SEPA
Landscape	An
Assessment — Overview
Office of Research and
Development
National Exposure
Research Laboratory
Environmental Sciences
Division
Landscape Ecology
Branch
Background
In the past, environmental policy generally reflected a reactive response to environ-
mental perturbations with management efforts focused on short-term, local-scale prob-
lems such as pollutant abatement. The 1980s witnessed increased interest in protecting
whole ecosystems from chronic environmental problems, but these were often parti-
tioned in relation to specific media, e.g., water, air, or soil pollution.
Currently, environmental management philosophy is evolving toward examination of
critical environmental problems over larger spatial scales and assessment of the cumu-
lative risk resulting from multiple stressors. Concern over the condition of communi-
ties, watersheds, and ecoregions has received considerable attention. Subsequently,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiated a landscape research program in
1992 to develop and test multi-scaled vulnerability assessment approaches.
Goals
Through development and application of landscape assessment approaches, the land-
scapes program is designed to enhance the ability of environmental managers and the
public to:
•	determine the status and trends of ecological resources at multiple scales;
•	evaluate how conditions at a community scale are influenced by broader-scale land-
Scape patterns and characteristics;
•	evaluate impacts of multiple stressors on ecological resources;
•	evaluate and prioritize the vulnerability of ecological resources to impairment due
to a range of stressors at multiple scales;
•	formulate a variety of landscape planning options within and among scales to
reduce vulnerability of ecological resources to impairment, and to enhance and
restore specific ecological resources;
•	develop products, such as regional and watershed assessments, analysis tools, digi-
tal maps, and databases, for a variety of audiences.
Conceptual Approach
The landscapes program uses landscape ecology, i.e., the study of the distribution
patterns of communities and ecosystems, the ecological processes that effect those
For More Information
Contact:
William Kepner
kepner.william@epa.gov
Website:
http://www.epa.gov/
nerlesd1/land-sci/
san-pedro.htm

-------
Landscape Analysis and Assessment
— Overview
patterns, and changes in both pattern and process over
time, as its foundation. Research is focused on the interac-
tion between landscape patterns and ecological processes,
especially as they affect the natural flows of water, energy,
nutrients, and biota in the environment. Landscape pattern
metrics related to size, shape, and connectivity are used as
indicators of ecological processes and stressors. These indi-
cators are related to conditions in specific ecological
resources through application of models and empirical
studies, and therefore provide the basis for assessments of
watershed condition (water quality, quantity, and vulnera-
bility to flooding), landscape resilience (ability to sustain
ecological goods and services when subjected to combina-
tions of anthropogenic and natural stress), and biodiversity
(wildlife habitat).
The latest in available technology relative to remote sensing,
geographic information systems, and spatial statistics is
being used. Remotely placed scanners, such as the Landsat
satellites, provide data with: (1) broad temporal frequency,
(2) complete spatial coverage, (3) ease and economy of
acquisition, (4) capability to integrate measurements of
ecosystem condition that are derived from site and remote
sensing methods, and (5) an ability to assess ecological con-
ditions at multiple scales. Landscape pattern metrics and
indicators are derived from these data by using commercial
and custom-designed spatial statistics software.
Implementation
The program is proceeding simultaneously along two lines:
(1) a research component to develop and test landscape
indicators and assessment protocols, and (2) an implemen-
tation component to demonstrate the application of land-
scape analysis protocols to multiple-scale, ecological assess-
ments. The research and implementation agendas are being
accomplished through regional studies throughout the
United States, e.g., Mid-Atlantic Region. An overall
research strategy (Landscape Monitoring and Assessment
Research Plan - 1994, EPA/620/R-94/009, 1994) originally set
forth a specific research agenda to resolve key technical
issues, including sampling design, indicator development,
and assessment protocols. This was later refined in a 10-
year research strategy to develop A National Assessment of
Landscape Change and Impacts to Aquatic Resources
(EPA/600/R-00/001) published in January 2000.
Landscape indicators are in various degrees of develop-
ment. Some are fully field tested and ready for immediate
use; others are preliminary concepts developed from the
theoretical basis of landscape ecology. A number of journal
articles have been published by the landscapes program that
address landscape indicator and assessment issues.
The landscapes program has developed an "Atlas" concept
to communicate its analysis results to a variety of users. A
landscape atlas consists of a set of indicators mapped across
multiple scales. The maps give the reader an idea of the
spatial distribution of landscape condition relative to specif-
ic environmental values at multiple scales. A demonstration
of this concept, An Ecological Assessment of the United States
Mid-Atlantic Region (EPA/600/R-97/130), was published in
November 1997.
Anticipated Contributions
Two major types of contributions should result from the pro-
gram: (1) a set of key scientific findings regarding the appli-
cation and interpretation of landscape indicators at multiple
scales, and (2) a landscape assessment framework to analyze
ecological resources that contribute to multi-scaled ecological
vulnerability and risk reduction assessments.
The landscape assessment framework and methodologies
should provide a number of benefits to environmental man-
agers and the public:
•	An understanding of how conditions at a community level are
influenced and constrained by broader-scale conditions of
watersheds and ecoregions.
•	An ability to address a range of environmental problems that
have inherently different scales.
•	An ability to address cumulative impacts to ecological
resources.
•	A frameivork for regional vulnerability assessments.
•	An ability to communicate analysis and assessment results to a
wide range of audiences.
For Further Information, contact:
William G. Kepner
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Exposure Research Laboratory
Environmental Sciences Division
P.O. Box 93478
Las Vegas, NV 89193-3478
Phone: (702) 798-2193
Fax: (702) 798-2692
E-mail: kepner.william@epa.gov
WEBSITE ANNOUNCEMENT
299LEB01
AUGUST 2001

-------