The Ecological Stewardship Group
		The Ecological Stewardship Research Group of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) conducts research relevant to ecosystem health and land stewardship and provides advice to DOE on management of the Savannah River Site. Researchers in this group examine the effects of land use patterns on abiotic and biotic resources, including individual, population, community, ecosystem, and landscape levels of ecological organization. To do so, they document changes in the physical environment, determine the influence of these changes on the physiology and behavior of individual organisms, and conduct population- to landscape-level research in natural and disturbed terrestrial, wetland, and aquatic sites of the SRS and the surrounding area. SREL has been conducting ecological studies on the SRS since the Site was established in 1951. SREL faculty have extensive knowledge of Southeastern ecosystems and research expertise that encompasses several levels of ecological organization. Studies undertaken by the Ecological Stewardship group seek to increase our understanding of the current ecological status of various habitat types on the SRS and to assess the ecological risk to organisms from real or potential land use. Management of SRS lands requires data-intensive research that provides meaningful recommendations on land stewardship to minimize ecological risk and promote ecosystem health. Most (90%) of the SRS is not industrialized or directly contaminated. Nevertheless, these lands are susceptible to various ecological risks. For example, management practices such as timber harvest, maintenance of power line rights-of-way, management of wildlife populations such as deer or beavers, or placement and operation of new facilities create risk because they can reduce biological or landscape diversity, increase unwanted organisms, or threaten rare or desirable species. There are several regulatory drivers that encourage ecological stewardship of DOE lands. For example, in late 1995, the U.S. Department of Energy and 13 other federal departments, offices, and councils signed a "Memorandum of Understanding to Foster the Ecosystem Approach." This MOU states that the federal government "...should provide leadership in and cooperate with activities that foster the ecosystem approach to natural resource management, protection, and assistance." The ecosystem approach, as defined in a June 1995 report from an Interagency Ecosystem Management Task Force (The Ecosystem Approach: Healthy Ecosystems and Sustainable Economies) and elsewhere, is exactly the approach we are taking. DOE and other federal agencies are looking to academic institutions and national laboratories to provide the leadership and vision to implement ecosystem management. In addition, regulations such as the Endangered Species Act, US DOE Policy 430.1 (Land and Facility Use Planning), the Clean Water Act, and NEPA provide drivers to curtail these risks and maintain ecosystem health. These regulatory drivers are a major motivation for DOE to conduct good land stewardship; to do that, ecological information is necessary.