Ecological indicators are used to communicate information about ecosystems and the impact human activity has on ecosystems to groups such as the public or government

Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 policy

Policy

A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...

 makers. Ecosystems are complex and ecological indicators can help describe them in simpler terms that can be understood and used by non-scientists to make management decisions. For example, the number of different beetle

Beetle

Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...

 taxa found in a field can be used as an indicator of biodiversity

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...

. 

Many different types of indicators have been developed. They can be used to reflect a variety of aspects of ecosystems, including biological, chemical and physical. Due to this variety, the development and selection of ecological indicators is a complex process.  

Using ecological indicators is a pragmatic approach since direct documentation of changes in ecosystems as related to management measures, is cost and time intensive. For example, it would be expensive and time consuming to count every bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

, plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 and animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...

 in a newly restored

Restoration ecology

-Definition:Restoration ecology is the scientific study and practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human intervention and action, within a short time frame...

 wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

 to see if the restoration was a success. Instead a few indicator species

Indicator species

An indicator species is any biological species that defines a trait or characteristic of the environment. For example, a species may delineate an ecoregion or indicate an environmental condition such as a disease outbreak, pollution, species competition or climate change...

 can be monitored to determine success of the restoration. 

“It is difficult and often even impossible to characterize the functioning of a complex system, such as an eco-agrosystem, by means of direct measurements. The size of the system, the complexity of the interactions involved, or the difficulty and cost of the measurements needed are often crippling” 

The terms ecological indicator and environmental indicator

Environmental indicator

Environmental indicators are simple measures that tell us what is happening in the environment. Since the environment is very complex, indicators provide a more practical and economical way to track the state of the environment than if we attempted to record every possible variable in the environment...

 are often used interchangeably. However, ecological indicators are actually a sub-set of environmental indicators. Generally, environmental indicators provide information on pressures on the environment

Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....

, environmental conditions and societal responses. Ecological indicators refer only to ecological processes. 

Policy evaluation

Ecological indicators play an important role in evaluating policy regarding the environment.

Contributions

Indicators contribute to evaluation of policy development by:

• Providing decision-makers and the general public with relevant information on the current state and trends in the environment.
• Helping decision-makers better understand cause and effect relationships between the choices and practices of businesses and policy-makers versus the environment.
• Assisting to monitor and assess the effectiveness of measures taken to increase and enhance ecological goods and services
  Ecological goods and services
  Ecological goods and services are the benefits arising from the ecological functions of healthy ecosystems. Such benefits accrue to all living organisms, including animals and plants, rather than to humans alone...
  
  .

Based on the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 convention to combat desertification and convention for biodiversity, indicators are planned to be built in order to evaluate the evolution of the factors. For instance, for the CCD, the Unesco

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

-funded Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel (OSS) has created the Réseau d'Observatoires du Sahara et du Sahel (ROSELT) (website http://www.roselt-oss.teledection.fr) as a network of cross-Saharan observatories to establish ecological indicators.

Limitations

There are limitations and challenges to using indicators for evaluating policy programs.

For indicators to be useful for policy analysis, it is necessary to be able to use and compare indicator results on different scales (local, regional, national and international). Currently, indicators face the following spatial limitations and challenges:

1. Variable availability of data and information on local, regional and national scales.
2. Lack of methodological standards on an international scale.
3. Different ranking of indicators on an international scale which can result in different legal treatment.
4. Averaged values across a national level may hide regional and local trends.
5. When compiled, local indicators may be too diverse to provide a national result.

Indicators also face other limitations and challenges, such as:

1. Lack of reference levels, therefore it is unknown if trends in environmental change are strong or weak.
2. Indicator measures can overlap, causing over estimation of single parameters.
3. Long-term monitoring is necessary to identify long-term environmental changes.
4. Attention to more easily handled measurable indicators distracts from indicators less quantifiable such as aesthetics, ethics or cultural values.

See also=

• Ecological science
• Ecology movement
  Ecology movement
  The global ecology movement is based upon environmental protection, and is one of several new social movements that emerged at the end of the 1960s. As a values-driven social movement, it should be distinguished from the pre-existing science of ecology....
  
  
• Ecosystem valuation
  Ecosystem valuation
  Ecosystem valuation is a widely used tool in determining the impact of human activities on an environmental system, by assigning an economic value to an ecosystem or its ecosystem services.-Value of ecosystem services:...
  
  
• Ecological yield
  Ecological yield
  Ecological yield is the harvestable population growth of an ecosystem. It is most commonly measured in forestry;sustainable forestry is defined as that which does not harvest more wood in a year than has grown in that year, within a given patch of forest....
  
  
• Deep ecology
  Deep ecology
  Deep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
  
  
• Human ecology
  Human ecology
  Human ecology is the subdiscipline of ecology that focuses on humans. More broadly, it is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. The term 'human ecology' first appeared in a sociological study in 1921...
  
  
• Systems ecology
  Systems ecology
  Systems ecology is an interdisciplinary field of ecology, taking a holistic approach to the study of ecological systems, especially ecosystems. Systems ecology can be seen as an application of general systems theory to ecology. Central to the systems ecology approach is the idea that an ecosystem...
  
  
• Ecosystem ecology
  Ecosystem ecology
  Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components such as chemicals, bedrock, soil, plants, and animals.Ecosystem ecology...
  
  
• Ecoinformatics
  Ecoinformatics
  Ecoinformatics, or ecological informatics, is the science of information in Ecology and Environmental science. It integrates environmental and information sciences to define entities and natural processes with language common to both humans and computers...
  
  
• Ecosystem
  Ecosystem
  An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
  
  
• Environmental impact assessment
  Environmental impact assessment
  An environmental impact assessment is an assessment of the possible positive or negative impact that a proposed project may have on the environment, together consisting of the natural, social and economic aspects....
  
  
• Strategic Environmental Assessment
  Strategic Environmental Assessment
  Strategic environmental assessment is a system of incorporating environmental considerations into policies, plans, and programmes. It is sometimes referred to as strategic environmental impact assessment. The specific term strategic environmental assessment relates to European Union policy...
  
  
• Social impact assessment
  Social impact assessment
  Social impact assessment is a methodology to review the social effects of infrastructure projects and other development interventions.-Definition:...
  
  
• Vulnerability assessment
  Vulnerability assessment
  A vulnerability assessment is the process of identifying, quantifying, and prioritizing the vulnerabilities in a system. Examples of systems for which vulnerability assessments are performed include, but are not limited to, information technology systems, energy supply systems, water supply...
  
  
• Arctic Climate Impact Assessment
  Arctic Climate Impact Assessment
  The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment is a study describing the ongoing climate change in the Arctic and its consequences: rising temperatures, loss of sea ice, unprecedented melting of the Greenland ice sheet, and many impacts on ecosystems, animals, and people...
  
  
• National Assessment on Climate Change
  National Assessment on Climate Change
  The National Climate Assessment is a large-scale national project that is conducted under the auspices of the Global Change Research Act of 1990, and is one of the many activities of the US Global Change Research Program , a program which coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in...
  
  
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
  Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
  The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, released in 2005, is an international synthesis by over 1000 of the world's leading biological scientists that analyses the state of the Earth’s ecosystems and provides summaries and guidelines for decision-makers...
  
  
• Four-Step Impact Assessment
  Four-Step Impact Assessment
  The Four-Step Impact Assessment is an academic framework initiated and published by the late Jonathan Mann and colleagues at the Francouis-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health. The assessment takes into account the negotiation of objectives...
  
  
• Environmental ethics
  Environmental ethics
  Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including the non-human world...
  
  
• Environmental economics
  Environmental economics
  Environmental economics is a subfield of economics concerned with environmental issues. Quoting from the National Bureau of Economic Research Environmental Economics program:...
  
  
• Indicator plants
• Indicator species
  Indicator species
  An indicator species is any biological species that defines a trait or characteristic of the environment. For example, a species may delineate an ecoregion or indicate an environmental condition such as a disease outbreak, pollution, species competition or climate change...
  
  
• 2010 Biodiversity Target
  2010 biodiversity target
  The 2010 Biodiversity Target was an overall conservation target aiming to halt the decline of biodiversity by the end of 2010. The world largely failed to meet the target .-History of the 2010 Biodiversity Target:...
  
  
• Wastewater Quality Indicators
  Wastewater quality indicators
  Wastewater quality indicators are laboratory tests to assess suitability of wastewater for disposal or re-use. Tests selected and desired test results vary with the intended use or discharge location. Tests measure physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the...
  
  
• Genuine Progress Indicator
  Genuine Progress Indicator
  The genuine progress indicator is an alternative metric system which is an addition to the national system of accounts that has been suggested to replace, or supplement, gross domestic product as a metric of economic growth...
  
  
• Key Success Indicator
• Sustainability
  Sustainability
  Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
  
  
• Assessment
  Assessment
  Educational assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community , the institution, or the educational system as a whole...
  
  
• Evaluation
  Evaluation
  Evaluation is systematic determination of merit, worth, and significance of something or someone using criteria against a set of standards.Evaluation often is used to characterize and appraise subjects of interest in a wide range of human enterprises, including the arts, criminal justice,...
  
  
• Policy
  Policy
  A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
  
  
• Bioaccumulation
  Bioaccumulation
  Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other organic chemicals in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at which the substance is lost...
  
  
• Soil food web
  Soil food web
  The soil food web is the community of organisms living all or part of their lives in the soil. It describes a complex living system in the soil and how it interacts with the environment, plants, and animals....
  
  
• Soil ecology
  Soil ecology
  Soil ecology is the study of the interactions among soil organisms, and between biotic and abiotic aspects of the soil environment. It is particularly concerned with the cycling of nutrients, formation and stabilization of the pore structure, the spread and vitality of pathogens, and the...
  
  
• Conservation biology
  Conservation biology
  Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...
  
  
• Environmental Assessment Institute
  Environmental Assessment Institute
  Environmental Assessment Institute is an independent body under the Danish Ministry of the Environment. It was established in February 2002 by the Liberal/Conservative Danish Government with the task of making environmental and economic cost/benefit analyses...
  
  
• Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology
  Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology
  The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology is a subdivision and research institute of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kent, started in 1989 and named in honour of the famous British naturalist Gerald Durrell...
  
  
• Institute for Social Ecology
  Institute for Social Ecology
  The Institute for Social Ecology is an educational institution in the United States offering courses related to social ecology, an anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian strain of ecology that is a form of libertarian socialism. It was founded in 1974 by Murray Bookchin and Daniel Chodorkoff...
  
  
• Timeline of environmental events
  Timeline of environmental events
  The timeline lists geological, astronomical, and climatological events in relation to events in human history which they influenced. For the history of humanity's perspective on these events, see timeline of the history of environmentalism...
  
  
• 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership
  2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership
  The Biodiversity Indicators Partnership brings together a host of international organizations working on indicator development, to provide the best available information on biodiversity trends to the global community. The Partnership was initially established to help monitor progress towards the...
  
  

External Links=

• Journal of Political Ecology
• Journals of the British Ecological Society
• Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management
• Ecology and Society
• U.S. EPA's Report on the Environment