CORP Author |
Science Applications International Corp., Narragansett, RI. ;Versar, Inc., Columbia, MD. ;National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Rockville, MD.;Environmental Research Lab., Narragansett, RI. |
Abstract |
The report monitors the status and trends in the condition of the nation's near coastal waters, forests, wetlands, agro-ecosystems, surface waters, deserts and rangelands. The program is also intended to evaluate the effectiveness of Agency policies at protecting ecological resources occurring in these systems. Monitoring data collected for all ecosystems will be integrated for regional and national status and trends assessments. The near coastal component of EMAP consists of estuaries, coastal waters, and the Great Lakes. Near coastal ecosystems have been regionalized and classified, and an integrated sampling strategy has been developed. EPA and NOAA have agreed to coordinate and, to the extent possible, integrate the near coastal component of EMAP with the NOAA National Status and Trends Program. A demonstration project was conducted in estuaries of the mid-Atlantic region (Chesapeake Bay to Cape Cod) in the summer of 1990. In 1991, monitoring contined in mid-Atlantic estuaries and was initiated in estuaries of a portion of the Gulf of Mexico. |