indicators - GLEI Pub

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A multi agency project funded by US EPA's STAR Program

Potential Indicators

The following list of indicators is preliminary and will change as the project progresses.

Category	Indicator
Amphibians	Species richness Number of sensitive species Developmental sensitivity
Birds	Species richness Number of sensitive species Number of tolerant species Number of wetland dependent species Number of non-native species Number of forest dependent species
Diatoms	Diatom-inferred total phosphorus Diatom-inferred chloride Diatom-inferred transparency (Secchi depth) Diatom-inferred turbidity Diatom Disturbance Index Lake Erie Diatom Index
Fish	Species richness Diversity (evenness) Ratio of predators to prey Proportional abundance of exotics relative to native species Proportion of specialist to generalist taxa across trophic guilds Salmon, trout, and walleye abundance Simon et al.'s (1989) Great Lakes estuarine fish Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) Thoma's (1990) Great Lakes estuarine fish Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)
Macroinvertebrates	Presence/absence and density of Hexagenia mayfly nymphs Density of oligochaete worms Number of Chironomidae genera Relative abundance of Chironomidae Presence/absence of native unionid mussels Reltaive abundance of exotic vs. native taxa Taxa richness Diversity (evenness) Relative abundance of taxa across species traits (e.g., reproductive and life history strategies) Ohio EPA's Nearshore Invertebrate Community Index Burton et al.'s (1999) Invertebrate Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) for Coastal Wetlands Wilcox et al.'s (1999) Invertebrate Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) for Coastal Wetlands
Habitat for fish and invertebrates	Habitat extent and distribution indicators Nutrient limitation indicators (e.g., N:P; live vs scenscent vegetation) Nutrient exposure indicators (i.e. nutrient concentrations) Nutrient process indicators (i.e. dentrification, nutrient retention) Sediment indicators (i.e. loading, sediment typing, organic matter content)
Wetland vegetation	Coastal wetland area by wetland type (SOLEC 4510) Gain in restored wetland area by wetland type (SOLEC 4511) Habitat adjacent to coastal wetlands (SOLEC 7055) Wetland size Wetland area to perimeter ratio Wetland density (number of wetlands per unit area) Interspersion of wetland vegetation and open water Presence, abundance, and expansion of invasive plants (SOLEC 4513) Number of native taxa Percent of all taxa that are obligate wetland plants Presence of socially valuable species Presence of species with narrow environmental tolerances Species richness Mean percent cover of turbidity-tolerant submergent taxa Multivariate analysis of community structure
Contaminants	Vitellogenin production in male fish Presence and amount of endocrine disrupting chemicals in sediment Presence and amount of endocrine disrupting chemicals in water Depth of UV penetration into water column Estimated depth of UV penetration based on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration PAH presence and concentration in larval fish PAH presence and concentration in sediment PAH toxicity of sediments to oligochaetes
Remote sensing	Wetland habitat loss and rate of loss Wetland vegetation patch size and perimeter-to-area ratio Land use and land use change Wetland buffer size Wetland size, position, configuration, and density Vegetation-water interspersion Nature and extent of riparian vegetation Expansion of wetland exotic species

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