1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910778640103321

Titolo

Ecological indicators for the nation [[electronic resource] /] / Committee to Evaluate Indicators for Monitoring Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology [and] Water Science and Technology Board, Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, National Research Council

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Washington, D.C., : National Academy Press, c2000

ISBN

0-309-17247-0

0-309-51554-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (199 p.)

Disciplina

363.7/063/0973

Soggetti

Indicators (Biology)

Environmental monitoring

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-148) and index.

Nota di contenuto

""Front Matter""; ""Preface""; ""Acknowledgment of Reviewers""; ""Contents""; ""Executive Summary""; ""1 Introduction""; ""2 The Empirical and Conceptual Foundations of Indicators""; ""3 A Framework for Indicator Selection""; ""4 Indicators for National Ecological Assessments""; ""5 Local and Regional Indicators""; ""References""; ""Appendix A Variability, Complexity, and the Design of Sampling Procedures""; ""Appendix B Markov Matrices of Landscape Change""; ""Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff""; ""Index""

Sommario/riassunto

Environmental indicators, such as global temperatures and pollutant concentrations, attract scientists' attention and often make the headlines. Equally important to policymaking are indicators of the ecological processes and conditions that yield food, fiber, building materials and ecological "services" such as water purification and recreation.This book identifies ecological indicators that can support U.S. policymaking and also be adapted to decisions at the regional and local levels. The committee describes indicators of land cover and productivity, species diversity, and other key ecological processes--explaining why each indicator is useful, what models support the



indicator, what the measured values will mean, how the relevant data are gathered, how data collection might be improved, and what effects emerging technologies are likely to have on the measurements. The committee reviews how it arrived at its recommendations and explores how the indicators can contribute to policymaking. Also included are interesting details on paleoecology, satellite imagery, species diversity, and other aspects of ecological assessment. Federal, state, and local decisionmakers, as well as environmental scientists and practitioners, will be especially interested in this new book.