Preface 



This document describes a process for the technical evaluation of ecological indicators. It 

 was developed by members of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office 

 of Research and Development (ORD), to assist primarily the indicator research component 

 of ORD's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP). The Evaluation 

 Guidelines are intended to direct ORD scientists during the course of indicator 

 development, and provide a consistent framework for indicator review. The primary users 

 will evaluate indicators for their suitability in ORD-affiliated ecological monitoring and 

 assessment programs, including those involving other federal agencies. This document 

 may also serve technical needs of users who are evaluating ecological indicators for other 

 programs, including regional, state, and community-based initiatives. 



The Evaluation Guidelines represent a compilation and expansion of previous ORD efforts, 

 in particular, the initial guidance developed for EMAP. General criteria for indicator 

 evaluation were identified for EMAP by Messer (1990) and incorporated into successive 

 versions of the EMAP Indicator Development Strategy (Knapp 1991, Barber 1994). The 

 early EMAP indicator evaluation criteria were included in program materials reviewed by 

 EPA's Science Advisory Board (EPA 1 991 ) and the National Research Council (NRG 1 992, 

 1995). None of these reviews recommended changes to the evaluation criteria. 



However, as one result of the National Research Council's review, EMAP incorporated 

 additional temporal and spatial scales into its research mission. EMAP also expanded its 

 indicator development component, through both internal and extramural research, to 

 address additional indicator needs. Along with indicator development and testing, EMAP's 

 indicator component is expanding the Indicator Development Strategy, and revising the 

 general evaluation criteria in the form of technical guidelines presented here with more 

 clarification, detail, and examples using ecological indicators currently under development. 



The Ecological Indicators Working Group that compiled and detailed the Evaluation 

 Guidelines consists of researchers from all of ORD's National Research Laboratories- 

 Health and Environmental Effects, Exposure, and Risk Management--as well as ORD's 

 National Center for Environmental Assessment. This group began in 1995 to chart a 

 coordinated indicator research program. The working group has incorporated the 

 Evaluation Guidelines into the ORD Indicator Research Strategy, which applies also to the 

 extramural grants program, and is working with potential user groups in EPA Regions and 

 Program Offices, states, and other federal agencies to explore the use of the Evaluation 

 Guidelines for their indicator needs. 



IV 



