National Assessment of Landscape Change and Impacts to Aquatic Resources: A 10-Year Strategic Plan for the Landscape Sciences Program

摘要

The 10-year strategic plan (the Plan) describes the rationale and approach forresearch activities proposed by the Landscape Ecology and Landscape Characterization Branches (Landscape Sciences Program) of the National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL). The 10-year goal of the Landscape Sciences Program is to conduct a national assessment of landscape change between the early 1970s and the early 2000s at relatively fine spatial scales (60-meter resolution) and to evaluate the consequences of observed change on aquatic resources, including streams and estuaries. An emphasis on aquatic resource endpoints is based on aquatic resources, including streams and estuaries. An emphasis on aquatic resource endpoints is based on legislative mandates and the important role that the EPA plays in monitoring and protecting these resources. However, the research strategy recognizes the importance of the terrestrial characteristics and processes in determining the condition of aquatic resources; therefore, many of the indicators being developed by the Landscape Sciences Program are terrestrial-based.