Laura Jackson

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U.S. E PA Of f ic e o f Res ea r c h a n d D ev e l o p men t

ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS

andGUIDELINES for APPLICATION

Laura Jackson, Biologist

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program

Research Triangle Park, NC




What is an Ecological Indicator?

INDICATORA sign or signal that relays a complex message

in a simplified and useful manner

ECOLOGICAL INDICATOR

A measure, or a collection of measures,

that describes the condition of an ecosystem

or one of its critical components




USAGE of ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS

PROBLEM FORMULATION

“What is the condition of our valued ecosystems?”

“Are conditions getting better or worse over time?”

“Which of our valued ecosystems is in the worst condition?”

“What stressors are associated with observed conditions?”

RISK MANAGEMENT

“Is our new policy resulting in the desired improvements?




Indicator Characteristics and Applications

• Chemical, Biological, or Physical

• Measurement, Metric, or Index

• Field Measure, Remotely-Sensed, or Model Output

• Intensive Site Study, Survey, or Inventory

• Aquatic, Terrestrial, or Multi-Media

• Status, Trend, Predictive, or Diagnostic

TYPE:

COMPLEXITY:

METHOD:

DESIGN:

ASSESSMENT:

MEDIUM:




BIOLOGICAL INDICES

• Fish

• Benthic Macroinvertebrates

• Periphyton

• Birds

• Amphibians # Reproductive Strategies

% Carnivores

% Omnivores

% Invertivores

# Trophic Strategies

Family, Species Richness

# Sensitive spp.

% Tolerants

Abundance

Example Metrics

NOW DEVELOPING INTO BIOCRITERIA

FOR STATE WATER QUALITY MONITORING




REMOTELY-SENSED INDICATORS

• Percent Land Cover

• Forest Fragmentation

• Percent Agriculture on Steep Slopes

• Density of Roads Crossing Streams

• Amount of Vegetated Riparian Zone

• Human Use Index




INDICATORS UNDER DEVELOPMENT

• Genetic Diversity

• Nutrient Cycling

• Coral Reef Indicators

• Submerged Aquatic Vegetation

• Watershed/Landscape Health

“STAR” Grants ProgramOffice of Research & Development




• EPA Regions 8, 9 & 10

• Stream, Estuarine, and

Landscape Indicators

• Statistical Survey Design

• Intensive Augmentation Areas• 1999 – 2004

• Technology Transfer to States

EPA Contacts:

Roger Blair (ORD, Corvallis, OR)

Janet Hashimoto (Region 9, San Francisco)

EMAP-West




Evaluation Guidelines for Ecological Indicators

PRESENT A CONSISTENT SET OF ISSUES FOR CONSULTATION

• During Indicator Development

• In Scientific Review

ESTABLISH A STANDARD PROCESS FOR

• ORD Indicator Researchers• Partners Developing Indicators for ORD Monitoring Programs

• External Indicator Researchers working with ORD Funds

Objectives:




Derivation of Guidelines

Compiled by the ORD Ecological Indicators Workgroup

• INDICATOR DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

(Environmental Monitoring & Assessment Program - EMAP)

• PRESSURE-STATE-RESPONSE FRAMEWORK

(Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development)

• GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE & RESULTS ACT

(U.S. Government)




Document Format

CHAPTER ONE

Description of 15 Evaluation Guidelines

CHAPTERS TWO – FOUR

Illustration of the Guidelines

With Ecological Indicators under Development

• Dissolved Oxygen Concentration

• Index of Benthic Condition

• Fish Community Index




1. CONCEPTUAL RELEVANCE

2. FEASIBILITY OF IMPLEMENTATION

3. RESPONSE VARIABILITY

4. INTERPRETATION AND UTILITY

Four Recommended Phases of the

Evaluation Process




Conceptual Relevance

Guideline 1:

RELEVANCE TO THE ASSESSMENT

Guideline 2:

RELEVANCE TO ECOLOGICAL FUNCTION




1: Relevance to the Assessment

ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

What is the Condition of Estuaries?

What Proportion of Estuarine Area

has Degraded Ecological Condition?

What Proportion of Estuarine Area

has Degraded Benthic Communities?

INDICATOR

Index of Benthic Condition




DISSOLVED OXYGENfrom wave action& photosynthesis

Sewage effluent

L i g h t e r f r e s h w a t e r

PHYTOPLANKTON B LOOM

thrives on nutrients

D.O. used up bymicroorganism respiration

D.O. trappedin lighter layer

Decomposition

HYPOXIA

FISH

able to avoidhypoxia

NUTRIENTS

released by bottom sediments

Runoff

Deadmaterialsettles

Decomposition of organicmatter in sediments

D.O. consumed

SHELLFISH

unable to escapehypoxia

2: Relevance to

Ecological Function

Dissolved Oxygen

Concentration



Conceptual



# Native Spp.

# Native Families

# Native Benthic Spp.

# Native Water Column Spp.

Abundance

# Sensitive Spp.

% Tolerants

% Non-natives

# Trophic Strategies

% Carnivores

% Invertivores

% Omnivores

% Herbivores

# Reproductive Strategies

% Clean Substrate Spawners

% Tolerant Spawners

LOW HIGHBIOTIC INTEGRITY

Range of Metric Sensitivities - Fish Community Index




Feasibility of Implementation

Guideline 3: DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Guideline 4: LOGISTICS

Guideline 5: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Guideline 6: QUALITY ASSURANCE

Guideline 7: MONETARY COSTS



0

20

40

60

80

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Stre am Le ngth (Channel Width Units)

F i s h S p e c

i e s

R i c h

n e s s

( % o

f M a x .

)

3: Methods - Fish Community Index




4: Logistics

ESTIMATE TYPE, TIME, AND EFFORT FOR:

• Site Access• Field Crew

• Vehicles

• Travel• Training

• Sampling Gear

• Data Transport

• Laboratory Facilities

• Laboratory Staff




5: Information Management

• Time to Validate and Analyze Data

• Hardware and Software Requirements

• Critical Data Sets

• Metadata Requirements

• Data and Sample Archival




6: Quality Assurance

Follow QA Procedures or Discard Data re:

• SAMPLE COLLECTION

• SAMPLE PROCESSING

• SAMPLE STORAGE

Perform QA Check for:

• EXTRACTING ORGANISMS FROM MEDIUM

• COUNTING AND IDENTIFYING SPECIES

Ex. For 10% of samples, calculate

# organisms originally sorted# organisms originally sorted + additional # found in re-sort

90-95% - Re-train technician <90% - Re-sort batch

x 100




7: Monetary Costs

• Salary• Lodging

• Travel

• Vehicles

• Sampling Equipment

• Laboratory Costs




Response Variability

Guideline 8: ESTIMATION OF ERROR

Guideline 9: WITHIN-SEASON VARIABILITY

Guideline 10: ANNUAL VARIABILITY

Guideline 11: SPATIAL VARIABILITY

Guideline 12: DISCRIMINATORY ABILITY



0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3

∆∆∆∆ D.O. (mg/L)

F r e q u e

n c y

Total N = 784

8: Estimation of ErrorDissolved Oxygen Concentration



0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1993 1994 1995

YEAR

P E R C E N T E R R O R Transcription

Species ID

Nocomis sp.Cottus sp.

Genus ID

8: Estimation of ErrorFish Community Index



9: Within-Year Temporal Variability




0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

89

10

28 30 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25

Date (July/August)

D i s s o l v e d

O x y g e n ( m g / L )

9: Within-Year Temporal Variability

Dissolved Oxygen Concentration



0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 : 0 0 P

M

2 : 0 0 P

M

3 : 0 0 P

M

4 : 0 0 P

M

5 : 0 0 P

M

6 : 0 0 P

M

7 : 0 0 P

M

8 : 0 0 P

M

9 : 0 0 P

M

1 0 : 0 0

P M

1 1 : 0 0

P M

1 2 : 0 0

P M

1 : 0 0 A

M

2 : 0 0 A

M

3 : 0 0 A

M

4 : 0 0 A

M

5 : 0 0 A

M

6 : 0 0 A

M

7 : 0 0 A

M

8 : 0 0 A

M

9 : 0 0 A

M

1 0 : 0 0

A M

1 1 : 0 0

A M

1 2 : 0 0

A M

1 : 0 0 P

M

Time

D . O .

( m g

/ L ) .

9: Within-Year Temporal Variability (Diurnal)

Dissolved Oxygen Concentration



-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Station

B e n t

h i c I n d e x

1991

1992

1993

1994

10: Across-Year Temporal Variability




AGGREGATED ECOREGIONS

P I E D

. / C . P L A

I N

V A L L

E Y

W . A P P

S .

B L U E

R I D

G E

C E N T

. A P P

S .

N . A P P

S .

R I D G

E P R

O P O R T I O N T O L E R A N T I N D

I V I D U A L S

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

11: Spatial Variability

Fish Community Index



0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

IBI Score

Native Species Richness

Native Family Richness

Total Abundance

Prop. Indiv. of Introduced species

Sensitive Species Richness

Benthic Species Richness

Water Column Species Richness

% individuals of tolerant species

% Individuals as Top Carnivores

% Individuals as Invertivores

% Individuals as Herbivores

% Individuals as Omnivores

No. Reproductive Strategies

Prop. Indiv. As Tolerant Spawners

Proportion of Extraneous Variance

SITE YEAR INTERACTION INDEX

12: Discriminatory Ability - Fish Community Index

U S E PA Of f ic e o f Res ea r c h a n d D ev e l o p men t




Interpretation and Utility

Guideline 13: DATA QUALITY OBJECTIVES

Guideline 14: ASSESSMENT THRESHOLDS

Guideline 15: LINKAGE TO MANAGEMENT ACTION



POWER TO DETECT TREND

Effect of Sample Size

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0 5 10 15 20

Years

P o w e r

n=60/yr

n=120/yr

n=240/yr

Magnitude=0.4%/yr

Year Variance=0

Alpha=0.1

Sample size

13: Data Quality Objectives




POWER TO DETECT TREND

Effect of Magnitude

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0 5 10 15 20

Years

P o w e r

0.2%/yr

0.3%/yr

0.4%/yr

0.6%/yr

n = 60 sites per yr

Year Variance=0

Alpha=0.1

Magnitude of trend

13: Data Quality Objectives




14: Assessment Thresholds




00.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0 20 40 60 80 100

INDICAT OR VALUE

P r o p .

R e s o u r c e

P o p u

l a t i o

n

CDF LCL (90%) UCL (90%)

15: Linkage to Management Action




0 10 20 30 40 50

Acid Mine Drainage

Acid Deposition

In-Stream Habitat

Nutrient Enrichment

Shoreline Habitat

Watershed & Nonpoint Source

Introduced Fish

Percent of Stream Miles Impacted

Linkage to Management Action - Fish Community Index




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Document Availability

For Electronic Copy and Ordering Information,

Please see EMAP Website:

http://www.epa.gov/emap/

Or Call 1-800-490-9198

And Request EPA Publication NumberEPA/620/R-99/005

Laura Jackson

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