ASSESSING ECOSYSTEM HEALTH IN GOVERNED LANDSCAPES - A FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING CORE INDICATORS

This article describes the development of a framework for selecting a core set of indicators suitable for an integrated ecosystem health ass essment of a governed landscape. Integrated assessments are those that consider a combination of biophysical, socioeconomic, and human healt h considerations. Highly governed landscapes are cultural landscapes t hat are strictly controlled by humans to the extent that they would re vert to an entirely different form were it not for continued human int ervention. One example of such a landscape, which serves as the settin g for this investigation, is the former wetlands of the northeastern I talian coastal zone, which have been subject to widespread land reclam ation and coastal development over the past century. The science of ec osystem health has been chosen as the frame of reference because ''hea lth'' is not judged by the degree of ''naturalness'' but instead on th e ability of the ecosystem to maintain and renew itself. The framework consists of first reviewing literature and methods related to ecologi cal and environmental monitoring, stale-oi-the-environment reporting, landscape ecology, and sustainability. This is followed by the definit ion of indicator guidelines that are designed to assist in the evaluat ion and selection of potential indicators. A core set of indicators ar e then presented based on a conceptual framework devised for this purp ose. indicators are classed as abiotic, biotic, and cultural, and sele cted according to the ecological districts comprising the study area. The ultimate goal is their application to an ecological monitoring and assessment program within a governed landscape such as the northeaste rn Italian coastal zone. Given such a commitment, the normal process o f core indicator refinement can then proceed, based on such actions as further consultations with interested stakeholders and evaluation of methodological and practical constraints to their actual application.