Research Activities

Research To Value Ecosystem Services

The Ecological Research Program in EPA's Office of Research and Development has identified four research activities that are being conducted to provide the science needed to identify, quantify and assess ecosystem services.

The research projects are:

Nitrogen Research

This research will improve understanding of how nitrogen, a regulated pollutant, affects the collection of services derived from an ecosystem in both positive and negative ways. For example, excess nitrogen from fertilizer, septic tanks, animal feedlots, automobiles, power plants, and runoff from pavement causes changes in ecosystem services. The results of this research will assist national air and water policy makers in evaluating the most cost effective means of improving human health, and ecosystem services protection.

Research Project Lead:
Jana Compton (compton.jana@epa.gov), 541-754-4620

Wetlands Research

Wetlands are protected under our nation's "no net loss" policies. The primary objective in this research area is to document the range and quantity of wetland services provided by a wide range of varying types of wetlands and determine how their position on the landscape alters the provision of ecosystem services. This information can be used to protect and manage wetlands under alternative use options.

Research Project Leads:
Virginia Engle (engle.virginia@epa.gov), 850-934-9354,
and Mary Kentula (kentula.mary@epa.gov), 541-754-4478,

Community-Based Research

Four locations in the United States have been identified for study to develop decision tools for regional and local managers to examine the effect of alternative management strategies on the collection of ecosystem services. This research will provide local decision makers with the information they need to decide how to use their environment while maintaining the services most highly valued by their communities.

Contact:
Megan H. Mehaffey (mehaffey.megan@epa.gov), 919-541-4205

The research projects are being implemented by a multi-disciplinary group of scientists in the Office of Research and Development. They are:

Tampa Bay Study in Florida
Research Project Lead: Marc Russell (russell.marc@epa.gov), 850-934-9344

Future Midwestern Landscapes Study
Research Project Lead: Randy Bruins (bruins.randy@epa.gov), 513-569-7581

Willamette River Basin Study in Oregon
Research Project Lead: Dixon Landers (landers.dixon@epa.gov), 541-754-4427

Coastal Carolinas Study (North and South Carolina coastal counties)
Research Project Lead: Dorsey Worthy (worthy.dorsey@epa.gov), 919-541-3075

The research will provide critical information about the interrelationship of ecosystems and the impacts of different existing or proposed uses on the services they provide. The scientific discoveries made will be useful as other communities and regions deal with similar issues of managing nature's finite ecosystem services and resources.

Coral Reef Research

Coral reefs provide valuable services to society-food, coastal protection, fishing, recreation, education, and water quality, as well as cultural and aesthetic enjoyment derived from the diverse biota that comprise coral reef communities. Yet coral reefs are in serious decline, partly from global change factors such as high seawater temperatures, and partly from pollutants in watershed runoff. Human land use and human activities are largely responsible for excess sediment, nutrients and contaminants that are harmful to coral reef communities. Pollution from continued population growth and economic development in coastal zones will further threaten these valued ecosystems.

Coral reef research is being conducted to provide decision support tools for protection, enhancement, restoration and sustainability of coral reef ecosystems and the services they provide. The tools will provide managers the means to prioritize and evaluate land use decisions with better knowledge of downstream costs and benefits to coral reef services.