Urgent Need for Improved Methods for Monitoring River, Stream Ecology Identified

[Summary and Recommendations from a SETAC Pellston Workshop on In Situ Measures of Ecological Effects; Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management], 2007; Vol. 3(2):275-278

Newswise — Thirty-one scientists from 10 countries called upon the U.S. EPA, the European Union, and other countries to make greater investments in environmental monitoring programs that will improve the accuracy of information gathered in ecological assessments of watersheds and river systems. To date, monitoring approaches mandated by national environmental regulations and international treaties have relied on inaccurate environmental models and inadequate biological monitoring. In many cases, monitoring programs have failed to adequately identify degraded habitat and aquatic life most at risk.

According to research scientists convened by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), it is clear that field monitoring technologies have rapidly advanced over the 10 years concurrent with advances in internet communications, digital technology, and computational power. Monitoring tools reporting in real-time are now available that span a range of aquatic habitats, from marine to freshwater, from sediments to wetlands, that encompass an ever-widening range of species, and are sensitive to indicators of toxic or degraded conditions.

Scientists agreed that what has been largely lacking is a move toward the development of standardized approaches that are amenable to regulatory requirements, which increasingly demand that monitoring programs meet specific scientific standards and quality control procedures. In light of the recent international report on climate change that appears to confirm man's considerable impact on the world's ecology, scientists agreed that more sophisticated monitoring programs are urgently needed to detect ecological changes before they become irreversible.

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Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (IEAM) is the quarterly, international peer-reviewed journal of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). The journal's mission is to bridge the gap between applied science and environmental management, regulation, and decision-making.

SETAC is a global professional, nonprofit organization comprised of nearly 5,000 individuals from more than 70 countries in the fields of environmental chemistry and toxicology, biology, ecology, atmospheric sciences, health sciences, earth sciences, and environmental engineering. For more information, please visit http://www.setac.org.