Chapter 1 

 Presentation of the Guidelines 



Phase 1: Conceptual Relevance 



The indicator must provide information that is relevant to societal concerns about ecological condition. The 

 indicator should clearly pertain to one or more identified assessment questions. These, in turn, should be 

 germane to a management decision and clearly relate to ecological components or processes deemed 

 important in ecological condition. Often, the selection of a relevant indicator is obvious from the assessment 

 question and from professional judgement. However, a conceptual model can be helpful to demonstrate and 

 ensure an indicator's ecological relevance, particularly if the indicator measurement is a surrogate for 

 measurement of the valued resource. This phase of indicator evaluation does not require field activities or 

 data analysis. Later in the process, however, information may come to light that necessitates re-evaluation 

 of the conceptual relevance, and possibly indicator modification or replacement. Likewise, new information 

 may lead to a refinement of the assessment question. 



Guideline 1 : Relevance to the Assessment 



Early in the evaluation process, it must be demonstrated in concept that the proposed indicator is responsive 

 to an identified assessment question and will provide information useful to a management decision. For 

 indicators requiring multiple measurements (indices or aggregates), the relevance of each measurement to 

 the management objective should be identified. In addition, the indicator should be evaluated for its potential 

 to contribute information as part of a suite of indicators designed to address multiple assessment questions. 

 The ability of the proposed indicator to complement indicators at other scales and levels of biological 

 organization should also be considered. Redundancy mth existing indicators may be permissible, 

 particularly if improved performance or some unique and critical information is anticipated from the proposed 

 indicator. 



Guideline 2: Relevance to Ecological Function 



It must be demonstrated that the proposed indicator is conceptually linked to the ecological function of 

 concern. A straightforward link may require only a brief explanation. If the link is indirect or if the indicator 

 itself is particularly complex, ecological relevance should be clarified with a description, or conceptual model. 

 A conceptual model is recommended, for example, if an indicator is comprised of multiple measurements or 

 if it will contribute to a weighted index. In such cases, the relevance of each component to ecological function 

 and to the index should be described. At a minimum, explanations and models should include the principal 

 stressors that are presumed to impact the indicator, as well as the resulting ecological response. This 

 information should be supported by available environmental, ecological and resource management literature. 



Phase 2: Feasibility of Implementation 



Adapting an indicator for use in a large or long-term monitoring program must be feasible and practical. 

 Methods, logistics, cost, and other issues of implementation should be evaluated before routine data 



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