Integration of ecosystem science into radioecology: A consensus perspective.

In the Fall of 2016 a workshop was held which brought together over 50 scientists from the ecological and radiological fields to discuss feasibility and challenges of reintegrating ecosystem science into radioecology. There is a growing desire to incorporate attributes of ecosystem science into radiological risk assessment and radioecological research more generally, fueled by recent advances in quantification of emergent ecosystem attributes and the desire to accurately reflect impacts of radiological stressors upon ecosystem function. This paper is a synthesis of the discussions and consensus of the workshop participant's responses to three primary questions, which were: 1) How can ecosystem science support radiological risk assessment? 2) What ecosystem level endpoints potentially could be used for radiological risk assessment? and 3) What inference strategies and associated methods would be most appropriate to assess the effects of radionuclides on ecosystem structure and function? The consensus of the participants was that ecosystem science can and should support radiological risk assessment through the incorporation of quantitative metrics that reflect ecosystem functions which are sensitive to radiological contaminants. The participants also agreed that many such endpoints exit or are thought to exit and while many are used in ecological risk assessment currently, additional data need to be collected that link the causal mechanisms of radiological exposure to these endpoints. Finally, the participants agreed that radiological risk assessments must be designed and informed by rigorous statistical frameworks capable of revealing the causal inference tying radiological exposure to the endpoints selected for measurement.

Integrating Ecological Concepts with Natural Resource Management of Southern Forests.

Natural resource management must integrate commercial development and use of forest resources with the maintenance of ecological values. The "New Perspectives" program of the U.S. Forest Service is responding to increased public environmental awareness and legislative mandates in placing a greater emphasis on ecosystem sustainability and non-traditional utilization of national forestlands. The forest of the southern United States is a complexity of associations developed along topographic and environmental gradients and shaped by natural disturbances and anthropogenic perturbations. It is highly fragmented as a result of past clearing for agriculture and timber harvesting and patterns of land ownership. Southern forests, in contrast to those in other regions, are mostly privately owned. This fragmentation is being maintained by current urbanization and industrialization as the population of the south increases. Our purpose is to identify ecological themes and concepts compatible with the stewardship philosophy of the Forest Service's New Perspectives that can be applied to the management of sustainable southern forest resources. Of special concern are the maintenance of biological diversity, watershed and water quality protection, and the assessment of regional land-use effects on the integrity of forest ecosystems and on continued forest productivity. Ecological principles must be integrated with natural resource management on landscape and regional scales to achieve sustainability of the southern forest ecosystem.