You are here:
Evaluating a method of assessing coastal conditionusing benthic organisms
Citation:
FRAZIER, M. R., H. LEE, II, D. REUSSER, W. G. NELSON, M. Dutch, AND K. Welch. Evaluating a method of assessing coastal conditionusing benthic organisms. Presented at 2010 GEO Beijing Ministerial Summit, Beijing, CHINA, November 05, 2010.
Impact/Purpose:
Coastal regions represent only 17% of the total contiguous land area of the U.S., but they are home to more than 53% of the nation’s population.
Description:
Coastal regions represent only 17% of the total contiguous land area of the U.S., but they are home to more than 53% of the nation’s population. This puts tremendous pressure on our nation’s coasts, and threatens the resources that make these regions appealing to humans. The organisms living in the sediments can be used to assess the condition of coastal environments; however, translating organismal communities into metrics of condition that managers can use has been challenging. To address this, we have been exploring the use of an analytical method, RIVPACS, to determine whether it has the potential to be an effective benthic indicator for West Coast Estuaries and Near-Coastal Ecosystems.