Managing Ecosystems In A Watershed Context:Progress Made And The Emerging Role OfIntegrated Spatial Information Technologies

Ecosystem management within a watershed context is a relatively new management paradigm that involves: monitoring the current and changing conditions of ecological resources, understanding more fully the structure and function of ecosystems to develop improved management options, modeling the response of ecosystems to human induced stresses, and assessing the social and economic implications of management actions. Watersheds are the most appropriate ecological and economic unit for carrying out these activities. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, managing natural resource programs on a watershed basis "makes good sense ecologically, financially and socially." While there is a broad consensus on the utility of a watershed approach most recognize that contemporary ecosystem management can benefit significantly from recent developments in integrated spatial information technologies. This paper examines major issues related to the application of CIS in watershed management. Specifically the paper presents and discusses the progress made during the past several decades in developing new tools to enhance predictive understanding of watershed ecosystems. The paper also introduces the application of CIS and environmental modeling in two case studies: a spatial decision support system for managing integrated livestock-crop production in agricultural watersheds and an interactive watershed hydrologic modeling environment used to estimate the impacts of agricultural management systems on hydrology and water quality. Transactions on Information and Communications Technologies vol 18, © 1998 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3517