Citation:

Jones, K B., J D. Wickham, AND A C. Neale. INTEGRATING FIELD-BASED SAMPLING AND LANDSCAPE DATA FOR REGIONAL SCALE ASSESSMENTS: EXAMPLES FROM THE UNITED STATES MID-ATLANTIC REGION. Presented at Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) Symposium 2004, Newport, RI, May 3-7, 2004.

Impact/Purpose:

The primary objectives of this research are to:

Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;

Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;

Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;

Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;

Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.

This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.

Description:

Spatially explicit identification of status and changes in ecological conditions over large, regional areas is key to targeting and prioritizing areas for potential further study and environmental protection and restoration. A critical limitation to this point has been our ability to integrate field-based measures of ecological conditions, such as those being collected by the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), with spatially continuous landscape and biophysical data. Relatively new spatial data derived from satellite imagery and other sources, the development of statistical approaches and models, and geographic information systems make it possible to evaluate ecological conditions and changes at multiple scales over broad geographic regions. This presentation highlights results of three studies in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States where the aim of each of these studies was a regional scale assessment based on integration of field-based and spatially continuous data.

Although this work was reviewed by EPA and approved for publication, it may not necessarily reflect official Agency policy.

Record Details: