Restoring life in running waters : better biological monitoring / James R. Karr, Ellen W. Chu.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-196) and index.

List of Figures, Tables, and Boxes -- Acknowledgments -- Life in Running Waters -- SECTION I. Aquatic Resources Are Still Declining -- Premise 1: Water Resources Are Losing Their Living Components -- Premise 2: ''Clean Water'' Is Not Enough -- Premise 3: Biological Monitoring Is Essential to Protect Biological Resources -- Premise 4: ''Health'' and ''Integrity'' Are Meaningful for Environmental Management -- SECTION II. Changing Waters and Changing Views Led to Biological Monitoring -- Premise 5: Changing Waters and a Changing Society Call for Better Assessment -- Premise 6: Biological Monitoring Detects Biological Changes Caused by Humans -- Premise 7: Ecological Risk Assessment and Risk Management Depend on Biological Monitoring -- SECTION III. Multimetric Indexes Convey Biological Information -- Premise 8: Understanding Biological Responses Requires Measuring across Degrees of Human Influence -- Premise 9: Only a Few Biological Attributes Provide Reliable Signals about Biological Condition -- Premise 10: Graphs Reveal Biological Responses to Human Influence -- Premise 11: Similar Biological Attributes Are Reliable Indicators in Diverse Circumstances -- Premise 12: Tracking Complex Systems Requires a Measure That Integrates Multiple Factors -- Premise 13: Multimetric Biological Indexes Incorporate Levels from Individuals to Landscapes -- Premise 14: Metrics Are Selected to Yield Relevant Biological Information at Reasonable Cost -- Premise 15: Multimetric Indexes Are Built From Proven Metrics and a Scoring System -- Premise 16: The Statistical Properties of Multimetric Indexes Are Known -- Premise 17: Multimetric Indexes Reflect Biological Responses to Human Activities -- Premise 18: How Biology and Statistics Are Used Is More Important Than Taxon -- Premise 19: Sampling Protocols Are Well Defined for Fishes and Invertebrates -- Premise 20: The Precision of Sampling Protocols Can Be Estimated by Evaluating the Components of Variance -- Premise 21: Multimetric Indexes Are Biologically Meaningful -- Premise 22: Multimetric Protocols Can Work in Environments Other Than Streams -- SECTION IV. For a Robust Multimetric Index, Avoid Common Pitfalls -- Premise 23: Properly Classifying Sites Is Key -- Premise 24: Avoid Focusing Primarily on Species -- Premise 25: Measuring the Wrong Things Sidetracks Biological Monitoring -- Premise 26: Field Work Is More Valuable Than Geographic Information Systems -- Premise 27: Sampling Everything Is Not the Goal -- Premise 28: Putting Probability-based Sampling Before Defining Metrics Is a Mistake -- Premise 29: Counting 100-individual Subsamples Yields Too Few Data for Multimetric Assessment -- Premise 30: Avoid Thinking In Regulatory Dichotomies -- Premise 31: Reference Condition Must Be Defined Properly -- Premise 32: Statistical Decision Rules Are No Substitute for Biological Judgment -- Premise 33: Multivariate Statistical Analyses Often Overlook Biological Knowledge -- Premise 34: Assessing Habitat Cannot Replace Assessing the Biota -- SECTION V. Many Criticisms of Multimetric Indexes Are Myths -- Myth 1: ''Biology Is Too Variable To Monitor'' -- Myth 2: ''Biological Assessment Is Circular'' -- Myth 3: ''We Can't Prove that Humans Degrade Living Systems Without Knowing the Mechanism'' -- Myth 4: "Indexes Combine and Thus Lose Information'' -- Myth 5: ''Multimetric Indexes Aren't Effective Because Their Statistical Properties Are Uncertain'' -- Myth 6: ''A Nontrivial Effort Is Required to Calibrate the Index Regionally'' -- Myth 7: ''The Sensitivity of Multimetric Indexes Is Unknown'' -- SECTION VI. The Future Is Now -- Premise 35: We Can and Must Translate Biological Condition into Regulatory Standards -- Premise 36: Citizens Are Changing Their Thinking Faster Than Bureaucracies -- Premise 37: Can We Afford Healthy Waters? We Can Afford Nothing Less -- References -- Index -- About the Authors.

Despite nearly three decades of efforts intended to protect the nation's waters, and some success against certain forms of chemical and organic contamination, many of our nation's waterways continue to be seriously degraded. The call of the 1972 Clean Water Act -- "to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters" -- remains unanswered. Restoring Life in Running Waters discusses freshwater ecosystems in the United States and the need for using biology to understand their present condition. The book makes a case for using indexes that integrate measurements of many biological attributes to assess and communicate environmental health. In a unique and innovative format, the authors present 37 premises and 7 myths that explore the theory and practice of biological monitoring and the use of multimetric indexes.

The book explains:

why biological monitoring and assessment are needed
the historical evolution of biological monitoring
how and why living systems give the best signals for diagnosing environmental degradation
what multimetric indexes do and why they are effective
how multimetric indexes can be used and common pitfalls to avoid in using them
why many criticisms of biological indexes are not valid
how the principles of biological monitoring and multimetric indexes can be expanded beyond aquatic systems to other environments
how information from indexes can be integrated into the regulatory and policy framework

Restoring Life in Running Waters provides practical and effective tools for managers and scientists seeking to understand the impact of human activities on natural systems and to determine proper action to remedy problems. It is an essential handbook for conservation biologists; agency personnel at all levels, including technical staff, policymakers, and program managers; and for anyone working to protect and restore the health of the nation's waters.

GRETA POINT: 574.6.08 KAR