Social and scientific factors are deeply enmeshed in each other within the development and the use of ecological indicators (EI). Yet low research has assessed which factors contribute to selecting ecological indicators on the long-term. This article proposes to study the historical construction of EI by examining ecological, political, and social background of specific places where EI were dev...

The main goal of the present study was to develop an ecological integrity index for littoral wetland management and conservation in semiarid Mediterranean areas that have been highly impacted by agriculture, including the selection of pressure and state indicators at landscape and wetlands scales that reflect the status, condition, and trends of wetlands ecosystems. We used a causality framewor...

I review the distribution of ant genera in cold biomes of the northern hemisphere, and discuss opportunities and challenges in using ants as environmental, ecological, and biodiversity indicators in these biomes. I present five propositions that, if supported with future research, would allow ants to be used as biological indicators in north-temperate cold biomes: (1) Distribution of individual...

The ability to understand and ultimately predict ecosystem response to multiple pressures is paramount to successfully implement ecosystem-based management. Thresholds shifts and nonlinear patterns in ecosystem responses can be used to determine reference points that identify levels of a pressure that may drastically alter ecosystem status, which can inform management action. However, quantifyi...

EPA Grant Number: R82867505 Subproject: This is subproject number 05, established and managed by the Center Director under grant R828675 Center: Great Lakes Environmental Indicators Project Center Director: Gerald J. Niemi Title: Development and Evaluation of Chemical Indicators for Monitoring Ecological Risk Investigators: Deborah Swackhamer, Matthew Simcik Cooperators: David Mount, Gary Ankle...

Selecting indicators based on the characteristics and development trends of a given study area is essential for building a framework for assessing urban ecological security. However, few studies have focused on how to select the representative indicators systematically, and quantitative research is lacking. We developed an innovative quantitative modeling approach called the grey dynamic hierar...