An evolving role for ecological indicators: From documenting ecological conditions to monitoring drivers and policy responses

Monitoring the health of ecosystems is imperative to achieve sustainability. In this, ecological indicators have a crucial and evolving role to play. Although indicators are vital to monitoring the state and trends of ecosystems and the consequences of anthropogenic pressures, they may not lead to necessary action unless they are coupled with identification and monitoring of drivers. This will provide a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of policy responses, thus providing information that is actionable by policy makers and the public. We argue that expanding the role of indicators will render them far more effective as a resource for combating ecosystem degradation. Using the Baltic Sea as an example we analyse the nature of this challenge and provide concrete solutions to problems hindering the effectiveness of ecological indicator use in restoring health to large-scale ecosystems.