Criterion;"Short description that the metric should be:" "Conceptual criteria" "Intrinsic relevance";"reflective of existing scientific understanding of ecosystem integrity, supported by the ecological literature" "Instrumental relevance";"have the potential to be related to the availability of ecosystem services (indicators that provide the most information about the highest priority ecosystem services should be favoured)" "Sensitivity to human influence";"responsive to known socio-ecological leverage points (key pressures, management options)" "Framework conformity";"differentiated from other components of the SEEA ecosystem accounting framework" "Feasibility criteria" "Scientific reliability";"scientifically-valid representation of the characteristics they address" "Spatio-temporal coverage";"cover the studied spatial and temporal extents with the required resolution" "Cost effectiveness";"achievable in terms of resources and time available" "Directional meaning";"should have the potential for a consensual interpretation (it should be clear if a change is favourable or unfavourable)" "Optimisation criteria" Simplicity;"simple as possible" Compatibility;"the same characteristics should be measured with the same (compatible) metrics in the different ecosystem types and/or different ecosystem accounting areas (regions or countries)" "Ensemble criteria" Comprehensive;"the final set of metrics should cover all the relevant characteristics of the ecosystem" Parsimony;"the final set of metrics should be free of redundant (correlated) variables"