Determining Environmental Impacts for Sensitive Species: Using Iconic Species as Bioindicators for Management and Policy — Oak Academic Publishing
Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
Determining Environmental Impacts for Sensitive Species: Using Iconic Species as Bioindicators for Management and Policy
1Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 2Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 3Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
,
1Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 2Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA; 3Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, USA;
,
1Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA; 2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and CRESP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
,
1Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA; 2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and CRESP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
,
1Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and CRESP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
,
1Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and CRESP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
,
Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, Greenwich, USA;
,
Endangered and Nongame Species Program, Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, USA.
,
1Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 2Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 3Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
,
1Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 2Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 3Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
1 1Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 2Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 3Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
2 1Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 2Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA; 3Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, USA;
3 1Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA; 2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and CRESP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
4 1Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA; 2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and CRESP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
5 1Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and CRESP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
6 1Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and CRESP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
7 Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, Greenwich, USA;
8 Endangered and Nongame Species Program, Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, USA.
9 1Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 2Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 3Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
10 1Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 2Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA; 3Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA;
Environmental assessment of impacts, management, and policy are important aspects of protection of human health and the environment. Assessing the impacts of human activities requires selection of bioindicator species that can be used to assess, manage, and develop public policies that ensure ecosystem integrity, and therefore sustainability of social, cultural, and economic systems. With the use of Chinook Salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ), Pacific Cod ( Gadusmacrocephalus ), Mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos ), and Red Knot ( Calidris canutus rufa ), we explore assessment and measurement endpoints, and their relationship to management and development of public policy. This combination of fish and birds provides a diversity of life histories, ecosystem roles, human values, and resource use to explore their use as bioindicators and endpoints. It also allows examination of 1) conservation and protection of species and biodiversity, 2) protection of ecosystems, 3) provision of goods and services, and 4) societal well-being.
European Environment Agency, “Environmental Indicators: Typology and Use in Reporting,” EEA, Copenhagen, 2003.
U. Heink and I. Kowarik, “What are indicators? On the Definition of Indicators in Ecology and Environmental Planning,” Ecological Indicators, Vol. 10, No. 3, 2010, pp. 584-593. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2009.09.009
J. Burger, “Bioindicators: Types, Development, and Use in Ecological Assessment and Research,” Environmental Bioindicators, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2006, pp. 22-39. doi:10.1080/15555270590966483
National Research Council (NRC), “Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making,” National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2008.
J. Burger and M. Gochfeld, “Conceptual Environmental Justice Model: Evaluation of Chemical Pathways of Exposure in Low-Income, Minority, Native American, and Other Unique Exposure Populations,” American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 101, Suppl. 1, 2011, pp. S64-S73.
J. Burger, M. Gochfeld, C.W. Powers, L. Niles, R. Zappalorti, J. Feinberg and J. Clarke, “Habitat Protection for Sensitive Species: Balancing Species Requirements and Human Constraints Using Bioindicators as Examples,” Natural Sciences, Vol. 5, No. 5A, 2013, pp. 50-62.
ESA (Ecological Society of America), “The Report of the Ecological Society of America Committee on the Scientific Basis for Ecosystem Management,” ESA, 1996. http://www.fs.fed.us/eco/ecmtext.htm
CRITFC (Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission), “We are Salmon People,” 2013, CRITFC. http://critfc.org/salmon-culture/columbia-river-salmon/columbia-river-salmon-species
V. L. Butler and J. E. O’Connor, “9000 Years of Salmon Fishing on the Columbia River, North America,” Quaternary Research, Vol. 62, No. 1, 2004, pp. 1-8. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2004.03.002
OHWB (Oregon Hanford Waste Board), “River without Waste: Recommendations for Protecting the Columbia River from Hanford Site Nuclear Waste,” 2002, USDOE, Hanford, Richland.
S.-Y. Hyun, R. Sharma, J. K. Carlile, J. G. Norris, G. Brown, R. J. Briscoe and D. Dobson, “Integrated Forecasts of Fall Chinook Salmon Returns to the Pacific Northwest,” Fisheries Research, Vol. 125-126, 2012, pp. 306-317. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2012.03.002
K. K. Holsman, M. D. Scheuereil, E. Buhle and R. Emmett, “Interacting Effects of Translocation, Artificial Propagation, and Environmental Condition on the Marine Survival of Chinook Salmon from the Columbia River, Washington, USA,” Conservation Biology, Vol. 26, No. 5, 2012, pp. 912-922. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01895.x
M. A. Hess, G. D. Rabe, J. L.Vogel, J. J. Stephenson, D. D. Nelson and S. R. Narum, “Supportive Breeding Boosts Natural Population Abundance with Minimal Negative Impacts on Fitness of a Wild Population of Chinook Salmon,” Molecular Ecology, Vol. 21, No. 21, 2012, pp. 5236-5250.
T. P. Hanrahan, D. D. Dauble and D. R. Geist, “An Estimate of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Spawning Habitat and Red Capacity Upstream of a Migration Barrier in the Upper Columbia River,” Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Vol. 61, No. 1, 2004, pp. 23-33. doi:10.1139/f03-140
R. N. Williams, P. A. Bisson, D. L. Botton, L. D. Calvin, C. C. Coutant, M. W. Erho Jr., C. A. Frissell, J. A. Lichatowich, W. J. Liss, W. E. McConnaha, P. R. Mundy, J. A. Stanford and R. R. Whitney, “Return to the River: Scientific Issues in the Restoration of Salmonid Fishes in the Columbia River,” Fisheries, Vol. 24, No. 3, 1999, pp. 10-19. doi:10.1577/1548-8446(1999)024 2.0.CO;2
J. R. Hatten, K. F. Tiffan, D. R. Anglin, S. L. Haeseker, J. J. Skalicky and H. Schallerm, “A Spatial Model to Assess the Effects of Hydropower Operations on Columbia River Fall Chinook Salmon Spawning Habitat,” North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Vol. 29, No. 5, 2009, pp. 1379-1405. doi:10.1577/M08-053.1
J. Regetz, “Landscale-Level Constraints on Recruitment of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Columbia River, USA,” Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2003, pp. 35-49. doi:10.1002/aqc.524
O. A. Ormseth and B. L. Norcross, “Causes and Consequences of Life-history Variation in North American Stocks of Pacific Cod,” Journal of Marine Sciences, Vol. 66, No. 2, 2009, pp. 349-357
K. M. Cunningham, M. F. Canino, I. B. Sples and L. Hauser, “Genetic Isolation by Distance and Localized Fjord Population Structure in Pacific Cod (Gadus macrocephalus): Limited Effective Dispersal in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean,” Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol. 66, No. 1, 2009, pp. 153-166. doi:10.1139/F08-199
K. Hamrick and J. Smith, “Subsistence food use in Unalaska and Nikolski,” Aleutian Pribilof Island Association, Anchorage, 2003.
J. Burger, M. Gochfeld, T. Shukla, C. Jeitner, S. Burke, M. Donio, S. Shukla, R. Snigaroff, D. Snigaroff, T. Stamm and C. Volz, “Heavy Metals in Pacific Cod (Gadus macrocephalus) from the Aleutians: Location, Age, Size and Risk,” Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Vol. 70, No. 22, 2007, pp. 1897-1911. doi:10.1080/15287390701551159
S. Hardell, H. Tilander, G. W. Smith, J. Burger and D. O. Carpenter, “Levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Three Organochlorine Pesticides in Fish from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska,” PloS One, Vol. 5, No. 8, 2010, pp. 1-11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012396
J. J. Hart, “Pacific Fishes of Canada,” Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Ottawa, 1973.
N. Drilling, T. Rodger and F. Mckinney, “Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos),” The Birds of North America Online Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, 2012. http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/658
J. Burger, “A Naturalist along the Jersey Shore,” Rutgers University Press, 1996.
H. M. Stevenson and B. H. Anderson, “The Bird Life of Florida,” University Press of Florida, Tampa, 1994.
United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), “Waterfowl Population Status, 2011,” US Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 2011.
S. Delany and D. Scott, “Waterbird, Population Estimates,” 4th Edition, Wetlands International, Wageningen, 2006, pp. 1-23.
P. T. Link, A. D. Afton, R. R. Cox and B. E. Davis, “Use of Habitats by Female Mallards Wintering in Southwestern Louisiana,” Waterbirds, Vol. 34, No. 4, 2011, pp. 429-438. doi:10.1675/063.034.0405
S. M. Gagliano, K. J. Meyer-Arendt and K. M. Wicker, “Land Loss in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain,” Transactions of the Gulf Coast Association of Geology Society, Vol. 31, 1981, pp.: 295-300.
J. F. Bergan and L. M. Smith, “Survival Rates of Female Mallards Wintering in the Playa Lakes Region,” Journal of Wildlife Management, Vol. 57, No. 3, 1995, pp. 570-577. doi:10.2307/3809284
R. V. Raftovich, K. A. Wilkins, S. S. Williams, H. L. Spriggs and K. D. Richkus, “Migratory Bird Hunting Activity and Harvest during the 2009 and 2010 Hunting Seasons,” US Fish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, 2011.
A. J. Baker, P. M. Gonzalez, T. Piersma, L. J. Niles, L. J., I. L. S. Nascimento, P. W. Atkinson, N. A. Clark, C. D. T. Minton, M. K. Peck and G. Aarts, “Rapid Population Decline in Red Knots: Fitness Consequences of Decreased Fueling Rates and Late Arrival in Delaware Bay,” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, Vol. 271, No. 1541, 2004, pp. 875-882.
J. Burger, L. J. Niles, R. R. Porter, A. D. Dey, S. Koch, and C. Gordon, “Migration and Over-wintering of Red Knots (Calidris canutus rufa) along the Atlantic Coast of the United States,” Condor, Vol. 114, No. 2, 2012, pp. 1-12.
L. J. Niles, H. P. Sitters, A. D. Dey, P. W. Atkinson, A. J. Baker, K. A. Bennett, R. Carmona, K. E. Clark, N. E. Clark, C. Espoz, P. M. González, B. A. Harrington, D. E. Hernández, K. S. Kalasz, R. G. Lathrop, R. N. Matus, D. C. T. Minton, R. I. G. Morrison, M. K. Peck, W. Pitts, R. A. Robinson and I. L. Serrano, “Status of the Red Knot, Calidris canutus rufa, in the Western Hemisphere,” Studies in Avian Biology, Vol. 36, 2008, pp. 1-185.
K. Withers, “Shorebird Use of Coastal Wetlands and Barrier Island Habitat in the Gulf of Mexico,” Science World Journal, Vol. 2, 2002, pp. 514-536. doi:10.1100/tsw.2002.112
R. I. G. Morrison, N. C. Davidson and J. R. Wilson, “Survival of the Fattest: Body Stores on Migration and Survival in Red Knots, Calidris canutus islandica,” Journal of Avian Biology, Vol. 38, No. 4, 2007, pp. 479-487.
H. Galbraith, R. Jones, R. Park, J. Clough, S. Herrod-Julius, B. Harrington and G. Page, “Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: Potential Losses of Intertidal Habitat for Shorebirds,” USDA Forest Service Technical Report PSW-GTR-191, 2005.
D. Landeen and A. Pinkham, “Salmon and His People,” Confluence Press, Lewiston, 1999.
PCCRAM (Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Management), “Risk Assessment and Management in Regulatory Decision-Making,” US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1997.
J. Burger and M. Gochfeld, “Changes in Aleut Concerns Following the Stakeholder-driven Amchitka Independent Science Assessment,” Risk Analysis, Vol. 29, No. 8, 2009, pp. 1156-1169.
J. Burger, M. Gochfeld and T. Fote, “Stakeholder Participation in Research Design and Decisions: Scientists, Fishers, and Mercury in Saltwater Fish,” EcoHealth, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2013, pp. 21-30.
R. Munoz and M. D. Fox, “Research Impacting Social Contexts: The Moral Import of Community-Based Participatory Research,” American Journal of Bioethics, Vol. 11, No. 5, 2011, pp. 37-38. doi:10.1080/15265161.2011.562597
NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences), “Environmental Justice and Community-based Research.” http://niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/programs/justice.
G. Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” Science, Vol. 162, No. 3859, 1968, pp. 1243-1248. doi:10.1126/science.162.3859.1243
J. Burger and M. Gochfeld, “The Tragedy of the Commons 30 Years Later,” Environment, Vol. 40, No. 10, 1998, pp. 4-13. doi:10.1080/00139159809605104