Shabeg S. Sandhu – författare

This volume is the proceedings of a symposium held on April 6-8, 1999, in San Francisco, California, USA, and sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP). EMAP is the primary program of the EPA's Office of Research and Development to advance the science of statistically-based ecosystem monitoring; and establish baseline conditions and trends of the nation's natural resources. The first volume in this series of EMAP-sponsored symposium proceedings addressed "Monitoring Ecological Condition at Regional Scales" (1998). The current proceedings was the result of the "EMAP Symposium on Western Ecological Systems" (1999), and presaged the new EMAP Western Pilot Study, which will include one third of the contiguous United States. The information found in these proceedings on the state of monitoring science, and existing monitoring programs undertaken by Federal and State agencies, academic institutions, tribal governments, and environmental protection interest groups helped to establish a starting point for embarking on the EMAP Western Pilot.This volume represents scientific and management approaches, and the results of monitoring and assessment in the western US ecosystems. The chapter topics include regional assessments, approaches to database design, landscape considerations, water quality and land use, and focuses on watersheds, lakes and rivers, and marine coastal areas. Publication of these proceedings constitutes a sound starting point for the assessment of the ecological resources in the western US and should facilitate collaborative efforts in the development and application of sound approaches to monitoring and assessment of ecological resources in the US and abroad.

As the coastal human population increases in the United States, there will likely be increasing environmental and socioeconomic pressures on our coastal and estuarine environments. Monitoring the condition of all our nation's coastal and estuarine ecosystems over the long term is more than any one program can accomplish on its own. Therefore, it is crucial that monitoring programs at all levels (local, state, and federal) co-operate in the collection, sharing, and use of environmental data. This volume is the proceedings of the Coastal Monitoring Through Partnerships symposium that was held in Pensacola, Florida in April of 2001, and was organized by the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), and the Council of State Governments (CSG). It contains papers that describe various multi-disciplinary coastal and estuarine environmental monitoring programmes, designed and implemented by using regional and national partnerships with federal and state agencies, academia, Native American tribes, and nongovernmental organizations.In addition, it includes papers of modelling and data management; monitoring and assessment of benthic communities; development of biological indicators and interlaboratory sediment comparisons; microbiological modelling and indicators; and monitoring and assessment of phytoplankton and submerged aquatic vegetation. There are many components involved in determining the overall impacts of anthropogenic stressors on coastal and estuarine waters. It will take strong partnerships like those described in this volume to ensure that we have healthy and sustainable coastal and estuarine environments, now and in the future.

The study of the relationship between environmental pollution and human health is in its infancy. The number of substances and mixtures that have been identified in uncontrolled hazardous waste sites or that have been in­ advertently released into the environment is large and data on how thes~ substances are modified as they interact with one another as they migrate through soil, air, and water are limited. There are also limits on our un­ derstanding of how these substances may be ingested, inhaled, or absorbed by people. The complexity of possible interactions between biological, chemical, and physical components in a given environment makes it virtually impossible to evaluate the potential for adverse biological effects ade­ quately in the laboratory. Other, more comprehensive methods which provide realistic and interpretable results must be used. Many scientists believe that humans represent the ultimate sentinel species of a toxic exposure re­ sUlting from environmental pollution, however such exposures may also se­ verely impact environmental health. There exists a wide variety of organ­ isms in the natural environment that could be used to provide an early warning for potential human health effects as well as to indicate adverse ecological effects. The issue of effective utilization of sentinel species for environment­ al monitoring is a rapidly developing area of research which has grown in importance during the last decade.

The study of the relationship between environmental pollution and human health is in its infancy. The number of substances and mixtures that have been identified in uncontrolled hazardous waste sites or that have been in­ advertently released into the environment is large and data on how thes~ substances are modified as they interact with one another as they migrate through soil, air, and water are limited. There are also limits on our un­ derstanding of how these substances may be ingested, inhaled, or absorbed by people. The complexity of possible interactions between biological, chemical, and physical components in a given environment makes it virtually impossible to evaluate the potential for adverse biological effects ade­ quately in the laboratory. Other, more comprehensive methods which provide realistic and interpretable results must be used. Many scientists believe that humans represent the ultimate sentinel species of a toxic exposure re­ sUlting from environmental pollution, however such exposures may also se­ verely impact environmental health. There exists a wide variety of organ­ isms in the natural environment that could be used to provide an early warning for potential human health effects as well as to indicate adverse ecological effects. The issue of effective utilization of sentinel species for environment­ al monitoring is a rapidly developing area of research which has grown in importance during the last decade.

As the coastal human population increases in the United States, there will likely be increasing environmental and socioeconomic pressures on our coastal and estuarine environments. Monitoring the condition of all our nation's coastal and estuarine ecosystems over the long term is more than any one program can accomplish on its own. Therefore, it is crucial that monitoring programs at all levels (local, state, and federal) cooperate in the collection, sharing, and use of environmental data. This volume is the proceedings of the Coastal Monitoring Through Partnerships symposium that was held in Pensacola, Florida in April of 2001, and was organized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), and the Council of State Governments (CSG). It contains papers that describe various multi-disciplinary coastal and estuarine environmental monitoring programs, designed and implemented by using regional and national partnerships with federal and state agencies, academia, Native American tribes, and nongovernmental organizations. In addition, it includes papers on modeling and data management; monitoring and assessment of benthic communities; development of biological indicators and interlaboratory sediment comparisons; microbiological modeling and indicators; and monitoring and assessment of phytoplankton and submerged aquatic vegetation. There are many components involved in determining the overall impacts of anthropogenic stressors on coastal and estuarine waters. It will take strong partnerships like those described in this volume to ensure that we have healthy and sustainable coastal and estuarine environments, now and in the future.

The monitoring of point sources by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the states, and the tribes has documented and helped reduce the levels of chemical stressors affecting our ecosystems. With the controls on point sources reducing chemical contamination, new environmental challenges associated with nonpoint sources have emerged. To adequately deal with these new problems, EPA's Office of Research and Development recognized the need to develop an overall under­ standing of the condition of our ecological resources, the trends in their condition, and the stressors affecting these systems on a broad scale. Toward this end, the En­ vironmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) was established by EPA and has been strategically developing the scientific tools and techniques to monitor and assess the status and trends of aquatic ecosystems. EMAP scientists have developed new indicators and probability-based de­ signs to fill data gaps in the development of regional-scale assessments of our aquatic resources, as required in the Clean Water Act. We have a scientifically de­ fensible approach that allows: 100 percent coverage of the aquatic resources within broad geographic areas and the formulation of reference 'conditions for es­ tablishing the health of these resources. The use of these indicators and designs were successfully demonstrated in the landscapes, streams, and estuaries of the mid-Atlantic states as part of the Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAlA).

The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program was created by EPA to develop the capability for tracking the changing conditions of our natural resources and to give environmental policy the advantages ofa sound scientific understanding of trends. Former EPA Administrators recognized early that contemporary monitoring programs could not even quantify simple unknowns like the number of lakes suffering from acid rain, let along determine if national control policies were benefiting these lakes. Today, adding to acidification impacts are truly complex problems such as determining the effects of climate change, of increases in ultraviolet light, toxic chemicals, eutrophication and critical habitat loss. Also today, the Government Performance and Results Act seeks to have agencies develop performance standards based on results rather than simply on levels of programmatic activities. The charge to EMAP of ecosystems is, therefore, the same today as it was a with respect to measuring the condition decade ago. We welcome the increasing urgency for sound scientific monitoring methods and data by efforts to protect and improve the environment. Systematic nationwide monitoring of natural resources is more than anyone program can accomplish, however. In an era of declining budgets, it is crucial that monitoring programs at all levels of government coordinate and share environmental data. EMAP resources are dwarfed by the more than $500 million spent on federal monitoring activities each year.

The monitoring of point sources by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the states, and the tribes has documented and helped reduce the levels of chemical stressors affecting our ecosystems. With the controls on point sources reducing chemical contamination, new environmental challenges associated with nonpoint sources have emerged. To adequately deal with these new problems, EPA''s Office of Research and Development recognized the need to develop an overall under­ standing of the condition of our ecological resources, the trends in their condition, and the stressors affecting these systems on a broad scale. Toward this end, the En­ vironmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) was established by EPA and has been strategically developing the scientific tools and techniques to monitor and assess the status and trends of aquatic ecosystems. EMAP scientists have developed new indicators and probability-based de­ signs to fill data gaps in the development of regional-scale assessments of our aquatic resources, as required in the Clean Water Act. We have a scientifically de­ fensible approach that allows: 100 percent coverage of the aquatic resources within broad geographic areas and the formulation of reference ''conditions for es­ tablishing the health of these resources. The use of these indicators and designs were successfully demonstrated in the landscapes, streams, and estuaries of the mid-Atlantic states as part of the Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAlA).

The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program was created by EPA to develop the capability for tracking the changing conditions of our natural resources and to give environmental policy the advantages ofa sound scientific understanding of trends. Former EPA Administrators recognized early that contemporary monitoring programs could not even quantify simple unknowns like the number of lakes suffering from acid rain, let along determine if national control policies were benefiting these lakes. Today, adding to acidification impacts are truly complex problems such as determining the effects of climate change, of increases in ultraviolet light, toxic chemicals, eutrophication and critical habitat loss. Also today, the Government Performance and Results Act seeks to have agencies develop performance standards based on results rather than simply on levels of programmatic activities. The charge to EMAP of ecosystems is, therefore, the same today as it was a with respect to measuring the condition decade ago. We welcome the increasing urgency for sound scientific monitoring methods and data by efforts to protect and improve the environment. Systematic nationwide monitoring of natural resources is more than anyone program can accomplish, however. In an era of declining budgets, it is crucial that monitoring programs at all levels of government coordinate and share environmental data. EMAP resources are dwarfed by the more than $500 million spent on federal monitoring activities each year.