An Ecological Assessment of Western Streams and Rivers

An Ecological Assessment of Western Streams and Rivers

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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This report presents an ecological assessment of non-tidal streams and rivers across twelve states of the western U.S., based on the results of a unique and experimental monitoring program implemented through the U.S. EPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) during the years 2000-2004. The two major objectives were to document the overall condition of the vast network of streams and rivers of the western U.S. and to demonstrate the utility and flexibility of an EMAP-like approach to environmental monitoring and assessment at this regional scale. The assessment is divided into two major categories. The first is the measurement of the ecological condition of streams and rivers in the West by direct measurements of their resident biological assemblages: aquatic vertebrates and benthic macroinvertebrates. The second is an assessment of the relative importance of potential stressors on those assemblages, based on direct measures of their chemical, biological and physical habitat.


Water Quality

Water Quality

Author: J. Kevin Summers

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2020-07-29

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 1789855772

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Water Quality – Science, Assessments and Policy examines many of the scientific issues; national, regional and local assessment practices and results; and national policy issues related to water quality. Chapters focus on three areas: water quality parameters, water quality treatments, and water quality assessments. This book provides a basic understanding of water quality issues and practical examples of their solution.


Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems

Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1992-01-01

Total Pages: 580

ISBN-13: 9780309045346

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Aldo Leopold, father of the "land ethic," once said, "The time has come for science to busy itself with the earth itself. The first step is to reconstruct a sample of what we had to begin with." The concept he expressedâ€"restorationâ€"is defined in this comprehensive new volume that examines the prospects for repairing the damage society has done to the nation's aquatic resources: lakes, rivers and streams, and wetlands. Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems outlines a national strategy for aquatic restoration, with practical recommendations, and features case studies of aquatic restoration activities around the country. The committee examines: Key concepts and techniques used in restoration. Common factors in successful restoration efforts. Threats to the health of the nation's aquatic ecosystems. Approaches to evaluation before, during, and after a restoration project. The emerging specialties of restoration and landscape ecology.


An Ecological Assessment of the United States Mid-Atlantic Region

An Ecological Assessment of the United States Mid-Atlantic Region

Author: K. Bruce Jones

Publisher:

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13:

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"The assessment was done using measurements derived from satellite imagery and spatial data bases. The information presented in this atlas is intended to help the reader visualize and understand the changing conditions across the region and how the pattern of conditions can be used as a context for community-level situations. This atlas was developed as part of the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) and is part of a larger, multi-organizational effort to assess environmental condition in the mid-Atlantic region."--From the publisher.


Monitoring Ecological Condition in the Western United States

Monitoring Ecological Condition in the Western United States

Author: Shabeg S. Sandhu

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 9401143439

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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).


Assessing the Ecological Integrity of Running Waters

Assessing the Ecological Integrity of Running Waters

Author: M. Jungwirth

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 491

ISBN-13: 9401141649

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The assessment of the ecological integrity of running waters is a prerequisite to an understanding of the effects of human alterations. The evaluation of degradation processes provides key information on how to avoid further negative impacts. The success of future conservation, mitigation and restoration activities will rely on sound assessment methodologies and their ecological relevance and applicability. Assessment methodologies are therefore an integral part of sustainable river management. This book synthesizes and discusses state-of-the-art experiences in assessment methodologies. Including the latest knowledge on structures, processes and functions of running waters as a fundamental basis for developing adequate assessment methods, the book focuses on method development, application, and in particular on integrated assessment methods. This book is directed at scientists and managers with the aim of more effective preservation, restoration and maintenance of the ecological integrity of running water ecosystems.


The Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis

The Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis

Author: James H. Thorp

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2010-07-27

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 0080888003

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This book presents the most comprehensive model yet for describing the structure and functioning of running freshwater ecosystems. Riverine Ecosystems Synthesis (RES) is a result of combining several theories published in recent decades, dealing with aquatic and terrestrial systems. New analyses are fused with a variety of new perspectives on how river network ecosystems are structured and function, and how they change along longitudinal, lateral, and temporal dimensions. Among these novel perspectives is a dramatically new view of the role of hydrogeomorphic forces in forming functional process zones from headwaters to the mouths of great rivers. Designed as a useful tool for aquatic scientists worldwide whether they work on small streams or great rivers and in forested or semi-arid regions, this book will provide a means for scientists to understand the fundamental and applied aspects of rivers in general and includes a practical guide and protocols for analyzing individual rivers. Specific examples of rivers in at least four continents (Africa, Australia, Europe and North America) serve to illustrate the power and utility of the RES concept. Develops the classic, seminal article in River Research and Applications, "A Model of Biocomplexity in River Networks Across Space and Time" which introduced the RES concept for the first time A guide to the practical analysis of individual rivers, extending its use from pristine ecosystems to modern, human-modified rivers An essential aid both to the study fundamental and applied aspects of rivers, such as rehabilitation, management, monitoring, assessment, and flow manipulation of networks


Environmental Flow Assessment

Environmental Flow Assessment

Author: John G. Williams

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-06-10

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 1119217369

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Provides critiques of current practices for environmental flow assessment and shows how they can be improved, using case studies. In Environmental Flow Assessment: Methods and Applications, four leading experts critique methods used to manage flows in regulated streams and rivers to balance environmental (instream) and out-of-stream uses of water. Intended for managers as well as practitioners, the book dissects the shortcomings of commonly used approaches, and offers practical advice for selecting and implementing better ones. The authors argue that methods for environmental flow assessment (EFA) can be defensible as well as practicable only if they squarely address uncertainty, and provide guidance for doing so. Introductory chapters describe the scientific and social reasons that EFA is hard, and provide a brief history. Because management of regulated streams starts with understanding freshwater ecosystems, Environmental Flow Assessment: Methods and Applications includes chapters on flow and organisms in streams. The following chapters assess standard and emerging methods, how they should be tested, and how they should (or should not) be applied. The book concludes with practical recommendations for implementing environmental flow assessment. Describes historical and recent trends in environmental flow assessment Directly addresses practical difficulties with applying a scientifically informed approach in contentious circumstances Serves as an effective introduction to the relevant literature, with many references to articles in related scientific fields Pays close attention to statistical issues such as sampling, estimation of statistical uncertainty, and model selection Includes recommendations for methods and approaches Examines how methods have been tested in the past and shows how they should be tested today and in the future Environmental Flow Assessment: Methods and Applications is an excellent book for biologists and specialists in allied fields such as engineering, ecology, fluvial geomorphology, environmental planning, landscape architecture, along with river managers and decision makers.