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Ecological Research Program
Research Contributions
The Ecological Research Program in EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) has unique ecological research capabilities, based on more than a decade of research on monitoring, diagnostic/modeling, and restoration of ecosystems. The expertise and knowledge is being applied and refocused to take on the new ecosystem services research challenge.
Research contributions that have provided the scientific foundation for ecological research to date include:
Monitoring the Health of Our Waters
The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) in ORD is providing the critical science needed to evaluate the ecological condition of our nation's streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and estuaries. With the development of new scientific approaches, methods and tools, EMAP has provided the science needed to produce valid measurements of the condition of the nation's water at the regional, state, and national levels. Using the EMAP approach, environmental managers can make more informed environmental decisions to protect water quality and EPA can use this scientific information to determine effectiveness of its policies.
Assessment of all the nation's waters is required under the Clean Water Act. EMAP has designed and provided new approaches for conducting large-scale, ecological condition assessments of these resources in a region. These advances in monitoring and assessment capabilities have been demonstrated to be more representative and unbiased than previous monitoring approaches. At least half of the states currently use an EMAP approach to improve their state environmental policies. EMAP has significantly influenced the direction of monitoring in other countries in the Baltic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yellow Sea, the European Union, Canada, and New Zealand.
More information on Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP)
Contact: Michael McDonald, Director, Environmental Management and Assessment Program, 919-541-7973, or mcdonald.michael@epa.gov
Evaluating Our Coastal Resources
The Ecological Research Program works in partnership with tribes and local, state and other federal governments to develop better and less costly tools and approaches for assessing the condition of ecological resources. Researchers supported by ORD's STAR grants program developed indicators and procedures to evaluate the health or condition of important coastal natural resources located in diverse geographic areas from communities to entire regions. The effort, called the Estuarine and Great Lakes Coastal Indicators (EaGLe) Program, resulted in 65 new or refined coastal indicators. As a result, environmental managers have many more tools they can use to monitor the condition of aquatic habitats and ecosystems; monitor improvements to coastal systems, and prevent future degradation. In the process of indicator development, researchers have accelerated the science of indicators and their use beyond identification of a problem. The next generation of indicators will help to diagnose the causes of environmental problems and determine the solution.
More information on the Estuarine and Great Lakes (EaGLe) Coastal Initiative 
Assessing Nitrogen Runoff
Excess nitrogen from fertilizer, septic tanks, animal feedlots, and runoff from pavement can threaten aquatic ecosystem health. Riparian buffers -- the vegetated region adjacent to streams and wetlands -- are thought to be effective at intercepting and controlling excess nitrogen. Resource managers often ask how wide a riparian buffer zone should be to control nitrogen loads entering water bodies effectively. Scientists evaluated the importance of riparian buffer width on nitrogen control.
The EPA research effort represents the most current, comprehensive review of nitrogen removal in riparian buffers. The 2005 EPA report on nitrogen removal effectiveness in riparian buffers has been accessed more than 50,000 times since being made available on the EPA's internet. This information can be used by natural resource managers to develop effective riparian management plans that employ buffers as a best management practice (BMP) to control excess nitrogen in watersheds, especially when employed in conjunction with control and reduction of point and non-point sources of nitrogen from atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic inputs.
Restoring Streams Through Research
Restoring ecological condition of streams may be a cost-effective, sustainable means to reduce nitrogen pollution in watersheds. Scientists evaluated the effects of stream restoration on nitrogen removal capacity at an urban stream undergoing intensive restoration in Towson, Md.
The EPA research effort represents one of the most intensive efforts to date to quantify the effects of stream restoration on nitrogen processing in urban streams. Municipal natural resource agencies such as Baltimore County in Maryland have already used this information to help develop regional stream restoration strategies aimed at improving ecosystem health and water quality. This research also has contributed to efforts by EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program to model the effects of stream restoration on Bay ecosystem health. Results of this ongoing research effort on stream restoration continue to be used to develop regional and national approaches to implementing and prioritizing stream restoration to manage nitrogen in watersheds.
Fighting Invasive Species with DNA Tools
Invasive species from other countries pose a huge ecologic and economic risk to the nation's waterways, largely through the disruption of natural ecosystems. These species can come from a variety of sources, including discharged ballast water from foreign ships.
Scientists are developing genetic analysis tools to protect against invasive species. They're also in the process of developing a comprehensive DNA reference library that can be used as a central database for confirming the presence of nonnative species. The ability to identify species by DNA is providing a much-needed tool for improving the safety and health of the nation's watersheds and waterways.