T., D W. Ebert, T G. Wade, S. Augustine, A. D. Weiss, E. Evenson, AND L. Bice. EMAP WESTERN UNITED STATES LANDSCAPE CHARACTERIZATION OREGON DATA AND PRODUCT BROWSER. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-02/025, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
There are four basic objectives of the project:
Demonstrate the application of a comparative landscape assessment in analyzing the vulnerability of surface and coastal water conditions to declines based on landscape conditions (as estimated by landscape indicators as demonstrated in the mid-Atlantic landscape atlas) in western environments;
Develop and apply landscape assessment approaches relative to specific issues, including an ability to prioritize the vulnerability of areas relative to the Clean Water Act 303(d) designations; Quantify relationships between landscape conditions (as measured by landscape indicators) and surface and coastal waters in the west to reduce the uncertainty in comparative landscape assessments, and issue-specific, landscape assessments (e.g., Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDLs);
Complete a west-wide, comparative landscape assessment relative to surface and coastal water vulnerability;
Transfer landscape assessment technologies to Regional Offices so that they can conduct landscape assessments at many scales.
Description:
The United States Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) is conducting a study in the western United States (EPA Regions 8, 9, and 10) that will advance the science of ecological monitoring and demonstrate techniques for regional-scale assessment of the condition of ecological systems.
Human pressures on the natural resources of the United States are intense. These pressures have resulted in many unintended changes in our ecosystems -- loss of biodiversity, increases in the number of endangered species (e.g. salmon), habitat degradation, and increases in contamination and pollution. Major public and private efforts have gone into controlling pollution, and protecting and restoring natural resources and the ecosystems they depend on. Corrective actions have and will continue to have an impact upon how we all lead our lives. We react to the problems that are most visible and thus receive the greatest amount of publicity. To make the most of our environmental efforts, we need to understand and assess the status and trends in the condition of our ecological resources and the stressors affecting these systems. It is not at all clear that we are currently targeting financial resources and/or lifestyle changes on problems or at locations where they will have the most effect.
To move toward an improved monitoring approach EPA has begun the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP). EMAP is a research program that is used to develop the tools necessary to monitor and assess the status and trends of ecological systems. EMAP had its beginnings assessing the effects of acid deposition on large geographical areas of the U.S. during the 1980s. Out of that work came the concept of probability-based monitoring and the need for regional-scale assessments. EMAP's goal is to develop the scientific understanding for translating environmental monitoring data from multiple spatial and temporal scales into assessments of ecological condition.
The landscape component of the Western Pilot study provides information that has multiple management implications. Regional Landscape Atlases and Landscape Data Browsers will be provided to assess the spatial distribution of landscape stressors on aquatic ecosystems across each region. This will assist regional managers in understanding how landscape conditions contribute to varying aquatic resource conditions. As such, the atlases also will contribute to formulation of specific management actions for different geographic locations within each region. The first step in providing regional atlases will be to test and demonstrate landscape assessment methodologies on sub-regional areas of high importance to each Region.
State of Oregon Study Area. The State of Oregon is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the states of Nevada and California on the south, Washington on the north, and Idaho on the east. The study area includes all of Oregon and those portions of watersheds in Oregon which extend into each of the four states bordering it. In most cases, these "boundary watersheds" radiate out from Oregon less than 40 km (25 mi.) into its neighboring states; although, a few watersheds do reach considerably further into Nevada and Idaho.