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Julian D. Olden

This report contains research results and products compiled in the course of the comprehensive review project Systematic review of aquatic ecological integrity assessments in western North America: Identifying challenges and opportunities for integration into landscape conservation plans. Some of these results have been accepted in a peer-reviewed journal (Section 1), others are in preparation for a peer-review submission (Section II). The two remaining sections (III and IV) may contribute to additional peer reviewed publications in the future, but at this time are summarized solely in this report and as background material for the peer-reviewed articles as well as a web report entitled “Assessment of ecological...
One of the most influential environmental laws in the US – the 1972 Clean Water Act – included the visionary objective of maintaining and restoring aquatic ecological integrity. However, the efficacy of the Act depends on how integrity is assessed. Reviewing the assessment literature for fresh waters over the past 40 years, we found evidence of methodological trends toward increased repeatability, transferability, and robustness of assessments over time. However, implementation gaps were revealed, based on the relatively weak linkages to freshwater policies, stakeholder involvement, emerging threats, and conservation opportunities. A related survey of assessment practitioners underscored the disparity between need...
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Systematic review of aquatic ecological integrity assessments in western North America, Identifying challenges and opportunities for integration into landscape conservation plans
The assessment of ecological integrity remains a primary component of present-day conservation strategies for freshwater ecosystems, but approaches vary widely in method, scale, efficiency, and sustainability. The need for standardized assessment practices have been noted in several national conservation initiatives. The range of approaches under development or in use by LCCs and partner agencies offered a timely opportunity to summarize the range of approaches, identify data that would facilitate particularly promising methods, and evaluate the success with which assessments are currently integrated into broad conservation planning and management. The investigators goals for this project were to provide LCCs and...
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