Analytical Needs What is Available What is Needed G.P. Patil Atlantic Slop Consortium: All-Hands Meeting Harpers Ferry, WV 15-17 September 2004 Analytical Needs What is Available What is Needed G.P. Patil

Overall Goals and Objectives Barbara Levinson International Journal of Remote Sensing Special Issue on Remote Sensing and GIS for Ecosystem Analysis EPA ORD Ecosystem Protection Program Provide scientific understanding to measure, model, maintain, and/or restore, at multiple scales, the integrity and sustainability of highly valued ecosystem now and in the future EPA STAR EaGLe Program Develop new widely applicable indicators of integrity and sustainability for specific ecological entities and then test their applicability across regions Incorporation of these indicators into long-term monitoring programs is the desired outcome.

Barbara Levinson – Continued Develop indicators/ procedures useful for evaluating the health/condition for important coastal natural resources, e.g., lakes, streams, coastal wetlands, etc. Develop indicators, indices, procedures for evaluating the integrated condition of multiple resources/ ecosystem types, e.g., bird community index reflecting the combined terrestrial and aquatic community within a watershed Develop landscape measures that characterize landscape attributes and serve as quantitative indicators of a range of environmental endpoints, such as, water quality or watershed quality. Develop nested suites of indicators that can both quantify the health/ condition of a resource and identify its primary stressors across a range of scales

Atlantic Slope Consortium: A Vision Statement Robert Brooks And Denice Wardrop Using a universe of watersheds, covering a range of social choices, we ask two questions: How “good” can the environment be, given those social choices? What is the intellectual model of condition within those choices, i.e., what are the causes of condition and what are the steps for improvement? Accomplish within the group dynamics spirit of : form, storm, reform, norm, perform, and inform (Kent Thornton).

The Concept of Nodes A circle with landscape properties attributable to a point Where? At stream convergences Incorporates description of stream complexity More circles in areas of complex drainage

D.H. Wardrop, J.A. Bishop, G.P. Patil, W. Myers, M. Easterling, and Use of Landscape and Land Use Parameters for Classification and Characterization of Watersheds in the Mid-Atlantic across Five Physiographic Provinces D.H. Wardrop, J.A. Bishop, G.P. Patil, W. Myers, M. Easterling, and R.P. Brooks

Resulting Process Informative Define Watershed Types Representative Compile Frequency Distributions Consensus Designate Sampling Design Individual Judgement Distribute Candidate Watersheds

Ternary Plot Description Require a fuller description of departure from reference than “disturbed” Describes land use via the three main land cover types Can be used at any spatial extent (as can land cover %)

Nodal Constellations and Variance Many ways to be a “moderately” disturbed watershed Addresses disparity of land covers within a watershed; effective distances may be different Scaling issues can be explored at a future date

Median Slope Rough indicator of connection between land use and aquatic resources Surrogate for ability to produce stress; e.g., steep slopes have more rapid runoff, minimal contact time for remediation and/or impact Forested watersheds occur on both steep and low slopes, changing amount of stress produced, as well as susceptibility to regional stressors (e.g., atmospheric deposition)

Factors for Classifying Watersheds % Land use (forested, agricultural, urban) in HUC 14 watershed % Land use (forested, agricultural, urban) in 1-km radius node Nodal variance Median slope

Clustering Analysis should follow vision statement Clustered first on land uses (social choices) and slope (susceptibility of resource to land use) “Binned” on research question (many ways to be a mixed watershed) Other “binning” possible

High Forest Low Forest, High Ag Moderate Forest Moderate Ag High Urban High Slope Low Slope Low Slope Moderate Ag High Urban Moderate Slope Low Slope High Nodal Var Low Nodal Var

Results Six watershed classes identified: Forested, high slope Forested, low slope Agricultural Urban Mixed, low nodal variance Mixed, high nodal variance

Does it agree with process? Informative: Six watershed categories were presented “representing a range of social choices” Representative: Frequency distributions were evaluated Consensus: Buy-in at meeting Individual Judgement: Watersheds were double and triple-picked

Lessons Learned Be true to the project vision statement! Future lines of investigation: How do we articulate historical paths on ternary plots? Are mixed land cover watersheds with high nodal variance indicative of a lack of planning efforts?

Ecohealth Special Issue On Wetland Indicators Guest Editors: Rob Brooks And G P Patil -A Vision For The Special Issue- Investigators developing and testing ecological indicators on the condition of coastal or inland wetlands are invited to submit original manuscripts. Papers fostering the integration of condition assessments across various types of aquatic habitats or “waters”, and addressing biological, chemical, and physical dimensions, are encouraged. With this issue, we wish to demonstrate the next generation of ecological indicators is ready for use in wetlands and related habitats. This issue will make a significant contribution to the literature. Final date for receipt of manuscripts-Sep 30 2004-peer review and editing Oct-Dec 2004, publication in 2005.