Note: Front Cover -- Detecting Ecological Impacts: Concepts and Applications in Coastal Habitats -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- SECTION I: AN INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT PRINCIPLES AND GOALS -- Chapter 1. Detecting Ecological Impacts Caused by Human Activities -- The Need for Field Assessments -- The (In-)Adequacy of Existing Field Assessment Designs -- The Organization of This Book -- References -- Chapter 2. Goals in Environmental Monitoring -- A Case for Confidence Intervals -- Discussion -- References -- Chapter 3. Criteria for Selecting Marine Organisms in Biomonitoring Studies -- What Should an "Indicator" Indicate? -- Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 4. Impacts on Soft-Sediment Macrofauna: The Effects of Spatial Variation on Temporal Trends -- Methods -- Results -- Discussion -- References -- Chapter 5. Scalable Decision Criteria for Environmental Impact Assessment: Effect Size,Type I, and Type II Errors -- Components of a Decision -- Problems with Traditional Decisions -- New Decision Rules -- Advantages of Liberating α -- Some Problems with a Variable α -- Summary -- References -- SECTION II: IMPROVING FIELD ASSESSMENTS OF LOCAL IMPACTS BEFORE-AFTER-CONTROL-IMPACT DESIGNS -- Chapter 6. Detection of Environmental Impacts: Natural Variability, Effect Size, and Power Analysis -- Methods -- Results -- Discussion -- References -- Chapter 7. Problems in the Analysis of Environmental Monitoring Data -- Before-After Studies -- Before-After-Control-Impact Paired Series Designs -- Causal Uncertainty -- Discussion -- References -- Chapter 8. Estimating the Size of an Effect from a Before-After-Control-Impact Paired Series Design: The Predictive Approach Applied to a Power Plant Study -- Background on the Example Data Set -- The Standard Approach-The Underlying Model and Implications. , Difficulties with the Standard Approach -- An Alternative: The Predictive Approach -- Discussion -- References -- Chapter 9. On Beyond BACI: Sampling Designs That Might Reliably Detect Environmental Disturbances -- Problems with Current Sampling Designs -- Asymmetrical Sampling Design to Detect Environmental Impacts -- Patterns in Analyses to Detect Environmental Impacts -- Discussion -- References -- SECTION III: EXTENSION OF LOCAL IMPACTS TO LARGER SCALE CONSEQUENCES -- Chapter 10. Determining the Spatial Extent of Ecological Impacts Caused by Local Anthropogenic Disturbances in Coastal Marine Habitats -- Spatial Relationships among Physical and Ecological Variables Following a Local Disturbance -- Life-History Attributes and the Dispersal of Ecological Impacts -- Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 11. Predicting the Scale of Marine Impacts: Understanding Planktonic Links between Populations -- Larval Transport Processes -- Larval Attributes Contributing to Dispersal -- The Relative Importance of Hydrodynamics and Biology -- Requirements for Individual Monitoring or EIA Programs -- Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 12. Influence of Pollutants and Oceanography on Abundance and Deformities of Wild Fish Larvae -- Oceanographic Features and the Accumulation of Fish Larvae and Pollutants -- Abundance Patterns of Fish Larvae in Plumes -- Vulnerability of Fish Larvae to Pollutants -- Deformities in Wild Larvae from Plumes -- Caveats to Quantifying Deformities in Wild Fish Larvae and Other Approaches -- Discussion -- References -- Chapter 13. Consequences for Adult Fish Stocks of Human-Induced Mortality on Immatures -- Modeling Compensatory Processes in Fish Populations -- Predicted Consequences of Increased Immature Mortality -- Impact on Predators -- Discussion -- References. , SECTION IV: THE LINK BETWEEN ADMINISTRATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDIES AND WELL-DESIGNED FIELD ASSESSMENTS -- Chapter 14. The Art and Science of Administrative Environmental Impact Assessment -- Administrative Environmental Review -- Scientific Data Collection and Analyses in Environmental Impact Reports -- The Need for Better Scientific Feedback in the EIA Process -- Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 15. On the Adequacy and Improvement of Marine Benthic Pre-Impact Surveys: Examples from the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf -- Structure of the Review -- Review Findings -- Discussion -- Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 16. Organizational Constraints on Environmental Impact Assessment Research -- The Opportunity -- Project Uncertainties -- Institutional Uncertainties -- Conclusions and Lessons -- References -- Chapter 17. Administrative, Legal, and Public Policy Constraints on Environmental Impact Assessment -- Resolving Conflict through Comprehensive Environmental Assessment: The U.S. Offshore Oil Leasing Program -- The Limitations of Public Environmental Assessment -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 18. Predicted and Observed Environmental Impacts: Can We Foretell Ecological Change? -- The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station -- Predicted Impacts -- The Impacts That Were Detected -- Predicted Effects versus "Reality" Do We Get It Right? -- Conclusions and Recommendations -- References -- Glossary of Acronyms, Assessment Designs, and Organizations -- Contributor Biographies -- Author Index -- Subject Index.