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RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF CRITERIA FOR HABITAT ALTERATIONS
Citation:
Jordan, S J. RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF CRITERIA FOR HABITAT ALTERATIONS. Presented at EPA Science Forum, Washington, DC, June 1-3, 2004.
Description:
Many anthropogenic activities exert their influence on fish, shellfish and aquatic-dependent wildlife by affecting habitats. In fact, habitat alteration is one of the most important contributors to declines in ecological resources in North America. Habitat loss and degradation are frequently identified as the cause of failure of aquatic systems to achieve their designated uses, and are a major cause of species endangerment. The U.S. EPA is thus renewing a focus on habitat issues, and is committed to developing approaches for setting habitat criteria that are protective of fish, shellfish, and aquatic-dependent wildlife populations. The NHEERL Aquatic Stressors Framework established a goal "to provide the scientific basis for assessing the role of essential habitat in maintaining healthy populations of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and the ecosystems upon which they depend." The major purpose of the research to be discussed in this session is to inform the development of criteria to protect living aquatic resources from degradation due to habitat alteration. The NHEERL Ecology Divisions are conducting research that will (1) synthesize habitat quantity, quality, or arrangement, and (2) quantitatively relate these stressors to fish, shellfish, or wildlife. This research will focus on coastal marshes, estuaries, and nearshore habitats, at scales ranging from habitat patches and habitat mosaics up to and including entire coastal ecosystems. In this session, speakers from the Ecology Divisions will present concepts, models, and data relevant to the altered habitat research. The expected outcomes of the session are (1) information exchange among USEPA offices, laboratories, centers and regions, (2) focused discussions of research concepts, methods, and findings, and (3) an enhanced national perspective on altered habitat research.
Speakers will include scientists from each of the Ecology Divisions (7-8 in total) led by Giancarlo Cicchetti, Ph.D. and Stephen J. Jordan, Ph.D. Cicchetti is the national coordinator for altered habitat research; his background and expertise include the effects of inshore habitat alterations on fish and shellfish, system-level effects of nutrient overenrichment on near-bottom DO, remote sensing, underwater imagery, aerial imagery, sediment profile imagery, quantitative fish ecology, and benthic invertebrate ecology. Jordan has over 20 years of professional experience in estuarine ecology, including many publications on fisheries, fish and shellfish habitat, and water quality in estuaries.