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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Christopher Frid
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With the oceans covering almost two-thirds of our planet, it is important that we be able to measure whether the seafloor ecosystem is healthy. One way to do this is to create a framework that could reduce the problems of applying "objective based" management to seafloor systems. This paper examines the ability of the available indicators to serve as management targets. Most of the currently available metrics of ecosystem health are only weakly tied to manageable activities. The approach advocated here involves the measurement of some general measures of "health" and the use of targeted assessment of measures of specific human impacts. The former need to be monitored at relatively frequent intervals over the entire area of concern. For seafloor communities, we have some metrics that can perform this role, although there are fewer that directly track manageable activities. Development of these performance metrics is an important challenge for ecologists.
Author(s): Frid CLJ
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Year: 2003
Volume: 1
Issue: 8
Pages: 429-436
ISSN (print): 1540-9295
ISSN (electronic):
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/1540-9295(2003)001[0429:MTHOTS]2.0.CO;2
DOI: 10.1890/1540-9295(2003)001[0429:MTHOTS]2.0.CO;2
