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Ecological Risk Assessment Training
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Defining Ecological Entities and Attributes

The first step of defining an assessment endpoint is to determine what ecological entity you want to protect. An ecological entity can be:

  • A species (for instance: piping plover).photo of lake
  • A functional group of species (for instance: piscivores).
  • A community (for instance: benthic invertebrates).
  • An ecosystem (for instance: lake).
  • A specific valued habitat (for instance: wet meadows).
  • Another entity of concern.

Once you have identified the entity, the second step is to determine what about the entity, what specific attribute, is potentially at risk and important to protect. This clarifies management goals and gives you a basis for measurement in the risk assessment.

activity
Attribute Choices
    text-only version


Relevant guidelines section(s): 3.3.2


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