Assessing Ecosystem Health in Governed Landscapes: A Framework for Developing Core Indicators

ABSTRACT This article describes the development of a framework for selecting a core set of indicators suitable for an integrated ecosystem health assessment of a governed landscape. Integrated assessments are those that consider a combination of biophysical, socioeconomic, and human health considerations. Highly governed landscapes are cultural landscapes that are strictly controlled by humans to the extent that they would revert to an entirely different form were it not for continued human intervention. One example of such a landscape, which serves as the setting for this investigation, is the former wetlands of the northeastern Italian coastal zone, which have been subject to widespread land reclamation and coastal development over the past century. The science of ecosystem health has been chosen as the frame of reference because “health” is not judged by the degree of “naturalness” but instead on the ability of the ecosystem to maintain and renew itself. The framework consists of first reviewing literature and methods related to ecological and environmental monitoring, state‐of‐the‐environment reporting, landscape ecology, and sustainability. This is followed by the definition of indicator guidelines that are designed to assist in the evaluation and selection of potential indicators. A core set of indicators are then presented based on a conceptual framework devised for this purpose. Indicators are classed as abiotic, biotic, and cultural, and selected according to the ecological districts comprising the study area. The ultimate goal is their application to an ecological monitoring and assessment program within a governed landscape such as the northeastern Italian coastal zone. Given such a commitment, the normal process of core indicator refinement can then proceed, based on such actions as further consultations with interested stakeholders and evaluation of methodological and practical constraints to their actual application.