Ecosystem health report cards: An approach to integrated assessment

Ecosystem Health Report Card PosterIntegrated ecological assessment of the world’s coastal ecosystems is essential for effective management and remediation. The integration of management, monitoring, and science is required to solve the major environmental problems that are occurring in coastal zones around the world. Effective monitoring requires a significant investment of resources. Field work is expensive, data analysis is time-intensive, data integration requires high level scientific input, and recurring costs are subject to inflationary pressures. Integrated ecological assessment provides feedback on these monitoring investments by measuring the effectiveness of management actions. Societal momentum can then be created by successes in assessment and communication. This poster presents processes and approaches to performing integrated ecological assessments, using an example from the Coastal Bays of Maryland.