roblems?

t programs. Do they protect all

ce with environmental permits,

ps between the factors causing

 and desires (e.g., food to eat,

ntinuous forested watersheds)

at cause the highest ecological

nformation, Please Contact

Patricia Bradley

Ph: 410.305.2744

onmental Protection Agency

nmental Science Center

eade, MD 20755-5350

-or

 web site at www.epa.gov/maia

vironment for humans

the EPA’s Mid-Atlantic

at goal. The facts and

 publications cited and

 by EPA Region 3.

d environmental management has been

 EPA Chesapeake Bay Program and its federal,

ners through “Chesapeake 2000.”

Results from physical and chemical monitoring indicate thatthe state of the environment in the Mid-Atlantic hasimproved: municipal and industrial discharge water qualityhas improved; best management practices are beingimplemented to control runoff; and wetlands are beingrestored. But, these monitoring methods are not adequateto identify when the goal of a healthy and sustainableenvironment for humans and other living organisms hasbeen reached. Sustainable is defined as a method ofharvesting or using aresource so that theresource is not depletedor permanently damaged.

Seven of the lessons learned over the past 10 years from these new ways of monitoring are:

1

Biological organisms—fish, birds,insects, trees—are stressedthroughout the region. Estuarinebottom organisms, stream fishes,and bird communities all show signsof being stressed (Figure 1). Itdoesn’t matter if we look at theregion as a whole, on a watershedby watershed basis, or look atindividual states, the condition is thesame—biological organisms arestressed!

Figure 1. Over 20% of the Mid-Atlantic estuarine area has benthic communities which areimpacted (EPA/600/R-98/147, November 1998).

What is the State of theEnvironment in the Mid-AtlanticRegion?

 G o a l

hlorine free 100% recycled paper with

consumer fiber using vegetable-based ink.

L e s s o n s L e a r n e d

The state of the environment in the

Mid-Atlantic region is improving; it just hasn’t

reached a healthy and sustainable state!

 Wait a minute!

What kind of double talk is this?

State of the environment - Improving? Yes!

Healthy and Sustainable?

No - Not Yet!

Over the past 10 years, a new way of monitoring has been taking place in the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency’s Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA).Instead of just measuring physical and chemical indicators in hand-picked locationsin forests, streams and estuaries, the condition of living organisms and physical and

chemical indicators has been measured in a way that can be related to the conditionof the environment for the entire region. In addition, new approaches have beendeveloped for using and evaluating satellite pictures to assess environmental condition.

MAIA Region Map

Vital HabitatWater QualityStewardship &Community EngagementSound Land UseLiving Resources

Percent Area

01020 304050

= Impacted Benthic Community

Mid-Atlantic

Chesapeake

Delaware

Coastal Bays
Figure 4. An index of forest fragmentation shows the greatest fragmentation(red) occurs in areas around major metropolitan areas and areas undergoingrapid growth. There are still areas where forest fragmentation is low (green)(EPA/600/R-97/130, November 1997).

x scores for the Mid-Atlantic Highlands

ea is ranked in fair to poor condition

).

There are many factors that contribute tothe stress observed in living organisms.It’s difficult to identify any one thing—stressors are interrelated and overlapping.For example, some streams are clearlydominated by a single stressor, but mostsuffer from the cumulative, combinedeffects of multiple stressors.

ExcellentGoodFairPoor

< 7.8

 7.8 - 11.2

 11.2 - 13.8

13.8 - 21.4

> 21.4

% Watershed Area

4

d physical indicators 

e a complete picture 

ntal condition, which is 

 Lesson 3. Yet, many 

ograms only measure 

physical indicators. We 

t more in measuring 

ators. We need a better, 

e picture.

5

hroughout the Mid-Atlantic

wl is contributing to this loss

radation (Figure 3). In the

half of the region, resource

n—from timber harvesting to

contributes to this loss and

on. Forest fragmentation—

waths and patches out of the

contributes to habitat

on.

in the Mid-Atlantic?

What is Stressing the Living Organisms

* The Mid-Atlantic Highlands study region includes the area from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the east to the Ohio River

in the west and from the Catskill Mountains in the north to the Virginia—North Carolina/Tennessee border in the south.

7Non-native and exotic species have invaded the Mid-Atlantic region and are a major problem. These species range from pathogens to plants to fish to birds and can out-compete native species because their natural enemies are not present. Combining habitat loss with the introduction of non- native species results in the loss—in many cases permanent—of native species.

6

Forest fragmentation is widespreadthroughout the region (Figure 4). Theforests in the Mid-Atlantic region are a worldrenowned resource. There is only one otherplace in the world that has as muchcontinuous mid-latitude forest. The MidAtlantic forest is rapidly being reduced fromlarge continuous stands to smaller, noncontiguous stands that do not providesufficient habitat for many species. Thesespecies, from migratory birds to black bears,require large blocks of continuousforest to sustain their populations.

Figure 5. Habitat degradation—both from sedimentation in the stream bed(instream) and erosion along its banks (riparian)—is the stressor that hasdamaged the most miles of streams in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands.Introduced species (gray bar above) are found in over 30% of the streammiles and include brown and rainbow trout, introduced by the states asgame/sport fish (EPA/903/R-00/015, August 2000).

= Poor % Stream Miles

Instream Habitat

Riparian Habitat

Mine Drainage

Tissue Contamination

Acidic Deposition

Phosphorus

Introduced Species

Nitrogen

010203040