Wednesday, June 6, 2007 - 2:45 PM
285

Biological Indicators of Watershed Health: A Resource and Portal for EPA Bioassessment Activities

Wayne S. Davis, Office of Environmental Inforation, US EPA, 701 Mapes Road, Fort Meade, MD 20755-5350

EPA's Office of Environmental Information has developed a Web site on Biological Indicators of Watershed Health (http://www.epa.gov/bioindicators) in partnership with the Office of Water and the Biological Criteria Program (http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/biocriteria/). The Web site serves as a repository for a vast amount of information on the use and application of bioindicators within EPA, State, Tribal and other jurisdictions.  The Web site features an introduction to the use of bioindicators in EPA, information on bioassessment programs, dozens of relevant electronic publications, basic information on the use of various bioindicator assemblages, and an introduction to aquatic biodiversity. Recent additions include EPA's activities on developing coral reef biocriteria, the use of freshwater fish and benthic macroinvertebrates as indicators, a statistical primer, and a photo library to provide free images to students, educators, government employees and not for profit organizations.
This Web site is constantly being expanded and updated. Training and educational materials such as access to taxonomic tools for benthic macroinvertebrates and fish are presented, as well a new tool to better visualize the results from probabilistic monitoring programs.  We hope to get feedback on the usefulness of this Web site during this special session and learn how to better meet the needs of our customers.


Web Page: www.epa.gov/bioindicators