Multi-scale Statistical Approach to Critical-area Analysis and Modeling of Watersheds and Landscapes

Environmental and ecological statistics is poised for dramatic growth both for reasons of societal challenge and information technology. It is becoming clear that environmental and ecological statistics is demanding more and more of non-traditional statistical approaches. This is partly because environmental and ecological studies involve space, time and relationships between many variables, and require innovative and cost-effective monitoring, sampling and assessment. Also, environmental and ecological statistics methodology must satisfy environmental policy needs in addition to disciplinary and interdisciplinary environmental and ecological research imperatives. And all of this is true of research and policy issues involving water and watersheds for disciplinary and cross disciplinary research, such as: (i) a need to develop an enhanced predictive understanding of the processes and mechanisms that govern the dynamics and properties of surface and subsurface water and watershed ecosystems; (ii) a need to identify and research indicator variables, analytical methods, and other tools for determining waters and watersheds at risk and reducing the uncertainties of extrapolating information across broad spatial and temporal scales; and (iii) a need to interpret relationships between populations and communities of organisms and the quality and quantity of water, particularly as these relate to ecosystem processes, land use patterns, and landscape structure.