Environmental Indicators in the Context of Monitoring and Management of Coastal Resources

Environmental indicators have received an increasingly important role in communicating credible information about the status and trends in environmental conditions and sustainability of resources in coastal and marine waters. Indicators serve as valuable tools for linking resource management goals to specific performance measures that can be derived from the results of well-planned environmental assessment, monitoring and research studies. Since its inception in 1984, NOAA's National Status and Trends program has used environmental indicators in the form of benthic ecological indices and a broad suite of biomarkers for assessing environmental quality in the coastal and estuarine areas of the United States.