A Framework for an Ecosystem Integrity Report Card

Abstract

543 E cosystem management is a structured process for society to define what ecological condition is desired at each part of a region and to develop and implement management policies designed to achieve that mosaic of desired sustainable ecological conditions (US MAB 1994, IEMTF 1995a, 1995b, Christensen et al. 1996, Harwell et al. 1996, Harwell 1998). Ideally, the establishment of ecological goals involves a close linkage between scientists and decision makers, in which science informs decision makers and the public by characterizing the ecological conditions that are achievable under particular management regimes, and decision makers make choices reflecting societal values, including issues of economics, politics, and culture. Because ecosystem management is adaptive—that is, management is adjusted if necessary to achieve goals—the general public, the scientific community, resource managers, and decision makers need to be routinely apprised of progress toward achieving the desired ecological goals, that is, they need a “report card” on ecosystem condition or integrity. The concept of report cards or performance measurements to describe progress toward environmental goals has evolved over the past few decades as environmental legislation and the appropriation of public funds for environmental restoration, preservation, and management have increased. Over this time, reports have expanded from measurement of the effects of single initiatives (e.g., land acquisition goals for parks and protected areas) and progress toward pollution reduction in single media (e.g., reduction of air or water emissions) to encompass the broader and longer-term regional ecosystem management and restoration approaches that have been developing in highly valued ecosystems throughout the country (e.g., the Greater Everglades, San Francisco Bay, Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Pacific Northwest). These holistic, often multi-agency efforts to maintain accountability for regional ecosystem integrity and the progress of restoration activities stem in part from the proactive desire of resource managers to maintain public interest, support, and, consequently, funding for long-term environmental restoration and management efforts. They also stem in part from specific legislative or regulatory requirements to engage the public in the ecosystem management process (e.g., EPA/EC 1995, 1996, Chesapeake Bay Program 1996, NSTC 1996a, 1996b) or from direct requests from Congress, A Framework for an Ecosystem Integrity Report Card