Sustaining the World's Large Marine Ecosystems

3) Pollution and Ecosystem Health Module Indicators
In several LMEs, pollution and eutrophication have been important driving forces
of change in biomass yields. Assessment of the changing status of pollution and
health in an entire LME requires multiple-state comparisons of ecosystem
resilience and stability. To be healthy and sustainable, an ecosystem must
maintain its metabolic activity level and its internal structure and organization,
and it must resist external stress over time and space scales relevant to the
ecosystem (Costanza 1992).
The pollution and ecosystem health module measures pollution effects on the
ecosystem through the monitoring strategy of the US EPA; its pathobiological
examination of fish and fish tissue; and estuarine and nearshore monitoring of
contaminants and contaminant effects in the water column, substrate, and
selected groups of organisms. Where possible, bioaccumulation and trophic
transfer of contaminants are assessed, and critical life history stages and
selected food web organisms are examined for indicators of exposure to and
effects from contaminants, effects of impaired reproductive capacity, organ
disease, and contaminant-impaired growth. Assessments are made of
contaminant impacts at both species and population levels. Implementation of
protocols to assess the frequency and effect of harmful algal blooms, emergent
diseases, and multiple marine ecological disturbances (Sherman 2000) are
included in the pollution module. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has developed a suite of five coastal condition indices: water quality, sediment
quality, benthic communities, coastal habitat, and fish tissue contaminants, as
part of an ongoing collaborative effort with NOAA, the US Fish and Wildlife
Service, the US Geological Survey, and other agencies representing states and
tribes. EPA’s five pollution and ecosystem health indicators for LMEs and stoplight
assessments of the indicators are shown in Figure 18 (USEPA 2004).
The 2004 National Coastal Condition Report II (USEPA 2004) includes results
from the EPA’s analyses of coastal condition indicators and NOAA’s fish stock
assessments by LMEs aligned with the EPA’s national coastal assessment
regions. The EPA and NOAA are jointly introducing this approach to the
international GEF-supported LME projects, along with a methodology for nutrient
assessment. The indicators of pollution and ecosystem health, based on the
NOAA and EPA model used for monitoring changes in condition of US coastal
waters, include contaminant effects, trophic transfer of contaminants, frequency
and effect of harmful algal blooms, emergent diseases, and multiple marine
ecological disturbances (MMEDs) (Sherman 2000). The number and frequency
of MMEDs in an LME can be used as indicators of a decline in ecosystem health
and loss of essential services. Indicators for the Pollution and Ecosystem Health
Module also include conditions of habitats such as coral, seagrass and
mangroves. Increases in the sizes of oxygen deprived “dead zones” have been
documented in coastal areas world wide and serve as additional indicators of
declines in large marine ecosystem health.
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