The goal of EPA's ecosystems research is to provide scientific leadership and knowledge for assessing, improving, and restoring the integrity of ecosystems. EPA's goal includes protecting, sustaining and restoring the health of critical natural habitats and ecosystems. 

• Ecosystems Science
• Environmental Indicators
• Risk and Exposure
• Aquatic Ecosystems

Ecosystems Science

Science at EPA provides the foundation for credible decision-making to safeguard human health and ecosystems from environmental pollutants.

Research Programs

• Ecosystems Research
• Ecosystems Services
• Ecological Exposure Research
• Landscape Ecology
• Ecological Condition
• Ecosystems Models, Databases and Tools

Labs

• Ecosystems Research Division
• National Exposure Research Laboratory: Environmental Sciences

Environmental Indicators

A measurement, statistic or value that provides a proximate gauge or evidence of the effects of environmental management programs or of the state or condition of the environment.

• Local Environmental Indicators Reports
• Bioassessment and Biocriteria
• Climate Change: Ecosystems Impacts and Adaptation
• Climate Change: Forests Impacts and Adaptation

Risk and Exposure

EPA considers risk to be the chance of harmful effects to human health or to ecological systems resulting from exposure to an environmental stressor.

Risk Assessment and Characterization

• Ecological Risk Assessment
• Waste & Cleanup: Ecological Risk Characterization
• Pesticides: Ecological Risk Assessments
• Natural Resource Damages: Ecological Risk Assessment
• Pesticides: Endangered Species Effects Determinations

Exposure

• Ecotox Database - a source for locating single chemical toxicity data for aquatic life, terrestrial plants and wildlife
• Ecological Structure Activity Relationships - a computerized predictive system that estimates the aquatic toxicity of industrial chemicals
• Exposure Assessment Models

Aquatic Ecosystems

Empowered by the Clean Water Act, the EPA strives to manage, protect and restore the water resources and ecosystems of the nation's marine and fresh waters.

• CADDIS: The Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System - developed to help scientists and engineers in the Regions, States, and Tribes conduct causal assessments in aquatic systems
• Ecosystems Services and Restoration
• Green Infrastructure Research
• Nutrients Management Research

Wetlands and Watersheds

• Wetlands, Oceans & Watersheds: Databases and Mapping
• Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment
• Watershed Protection Research
• Watershed Central
• Science Notebook: Wetlands