Chapter 6: Ecology and Biodiversity

The integrity of animal and plant communities serves as a critical measure of the effectiveness of policies designed to protect and restore ecosystem processes in the Lake Tahoe basin. The conservation of plants and animals in the Tahoe basin is utterly dependent on the conservation of its terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; so, in many ways, the research agenda that follows builds on the other research described in this volume. Accordingly, successful integration of outcomes from research on water quality, air quality, and other natural attributes of the basin will contribute greatly to the recovery and persistence of biological diversity in the Tahoe basin.