Watchdogs for change: Environmental indicators are benchmarks for future planning
Ann Arbor, MI — Incremental changes to the environment may not be noticeable to most of us. But the domino effect of those little changes can snowball into a big problem that gets noticed only after it's too late.
Environmental indicators are benchmarks for the current conditions of the lakes coastal region and provide measurable endpoints to assess the success of future management, conservation, protection and restoration of this important freshwater resource.
"These indicators are vitally important now," said Jerry Niemi, lead researcher for the extensive Great Lakes Environmental Indicators project and center director at the University of Minnesota Duluth's Natural Resources Research Institute. "Information on indicators is legislatively mandated by the governments of the U.S. and Canada because of public demand to know the status of the Great Lakes ecosystems."
Resource management agencies with familiar acronymic names-the EPA, MPCA, DNR, and others-also need information on indicators to make sound decisions on the maintenance, conservation and protection of the lakes.
The list of stressors on our freshwater systems is long: fluctuating and declining lake levels, warming climate, expanding agricultural activity, invading exotic species, increasing human population density. What are the ongoing effects of these stressors on water quality, native amphibians, birds, diatoms, fish, bugs and wetland vegetation?
Understanding the link between a response in an indicator and the cause of that response will strengthen the case for restoration or for more thoughtful future planning decisions. The mission of the Natural Resources Research Institute is to foster the economic development of Minnesota's resources in an environmentally sound manner to promote private sector employment.
Original Publication Information
Forward "Environmental Indicators for the Coastal Region of the North American Great Lakes: Introduction and Prospectus," Gerald J. Niemi, John R. Kelly and Nicholas P. Danz in the latest issue (Volume 33, SI3, pp. 1-12) of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by the International Association for Great Lakes Research, 2007.
Contacts
For more information about the study, contact Gerald Niemi, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth, 5013 Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth, MN 55811; gniemi@nrri.umn.edu, (218) 720-4270.
For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; editor@iaglr.org; (608) 692-1076.
Links
Since 1967, IAGLR has served as the focal point for compiling and disseminating multidisciplinary knowledge on North America's Laurentian Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world and their watersheds. In part, IAGLR communicates this knowledge through publication of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, available to members in print and electronic form. A searchable archive of the journal is available online and includes the abstracts of articles from the journal's inception in 1975 through the most recent issue. In addition, complete articles are available to members who have signed up for an electronic subscription.