Environmental Impact Research Program. Use of Habitat Evaluation Procedures in Estuarine and Coastal Marine Habitats

摘要

The Habitat Evaluation Procedures (hep) accounting system is suitable for application in estuaries. However, application of the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) component of HEP can be problematic because of the complex, dynamic nature of esturaries. Hep has not been applied frequently in estuarine settings. It is best known for its application in upland environments and secondly for its application in freshwater environments. The limited application of HEP in estuarine/coastal environments is probably due to two factors: the small number of models a available for estuarine or coastal marine species and the concern that species indigenous to estuarine and coastal marine habitats are inherently insensitive to changes in physical and chemical conditions used as variables in HSI models for these species. The difficulties in estuarine/coastal marine applications o HEP/ HSU that are a chemical or physical change may not be detectable, and a biotic response may not be detectable.