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POLLUTION AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH - ASSESSING ECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS
Citation:
Summers, J K. POLLUTION AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH - ASSESSING ECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS. Presented at White Water to Blue Water International Symposium, Miami, FL, March 22-26, 2004.
Description:
Summers, Kevin. 2004. Pollution and Ecosystem Health - Assessing Ecological Condition of Coastal Ecosystems. Presented at the White Water to Blue Water (WW2BW) Miami Conference, 21-26 March 2004, Miami, FL. 1 p. (ERL,GB R973).
Throughout the coastal regions and Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) of the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Greater Caribbean, pollution continues to be a major cause of the degradation of the condition of our coastal resources. While some methods and approaches exist to evaluate the "health" of a specific location, few of these methods can be adapted to examine "health" or condition at larger scales such as regions or nations. The development of survey designs, credible indicators, and analytical methods that provide an ability to evaluate coastal condition at the state, regional and national level, simultaneously, are needed to address legislative mandates, assess the success of environmental policies and protect coastal ecosystems. Coupling inshore assessments of condition with offshore assessment of fisheries resources addresses an overall objective of sustainable health rather than addressing site-specific local environmental problems without examining the effect of the change on adjacent ecosystems. To provides these large-scale assessments, indicators and indices must be developed to represent the condition of biota (plankton, benthos, fish) and their relationships with human-induced stresses (contamination, eutrophication, habitat destruction, overfishing). The development of a flexible, yet comprehensive and consistent, evaluative approach to condition assessment that could be applied throughout the coastal ecosystem of the US, Mexico, Central America and the Greater Caribbean would provide the tools necessary to determine the causes of degradation and assist in the protection of vital coastal ecosystems.