Assessing impacts on biological resources from site characterization activities of the Yucca Mountain Project

An integrated impact assessment program was developed to monitor the possible effects of Site Characterization Activities (SCA) on the biological resources of the Yucca Mountain area. The program uses control and treatment sites incorporating both spatial and temporal controls. The selection of biotic variables for monitoring was based on their relative importance in the ecosystem and their ability to provide information on potential impacts. All measures of biotic and abiotic variables will be made on the same sample plots to permit linking changes in variables to each other. 18 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.