Handbook of Ecological Indicators for Assessment of Ecosystem Health Edited by Sven E Jørgensen Robert Costanza Fu-Liu Xu Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Handbook of ecological indicators for assessment of ecosystem health / edited by Sven E Jørgensen, Robert Costanza, Fu-Liu Xu p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 1-56670-665-3 Ecosystem health Environmental indicators I Jørgensen, Sven Erik, 1934 II Costanza, Robert III Xu, Fu-Liu IV Title QH541.15.E265H36 2005 577.27 dc22 2004015982 This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources Reprinted material is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated A wide variety of references are listed Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher All rights reserved Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the personal or internal use of specific clients, may be granted by CRC Press, provided that $1.50 per page photocopied is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA The fee code for users of the Transactional Reporting Service is ISBN 1-56670-665-3/05/$0.00+$1.50 The fee is subject to change without notice For organizations that have granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged The consent of CRC Press does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for creating new works, or for resale Specific permission must be obtained in writing from CRC Press for such copying Direct all inquiries to CRC Press, 2000 N.W Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, Florida 33431 Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation, without intent to infringe Visit the CRC Press Web site at www.crcpress.com ß 2005 by CRC Press No claim to original U.S Government works International Standard Book Number 1-56670-665-3 Library of Congress Card Number 2004015982 Printed in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis The Editors Sven Erik Jørgensen is professor of environmental chemistry at the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences He has doctorates in engineering from Karlsruhe University and sciences from Copenhagen University He has been editor in chief of Ecological Modelling since the journal started in 1975 He is chairman of the International Lake Environment Committee He has edited or authored 58 books in Danish and English and written 300 papers of which twothirds have been published in peer-reviewed international journals He was the first person to receive the Prigogine Award in 2004 for his outstanding work in the use thus far of equilibrium thermodynamics on ecosystems He has also received the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize for his outstanding contribution to a global dissemination of ecological modeling and ecological management of aquatic ecosystems, mainly lakes and wetlands Robert Costanza is Gordon Gund professor of ecological economics and director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont His research interests include: landscape-level integrated spatial simulation modeling; analysis of energy and material flows through economic and ecological systems; valuation of ecosystem services, biodiversity, and natural capital; and analysis of dysfunctional incentive systems and ways to correct them He is the author or co-author of over 350 scientific papers and 18 books His work has been cited in more than 2000 scientific articles since 1987 and more than 100 interviews and reports on his work have appeared in various popular media Fu-Liu Xu is an associate professor at the College of Environmental Sciences, Peking University, China He was a guest professor at the Research Center for Environmental Quality Control (RCRQC), Kyoto University, from August 2003 to January 2004; and at the Research Center for Environmental Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), from August to October 2001 He is a member of the editorial boards for two international journals He received his Ph.D from Royal Danish University of Pharmacy in 1998 His research fields include system ecology and ecological modeling, ecosystem health and ecological indicators, ecosystem planning and management Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis Contents Chapter Introduction S.E Jørgensen 1.1 The Role of Ecosystem Health Assessment in Environmental Management 1.2 The Conceptual Flow in This Volume References Chapter Application of Indicators for the Assessment of Ecosystem Health S.E Jørgensen, F.-L Xu, F Salas, and J.C Marques 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Criteria for the Selection of Ecological Indicators for EHA Classification of Ecosystem Health Indicators 2.2.1 Level 2.2.2 Level 2.2.3 Level 2.2.4 Level 2.2.5 Level 2.2.6 Level 2.2.7 Level 2.2.8 Level Indices Based on Indicator Species 2.3.1 Bellan’s Pollution Index 2.3.2 Pollution Index Based on Ampiphoids 2.3.3 AMBI 2.3.4 Bentix 2.3.5 Macrofauna Monitoring Index 2.3.6 Benthic Response Index 2.3.7 Conservation Index Indices Based on Ecological Strategies 2.4.1 Nematodes/Copepods Index 2.4.2 Polychaetes/Amphipods Index 2.4.3 Infaunal Index 2.4.4 Feldman Index Indices Based on the Diversity Value 2.5.1 Shannon–Wiener Index Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis 2.5.2 Pielou Evenness Index 2.5.3 Margalef Index 2.5.4 Berger–Parker Index 2.5.5 Simpson Index 2.5.6 Deviation from the Log-Normal Distribution 2.5.7 K-Dominance Curves 2.5.8 Average Taxonomic Diversity 2.5.9 Average Taxonomic Distinctness 2.6 Indicators Based on Species Biomass and Abundance 2.6.1 ABC Method 2.7 Indicators Integrating All Environment Information 2.7.1 Trophic Index 2.7.2 Coefficient of Pollution 2.7.3 Benthic Index of Environmental Condition 2.7.4 B-IBI 2.7.5 Biotic Integrity (IBI) for Fishes 2.7.6 Fish Health Index (FHI) 2.7.7 Estuarine Ecological Index (EBI) 2.7.8 Estuarine Fish Importance Rating (FIR) 2.8 Presentation and Definition of Level and Indicators — Holistic Indicators 2.9 An Overview of Applicable Ecological Indicators for EHA 2.10 EHA: Procedures 2.10.1 Direct Measurement Method (DMM) 2.10.2 Ecological Model Method (EMM) 2.10.3 Ecosystem Health Index Method (EHIM) 2.11 An Integrated, Consistent Ecosystem Theory That Can Be Applied as the Theoretical Basis for EHA References Appendix A Chapter Application of Ecological Indicators to Assess Environmental Quality in Coastal Zones and Transitional Waters: Two Case Studies J.C Marques, F Salas, J.M Patrı´ cio, and M.A Pardal 3.1 3.2 Introduction Brief Review on the Application of Ecological Indicators in Ecosystems of Coastal and Transitional Waters 3.2.1 Indicators Based on Species Presence vs Absence 3.2.2 Biodiversity as Reflected in Diversity Measures 3.2.3 Indicators Based on Ecological Strategies 3.2.4 Indicators Based on Species Biomass and Abundance 3.2.5 Indicators Accounting for the Whole Environmental Information Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis 3.2.6 Thermodynamically Oriented and Network Analysis-Based Indicators 3.3 How to Choose the Most Adequate Indicator? 3.4 Case Studies: Subtidal Benthic Communities in the Mondego Estuary (Atlantic Coast of Portugal) and Mar Menor (Mediterranean Coast of Spain) 3.4.1 Study Areas and Type of Data Utilized 3.4.2 Selected Ecological Indicators 3.4.3 Summary of Results 3.4.3.1 Mondego Estuary 3.4.3.2 Mar Menor 3.5 Was the Use of the Selected Indicators Satisfactory in the Two Case Studies? 3.5.1 Application of Indicators Based on the Presence vs Absence of Species: AMBI 3.5.2 Indices Based on Ecologic Strategies: Polychaetes/Amphipods Ratio 3.5.3 Biodiversity as Reflected in Diversity Measures: Margalef and Shannon–Wienner Indices 3.5.4 Indicators Based on Species Biomass and Abundance: W statistic 3.5.5 Thermodynamically Oriented and Network Analysis-Based Indicators: Exergy Index, Specific Exergy and Ascendancy 3.5.5.1 Exergy and Specific Exergy 3.5.5.2 Ascendancy 3.5.6 Brief Conclusions References Chapter Development and Application of Ecosystem Health Indicators in the North American Great Lakes Basin H Shear, P Bertram, C Forst, and P Horvatin 4.1 4.2 Introduction 4.1.1 Background on the Great Lakes Basin 4.1.2 Indicator Selection 4.1.3 Definition of the Selected Indicators General Considerations 4.2.1 Ecological Description of the Great Lakes Basin 4.2.1.1 Toxic Contaminants 4.2.1.2 Land Use 4.2.1.3 Invasive Species 4.2.1.4 Habitat Status Including Wetlands 4.2.1.5 Lake Ecology 4.2.1.6 Nutrients Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis 4.2.2 Data Collection Methods Results 4.3.1 State Indicators — Complete 4.3.1.1 Hexagenia 4.3.1.2 Wetland Dependent Bird Diversity and Abundance 4.3.1.3 Area, Quality and Protection of Alvar Communities 4.3.2 State Indicators — Incomplete 4.3.2.1 Native Freshwater Mussels 4.3.3 Pressure Indicators — Complete 4.3.3.1 Phosphorus Concentrations and Loadings 4.3.3.2 Contaminants in Colonial Nesting Waterbirds 4.3.3.3 Contaminants in Edible Fish Tissue 4.3.4 Pressure Indicators — Incomplete 4.3.4.1 Mass Transportation 4.3.4.2 Escherichia Coli and Fecal Coliform Levels in Nearshore Recreational Waters 4.3.5 Response Indicators — Incomplete 4.3.5.1 Citizen/Community Place-Based Stewardship Activities 4.4 Discussion 4.4.1 Land Use 4.4.2 Habitat Degradation 4.4.3 Climate Change 4.4.4 Toxic Contamination 4.4.5 Indicator Development 4.5 Conclusions References 4.3 Chapter Application of Ecological and Thermodynamic Indicators for the Assessment of Lake Ecosystem Health F.-L Xu 5.1 5.2 Introduction 5.1.1 Ecosystem Type and Problem 5.1.2 The Chapter’s Focus Methodologies 5.2.1 A Theoretical Frame 5.2.2 Development of Indicators 5.2.2.1 The Procedure for Developing Indicators 5.2.2.2 Lake Data for Developing Indicators 5.2.2.3 Responses of Lake Ecosystems to Chemical Stresses Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis 5.2.2.4 Indicators for Lake Ecosystem Health Assessment 5.2.3 Calculations for Some Indicators 5.2.3.1 Calculations of Exergy and Structural Exergy 5.2.3.2 Calculation of Buffer Capacity 5.2.3.3 Calculation of Biodiversity 5.2.3.4 Calculations of Other Indicators 5.2.4 Methods for Lake Ecosystem Health Assessment 5.3 Case Studies 5.3.1 Case 1: Ecosystem Health Assessment for Italian Lakes Using EHIM 5.3.1.1 Selecting Assessment Indicators 5.3.1.2 Calculating Sub-EHIs 5.3.1.2.1 EHI(BA) Calculation 5.3.1.2.2 EHI(BZ), EHI(BZ/BA), EHI(Ex) and EHI(Exst) Calculations 5.3.1.3 Determining Weighting Factors (!i ) 5.3.1.4 Assessing Ecosystem Health Status for Italian Lakes 5.3.1.4.1 EHI and Standards for Italian Lakes 5.3.1.4.2 Ecosystem Health Status 5.3.2 Case 2: Ecosystem Health Assessment for Lake Chao Using DMM and EMM 5.3.2.1 Assessment Using Direct Measurement Method (DMM) 5.3.2.2 Assessment Using Ecological Model Method (EMM) 5.3.2.2.1 The Analysis of Lake Ecosystem Structure 5.3.2.2.2 The Establishment of a Lake Ecological Model 5.3.2.2.3 The Calibration of the Ecological Model 5.3.2.2.4 The Calculation of Ecosystem Health Indicators 5.3.2.2.5 The Assessment of Lake Ecosystem Health 5.4 Discussions 5.4.1 About Assessment Results 5.4.1.1 Assessment Results for Lake Chao 5.4.1.2 Assessment Results for Italian Lakes 5.4.2 About Assessment Indicators 5.4.3 About Assessment Methods 5.5 Conclusions References Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis Chapter Ecosystem Health Assessment and Bioeconomic Analysis in Coastal Lagoons J.M Zaldı´ var, M Austoni, M Plus, G.A De Leo, G Giordani, and P Viaroli 6.1 6.2 6.3 Introduction Study Area: Sacca DI Goro Simulation Models 6.3.1 Biogeochemical Model 6.3.2 Discrete Stage-Based Model of Tapes Philippinarum 6.3.3 Ulva’s Harvesting Model 6.3.4 Cost/Benefit Model 6.3.5 Exergy Calculation 6.4 Results and Discussion 6.4.1 The Existing Situation 6.4.2 Harvesting Ulva Biomass 6.4.3 Reduction in Nutrient Inputs 6.5 Conclusions Acknowledgments References Chapter Application of Ecological and Thermodynamic Indicators for the Assessment of the Ecosystem Health of Coastal Areas S.E Jørgensen 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Results 7.3 Discussion 7.4 Conclusions References Chapter Application of Ecological Indicators for Assessing Health of Marine Ecosystems V Christensen and P Cury 8.1 8.2 8.3 Introduction Indicators 8.2.1 Environmental and Habitat Indicators 8.2.2 Species-Based Indicators 8.2.3 Size-Based Indicators 8.2.4 Trophodynamic Indicators Network Analysis Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Primary Production Required to Sustain Fisheries Fishing Down the Food Web Fishing in Balance Application of Indicators 8.7.1 Environmental and Habitat Indicators 8.7.2 Size-Based Indicators 8.7.3 Trophodynamic Indicators 8.8 Conclusion References Chapter Using Ecological Indicators in a Whole-Ecosystem Wetland Experiment W.J Mitsch, N Wang, L Zhang, R Deal, X Wu, and A Zuwerink 9.1 9.2 Introduction Methods 9.2.1 Site History 9.2.2 Macrophyte Community Index 9.2.3 Field Indicators 9.2.4 Similarity Index 9.3 Results 9.3.1 Macrophyte Community Diversity 9.3.2 Macrophyte Productivity 9.3.3 Algal Development 9.3.4 Macroinvertebrate Diversity 9.3.5 Water Chemistry 9.3.6 Nutrient Retention 9.3.7 Avian Use 9.3.8 Basin Similarity 9.4 Discussion 9.4.1 Community Diversity and Ecosystem Function 9.4.2 Productivity as the Independent Variable 9.4.3 Diversity at Different Levels 9.4.4 Aquatic Consumers 9.4.5 Replication and Experimental Scale Acknowledgments References Chapter 10 The Joint Use of Exergy and Emergy as Indicators of Ecosystems Performances S Bastianoni, N Marchettini, F.M Pulselli, and M Rosini 10.1 10.2 10.3 Introduction Exergy and Ecology Emergy and Ecology Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis 10.4 The Ratio of Exergy to Emergy Flow 10.5 The Ratio of ÁEX to ÁEM References Chapter 11 Application of Thermodynamic Indices to Agro-Ecosystems Y.M Svirezhev 11.1 11.2 11.3 Introduction Simplified Energy and Entropy Balances in an Ecosystem Entropy Overproduction as a Criterion of the Degradation of Natural Ecosystems under Anthropogenic Pressure 11.4 What is a ‘‘Reference Ecosystem’’? 11.5 Agro-Ecosystem: The Limits of Agriculture Intensification and its Entropy Cost 11.6 Concept of Sustainable Agriculture: the Thermodynamic Criterion 11.7 Soil Degradation: Thermodynamic Model 11.8 ‘‘Entropy Fee’’ for Intensive Agriculture 11.9 Hungarian Maize Agriculture 11.10 Agriculture in Northern Germany (Steinborn and Svirezhev, 2000) 11.11 Agriculture in Sachsen-Anhalt (Eastern Germany) and the Dynamics of Entropy Overproduction (Lindenschmidt et al., 2001) References Chapter 12 Ecosystem Indicators for the Integrated Management of Landscape Health and Integrity ă F Muller 12.1 12.2 Introduction Basic Principles for the Indicator Derivation 12.2.1 Ecosystem Theory — The Conceptual Background 12.2.2 Ecosystem Analysis — The Empirical Background 12.2.3 Ecosystem Health and Ecological Integrity — The Normative Background 12.3 The Selected Indicator Set 12.4 Case Studies and Applications 12.4.1 Indicating Health and Integrity on the Ecosystem Scale 12.4.2 Indicating Landscape Health 12.4.3 Application in Sustainable Landscape Management 12.5 Discussion and Conclusions References Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis Chapter 13 Multi-Scale Resilience Estimates for Health Assessment of Real Habitats in a Landscape G Zurlini, N Zaccarelli, and I Petrosillo 13.1 13.2 Introduction Rationale 13.2.1 Ecological Phases, States, and Scale Domains 13.2.2 Resilience and Resistance 13.3 Study Area and Methods 13.3.1 The Baganza Stream Watershed 13.3.2 Corine Habitats 13.3.3 Empirical Patterns of Self-Similarity 13.3.4 Change Intensity Detection 13.3.5 Retrospective Resilience 13.4 Results 13.4.1 Best Regression Models and Scale Breaks 13.4.2 Change Intensity Detection 13.4.3 Resilience of Habitat Scale Domains 13.5 General Discussion and Conclusion 13.5.1 Grassland Phase States 13.5.2 Scale Domains and Processes 13.5.3 Adaptive Cycle and Resilience Acknowledgments References Chapter 14 Emergy, Transformity, and Ecosystem Health M.T Brown and S Ulgiati 14.1 14.2 14.3 Introduction A Systems View of Ecosystem Health Emergy, Transformity, and Hierarchy 14.3.1 Emergy and Transformity: Concepts and Definitions 14.3.2 Hierarchy 14.3.3 Transformities and Hierarchy 14.3.4 Transformity and Efficiency 14.4 Emergy, Transformity and Biodiversity 14.5 Emergy and Information 14.6 Measuring Changes in Ecosystem Health 14.7 Restoring Ecosystem Health 14.8 Summary and Conclusions References Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis Chapter 15 Mass Accounting and Mass-Based Indicators S Bargigli, M Raugei, and S Ulgiati 15.1 Introduction 15.1.1 Targets of Material Flow Accouting 15.2 MAIA: General Introduction to the Methodology 15.2.1 Historical Background 15.2.2 The MAIA Method 15.2.2.1 Used versus Unused 15.2.2.2 Direct versus Indirect 15.2.3 Calculation Rules 15.2.4 MAIA Database 15.2.5 Selected Case Studies: Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 15.3 Nationwide MFA: General Introduction to the Methodology 15.3.1 Historical Background of Bulk MFA 15.3.2 The Bulk MFA Model 15.3.3 The System Boundaries and System Stock 15.3.3.1 Boundary between the Economy and the Natural Environment 15.3.3.2 Frontier to Other Economies (the Residence vs Territory Principle) 15.3.4 Classification of Flows 15.3.5 Categories of Materials 15.3.6 The Final Scheme and Material Balance 15.3.6.1 Memorandum Items for Balancing 15.3.7 Indicators 15.3.7.1 The Physical Trade Balance 15.3.8 Data Sources 15.3.9 State of the Art at a National Level 15.3.10 Limits and Needed Improvements of MFA References Chapter 16 The Health of Ecosystems: the Ythan Estuary Case Study D Raffaelli, P White, A Renwick, J Smart, and C Perrings 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Introduction 16.1.1 The Physical Context 16.1.2 Long-Term Data Sets Changes in Agriculture Changes in Water Quality Changes in Biology Measures of Ecosystem Health 16.5.1 Water Quality Index (WQI) 16.5.2 Macroinvertebrate Indices of Water Quality Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis 16.5.3 Estuary Quality Indicators 16.5.4 Ecosystem Indicators 16.6 A Coupled Human–Ecological System? 16.7 Policy, Debate, and the Burden of Scientific Proof References Chapter 17 Assessing Marine Ecosystem Health — Concepts and Indicators, with Reference to the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine, Northwest Atlantic P.G Wells 17.1 17.2 Introduction Concepts of Marine Ecosystem Health 17.2.1 Conceptual Framework 17.2.2 Health 17.2.3 Ecosystem Health 17.2.3.1 Identify Symptoms 17.2.3.2 Identify and Measure Vital Signs 17.2.3.3 Provisional Diagnosis 17.2.3.4 Tests to Verify Diagnosis 17.2.3.5 Make a Prognosis for the Bay 17.2.3.6 Treatment 17.2.4 Marine Ecosystem Health 17.2.5 Ecological or Ecosystem Integrity 17.2.6 Ecological Change 17.2.7 Marine Environmental Quality (MEQ) 17.2.8 Sustainability of Marine Ecosystems 17.2.9 Human Health and Marine Ecosystem Health 17.3 Indicators for Assessing Marine Ecosystem Health 17.3.1 Monitoring Approaches 17.3.2 Indicators and Indices 17.3.3 Status and Trends Analysis 17.4 Summary and Conclusions Acknowledgments References Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis CHAPTER Introduction S.E Jørgensen 1.1 THE ROLE OF ECOSYSTEM HEALTH ASSESSMENT IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT The idea to apply an assessment of ecosystem health to environmental management emerged in the late 1980s The parallels with the assessment of human health are very obvious We go to the doctor to get a diagnosis (to determine what is wrong) and hopefully initiate a cure to bring us back to normal The doctor will take various measurements and make examinations (pulse, blood pressure, sugar in the urine etc.) before making a diagnosis and suggesting a cure The idea behind the assessment of ecosystem health is similar (see Figure 1.1) If we observe that an ecosystem is not healthy, we want a diagnosis What is wrong? What caused this unhealthy condition? What can we to bring the ecosystem back to normal? To answer these questions, and also to come up with a cure, ecological indicators are applied Since ecosystem health assessment (EHA) emerged in the late 1980s, numerous attempts have been made to use the idea in practice, and again and again environmental managers and ecologists have asked the question: Which ecological indicators should we apply? It is clear today that it is not possible to find one indicator or even a few indicators that can be used generally, as some naively thought when EHA was introduced Of course there are general Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis Figure 1.1 How ecological indicators are used for EHA and how to follow the effect of the environmental management plan ecological indicators that are used almost every time we have to assess ecosystem health; but they are never sufficient to present a complete diagnosis — the general indicators always have to be supplemented by other indicators Our doctor has also general indicators He will always take the patient’s pulse, temperature, and blood pressure — very good general indicators — but he also has also always to supplement these general indicators with others that he selects according to the description of the problem as given by the patient The same is true for the ecological doctor If he observes dead fish but clear water, he will suspect the presence of a toxic substance in the ecosystem, while he will associate dead fish and very muddy water with oxygen depletion In these two cases he will use two different sets of indicators, although some general indicators may be used in both cases The first international conference on the application of ecological indicators for the assessment of ecosystem health was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in October 1900 Since then there have been several national and international conferences on ecological indicators and on EHA In 1992 a book entitled Ecosystem Health was published by Island Press Blackwell published a book with the same title in 1998 and also launched a journal entitled Ecosystem Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis Health in the mid-1990s with Rapport as the editor-in-chief Elsevier launched a journal with the title Ecological Indicators in 2000 with Eric Hyatt and Felix Mueller as editors-in-chief It can therefore be seen from this short overview of the development of the use of EHA and ecological indicators to perform the EHA that there has been significant interest in EHA and ecological indicators Some may have expected that EHA would replace ecological modeling to a certain extent, as it was a new method to quantify the disease of an ecosystem It is also possible (as will be discussed in the next chapter) to assess ecosystem health based solely upon observations On the other hand, EHA cannot be used to make prognoses and does not give the overview of the ecological components and their interactions like a model does EHA and ecological modeling are two rather different but complementary tools that together give a better image of the environmental management possibilities than if either were used independently Today, models are used increasingly (as will also demonstrated in this volume) as a tool to perform an EHA The models are, furthermore, used to give prognoses of the development of the EHA-applied ecological indicators when a well-defined environmental management plan is followed A number of ecological indicators have been applied during the last 15 years or so to assess ecosystem health As already stressed, general ecological indicators not exist (or at least have not been discovered yet) A review of the literature published over the last 15 years regarding EHA and a selection of ecological indicators will reveal that it is also not possible to generate a set of indicators that can be used for specific problems or specific ecosystems There are general indicators and there are problem- and ecosystem-specific indicators, which will be used again and again for the same problems or the same type of ecosystems; but because all ecosystems are different, even ecosystems of the same type are very different, and there are always some case-specific indicators that are selected on the basis of sound theoretical considerations We can therefore not simply give, let us say, 300 lists of ecological indicators, with each list valid for a specific problem in a specific ecosystem (we presume for instance 20 different problems and 15 different type of ecosystems, totaling 300 combinations) Our knowledge about human health is much more developed than our knowledge about ecosystem health, and there is still no general procedure on how to assess a diagnosis for each of the several hundred possible cases a doctor will meet in his practice We will, however, attempt to give an overview of the most applied ecological indicators for different ecosystems in the next chapter It is possible to give such an overview, but not to give a general applicable procedure with a general valid list of indicators This does of course not mean that we have nothing to learn from case studies Because the selection of indicators is difficult and varies from case to case, it is of course possible to expand one’s experience by learning about as many case studies as possible This is the general idea behind this volume By presenting a number of different case studies representing different ecosystems and different problems, an overview of the applicable indicators should be obtained Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis 1.2 THE CONCEPTUAL FLOW IN THIS VOLUME Chapters to 15 present different case studies focusing on different ecosystems and different problems Chapter has tried to give an overview of the other chapters (chapters to 15) by presenting: A discussion of the selection of ecological indicators for assessment of ecosystem health A classification of indicators The definition of some important holistic indicators An overview of all the applied ecological indicators with indication of where they have been applied and where they could be applied Three different procedures which can be applied for EHA A short presentation of a recently developed consistent ecosystem theories that can explain the close relationship between E.P Odum’s attributes (1969 and 1971) and the presented holistic indicators rooted in thermodynamics The presented ecosystem theory is based on integration of several different approaches, that are consistent to a high extent (Jørgensen, 2002) REFERENCES Jørgensen, S.E Integration of Ecosystem Theories: A Pattern, 3rd edition Kluwer Scientific Publ Company, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2002, 428 p Odum, E.P The strategy of ecosystem development Science, 164, 262–270, 1969 Odum, E.P Fundamentals of Ecology W.B Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1974, 354 p Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis ... & Francis 10 .4 The Ratio of Exergy to Emergy Flow 10 .5 The Ratio of ÁEX to ÁEM References Chapter 11 Application of Thermodynamic Indices to Agro-Ecosystems Y.M Svirezhev 11 .1 11. 2 11 .3 Introduction... (MEQ) 17 .2.8 Sustainability of Marine Ecosystems 17 .2.9 Human Health and Marine Ecosystem Health 17 .3 Indicators for Assessing Marine Ecosystem Health 17 .3 .1 Monitoring Approaches 17 .3.2 Indicators. .. Chapter 16 The Health of Ecosystems: the Ythan Estuary Case Study D Raffaelli, P White, A Renwick, J Smart, and C Perrings 16 .1 16.2 16 .3 16 .4 16 .5 Introduction 16 .1. 1 The Physical Context 16 .1. 2