A Review of the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends Program The Draft Detailed Program (1995) / Chapter Skim
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2 PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
2 PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Pages 23-38
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From page 23... ...
· Determination of magnitudes of exposure and response to contaminants that affect key trust species at the regional level. · Determination of the status and trends of contaminant impacts on FWS trust lands within a sampling network consisting of a combination of ecoregions, habitats, and hydrologic units.
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From page 24... ...
ENTIFY PROBLEMS WELL ENOUGH AND EARLY ENOUGH TO BE USEFUL 1:N RELATION TO THE GOALS OF FWS? Several general issues are involved in evaluating the adequacy of the Biomon~toring of Environmental Status and Trends Program to identify existing and emerging problems on trust lands and in Oust species.
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From page 25... ...
Problem Identification Characteristic Habitat 1 Select Contaminant Assessment Area r Apply Appropriate Methods 1 No ~ tificat/f | Yes Repeat Process Next Cycle Identify Sources and Pathways Yes /Specifi: Contaminant \ Identified / \ \/ Select Tier 2 Methods / \/ Investigation~ No L No l Apply Tier 1 Screening Methods / / Problem \ \Detected7.: Yes>/ y /urth~ < Resolution > Seeded / Repeat Process Next Cycle Figure2-1 Contaminant-problemidentification process. (Source: redrawn from FWS, 1993.)
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From page 26... ...
4 The proposed resource-classification scheme appears technically feasible, but demonstration studies are needed for proposed measurements 5 The program is limited to FWS-managed lands and to legislatively mandated trust species. The program addresses biodiversity issues to the extent that they are relevant to FWS lands.
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From page 27... ...
The program cannot be effectively implemented beyond single refuges without consideration of these scaling issues. The process of identifying local contaminant problems is the only aspect of the Biomonitonng of Environmental Status and Trends Program that has been developed in detail.
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From page 28... ...
Although systematic monitoring is necessary for documenting contaminant-related problems, observations by refuge personnel that spend time on trust land observing trust species are critical for successful problem identification. Historically, problems have usually been identified by people In the field.
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From page 29... ...
Ecological Action Levels . Decision-making in the Biomonitonng of Environmental Status and Trends Program will be driven by EALs.
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From page 30... ...
In these cases, several types of ecosystems need to be evaluated for a representative species. The trust-species component of the Biomonitonng of Environmental Status and Trends Program proposes to select specific "key" trust species representative of the full range of species included in the FWS mandate and to monitor the exposures and responses of these species to toxic substances throughout their ranges.
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From page 31... ...
WILL THE PROGRAM BE ABLE TO DEVELOP INFORMATION TO DETERMINE WHICH TRUST RESOURCES ARE DETERIORATING OR IMPROVING ON A NATIONAL, REGIONAL, OR LOCAL SCALE? Two components of the Biomonitor~ng of Environmental Status and Trends Program deal with status and trends of FWS trust lands and status and trends of key-species habitats.
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From page 32... ...
Status and Trends on Trust Lands The trust-lands component is to be a stratified random-sampling scheme that will provide regional and national assessments of the contaminant condition of FWS lands and statistically sound analyses to distinguish contaniinant-induced changes from natural fluctuations. Condition measures are to be drawn from the same lines of evidence used in the problem-identification component: analytical chemistry, toxicity tests, biological markers, and community structurefunction relationships.
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From page 33... ...
~ j~ GO ~ |~ ~ii ~ _= jveruse5 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~7~. J - - - This table describes how well the Biomon~toring of Environmental Status and Trends Program addresses problem identification for different land-ownership categones.
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From page 34... ...
The Great Lakes Herring Gull Program is in many ways similar to the trust-species component of the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends Program, but the former's objectives are much more tightly focused than the latter's. The Great [Lakes Hernng Gull Program was Implemented after a problem was detected, and it is used to monitor changes in toxic chemicals In the environment; this is different from what the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends Program proposes-broad-scale monitoring not related to hypothesis-testing.
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From page 35... ...
Several biologically based federal monitoring programs already exist. Although sharing of data and coordination of efforts might strengthen all programs, the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends Program should be grounded in h-Ypothesis-testing and analysis of how policy modifications influence toxic substances on trust resources.
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From page 36... ...
The committee concludes that the component of the Biomonitonng of Environmental Status an Trends Program concerning status and trends on trust lands as proposed in the draft detailed plan is not viable because scale. Problem detection relies on massive sampling.
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From page 37... ...
Recommendation 2-~: The current National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program should be upgraded to include a broad range of contaminant-exposure and -effect indicators, which should then be folded into the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends Program. Recommendation 2-9: A detailed sampling network plan for the status and trends of contaminants on trust lands should be developed, as outlined in this report.
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From page 38... ...
Recommendation 2-~: Before Implementation of the sampling network for the status and trends of key-species habitats, specific measurements and statistical-design criteria for data to be obtained from partners should be identified. Implementation should proceed only if parmers are willing to provide data according to specifications provided to them by the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends Program.
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