IAN is committed to producing practical, user-centered communications that foster a better understanding of science and enable readers to pursue new opportunities in research, education, and environmental problem-solving. Our publications synthesize scientific findings using effective science communication techniques.

Towards integrated reporting for Darwin Harbour (Page 1)

Towards integrated reporting for Darwin Harbour

Darwin Harbour Report Card Stakeholder Workshop Summary

Brianne Walsh, Bill Dennison, Simon Costanzo ·
11 May 2020

This newsletter summarizes outputs from the initial stakeholder workshop to develop an integrated assessment for Darwin Harbour. The workshop took place on the week of 16 March 2020 in Darwin, Australia. Stakeholders from government, industry, academia, indigenous communities, and NGO’s gathered in Darwin to identify values. The workshop included meeting with members of the indigenous community, held outdoors at Wagait Beach.

Read more

2019 Gulf of Mexico Coral Reef Preliminary Report Card (Page 1)

2019 Gulf of Mexico Coral Reef Preliminary Report Card

Nuno Simões, Jennifer Pollack, Fernando Bretos TOF, Erica K. Towle NOAA, Shay Viehman, Matthew Johnson, Joaquín Rodrigo Garza Pérez, Armando Carmona, Lorenzo Álvarez Filip, Horacio Pérez España, Cristobal Cáceres G. Cantón C, Luis Quijano, Alfonso Aguilar Perera, Melania López Castro, A.C., Eduardo Amir Cuevas, Enrique Montes Herrera, Julia Azanza Ricardo, Gustavo Arencibia, Patricia González-Díaz, Dorka Cobián Rojas, Juliett González Méndez, Andrea Rivera Sosa, Luis Alcántara Organizing team, Ulsía Urrea Mariño, Ixel Osorio, Alberto Guerra, Daniel Martínez Hernandez ·
20 March 2020

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in the world. Its coral reefs are biological diverse habitats, of high cultural and economic significance. This report card was developed during a workshop held in Merida, Yucatan in November, 2019. It outlines potential indicators of coral reef ecosystem health, perceived conditions of the reefs in the Gulf of Mexico, and next steps for developing a quantitative assessment of Gulf of Mexico coral reef ecosystems.

Read more

2020 Verde River Watershed Report Card (Page 1)

2020 Verde River Watershed Report Card

Andrew Elmore, Alexandra Fries, Emily Nastase, Heath Kelsey ·
18 February 2020

Watershed report cards are powerful tools to describe ecosystem status, increase public awareness, and inform and influence decision makers to improve the health of a watershed. This is the first Verde River Watershed Report Card. It is the collective effort of dozens of stakeholders throughout the Verde watershed. Indicators in the report card were selected to assess the health of three different values in the Verde watershed: Water, Habitat, and Communities.

Read more

Using Socioenvironmental Report Cards as a Tool for Transdisciplinary Collaboration (Page 1)

Using Socioenvironmental Report Cards as a Tool for Transdisciplinary Collaboration

Vargas‐Nguyen V, Kelsey RH, Jordahl H, Nuttle W, Somerville C, Thomas J, Dennison WC ·
2020

The process of developing a socioenvironmental report card through transdisciplinary collaboration can be used in any system and can provide the foundation for collaborative solutions for sustainable resource management by creating a holistic assessment that balances environmental, economic, and social concerns that incorporates multiple perspectives from multisectoral actors.

Read more

Adapting the dynamic LakeMab model to simulate seasonal variations of phosphorus concentration in reservoirs: a case study of Lake Bultière (France) (Page 1)

Adapting the dynamic LakeMab model to simulate seasonal variations of phosphorus concentration in reservoirs: A case study of Lake Bultière (France)

Roubeix V, Minaudo C, Prats J, Reynaud N, Zhang Q, Moatar F, Danis PA ·
2020

Controlling phosphorus is fundamental to limit the risk of eutrophication of continental aquatic ecosystems. Integrated modelling of its concentration in the aquatic continuum requires specific tools for water bodies. However, although simple static empirical models and complex biogeochemical models are numerous, there are few relatively simple and flexible models able to simulate seasonal variations in phosphorus concentrations in water bodies and particularly in reservoirs.

Read more

Using macroalgal bioindicators to map nutrient plumes from fish farms and other sources at a bay-wide scale (Page 1)

Using macroalgal bioindicators to map nutrient plumes from fish farms and other sources at a bay-wide scale

Howarth LM, Filgueira R, Jiang D, Koepke H, Frame MK, Buchwald C, Finnis S, Chopin T, Costanzo SD, Grant J ·
2019

Human activities can elevate coastal levels of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). As macroalgae readily absorb and accumulate DIN, the elemental (total N and C:N ratio) composition of their tissues is less affected by temporal fluctuations compared to more direct measures of DIN concentration. Additionally, their isotopic (δ15N) composition can reflect that of the source, which could potentially be used to identify between multiple effluent sources.

Read more

River Water‐Quality Concentration and Flux Estimation Can be Improved by Accounting for Serial Correlation Through an Autoregressive Model (Page 1)

River water‐quality concentration and flux estimation can be improved by accounting for serial correlation through an autoregressive model

Zhang Q, Hirsch RM ·
2019

Accurate quantification of riverine water‐quality concentration and flux is challenging because monitoring programs typically collect concentration data at lower frequencies than discharge data. Statistical methods are often used to estimate concentration and flux on days without observations. One recently developed approach is the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS), which has been shown to provide among the most accurate estimates compared to other common methods.

Read more

Moving beyond the ecosystem in ecosystem health report cards (Page 1)

Moving beyond the ecosystem in ecosystem health report cards

Laumann KM, Nastase EA, Vargas-Nguyen V, Kelsey RH, Carew A, Donovan EC, Fries AS, Spitzer SE, and Dennison WC ·
2019

Early ecosystem health report cards focused on assessing the health of natural ecosystems, producing a “snapshot” of ecosystem health at one point in time. Ecosystem health report cards are used to guide efforts that improve ecosystem health through natural resources manage- ment and stakeholder engagement. Common themes among Report Cards include water quality and quantity and habitat. These indicators are not strictly environmental concerns, though.

Read more

Water quality gradients and trends in New York Harbor (Page 1)

Water quality gradients and trends in New York Harbor

Taillie DM, O’Neil JM, Dennison WC ·
2019

New York Harbor is a complex of interconnected waterways that have supported the rapid development of a thriving megacity and metropolitan region. The water quality of New York, a partner city in the World Harbour Project, is a reflection of the combined impacts of this metropolitan region. Water quality health and trends were assessed between 1996–2017 in 9 different reporting regions using publicly available data.

Read more