Science article advocates ongoing ecosystem assessment

A Policy Forum piece just published in Science and which advocates a national, sustained U.S. ecosystem assessment was led by DOI Southwest Climate Science Center director Steve Jackson and co-authored by CCASS director Kathy Jacobs and others. 

The article advocates adoption of a national assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services in order to organize and aggregate baseline information for natural resources management as well as analyze trends in indicators to help identify threats at local, regional, and national scales.

A sustained assessment could be developed in partnership with NGOs, foundations, U.S. government agencies, private-sector agencies, and other more local government agencies to ensure stable funding and continuity of effort, according to the article.