Ecological integrity and the management of ecosystems

Abstract

The 11 separately-authored contributions confront the issues involved in ecological integrity, or the ecologically sustainable management of ecosystems, and originate from a variety of backgrounds. These are divided into two groups, the first of which sets the scene: the notion of natural and cultural integrity; considerations of scale and hierarchy; applying notions of ecological integrity; and choosing indicators of integrity, with wetlands as a model system. The second group attempt to apply the concepts: measuring biological integrity, with lessons from streams; monitoring for ecosystem integrity; national and regional scale measures of Canada's ecosystem health; national environmental monitoring, illustrated by a case study of the Atlantic Maritime region; monitoring and measuring ecosystem integrity in Canadian national parks; an approach to the development of biological sediment guidelines; and some concluding comments on the nature of ecological integrity. -J.W.Cooper