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Monitoring Ecological Condition at Regional Scales pp 107–118Cite as

Diatom Indicators of Stream and Wetland Stressors in a Risk Management Framework

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Abstract

Ecological risk assessment and risk management call for “state-of-the-science” methods and sound scientific assessments of ecosystem health and stressor effects. In this paper recent developments of periphyton indicators of biotic integrity and ecosystem stressors of streams and wetlands are related in a framework of ecological metrics that can be used to quantify ‘risk assessment and risk management options. Many periphyton metrics have been employed in past assessments of water quality and a periphyton indices of biotic integrity has been applied by the state of Kentucky. In addition, the sensitivity of species composition of periphytic diatom assemblages has been shown to respond predictably to ecological stressors so that specific pH, conductivity, and total phosphorus in wetlands and streams can be inferred with weighted average indices. Inference of nutrient conditions by diatom indicators of total phosphorus is shown to have sufficient precision to be a valuable complement to one-time measurement of highly variable total phosphorus in streams. Quantitative indices of sustainability and restorability of ecosystem integrity are proposed, respectively, as the changes in ecological conditions that can occur without significant change in ecological integrity or changes that are necessary to restore ecological integrity.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40292, USA

    R. Jan Stevenson

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  1. R. Jan Stevenson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

    Shabeg Sandhu  & Laura Jackson  & 

  2. National Center for Environmental Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA

    Kay Austin

  3. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Charleston, SC, USA

    Jeffrey Hyland

  4. Atlantic Ecology Division National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Narrangansett, RI, USA

    Brian Melzian

  5. Gulf Ecology Division National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf Breeze, FL, USA

    Kevin Summers

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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Stevenson, R.J. (1998). Diatom Indicators of Stream and Wetland Stressors in a Risk Management Framework. In: Sandhu, S., Jackson, L., Austin, K., Hyland, J., Melzian, B., Summers, K. (eds) Monitoring Ecological Condition at Regional Scales. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4976-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4976-1_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6089-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4976-1

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