Integrated Ecosystem Assessment for the Gulf of Mexico

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Integrated Ecosystem Assessment for the Gulf of
Mexico
Becky Allee Gulf Coast Services Center
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Demand for IEAs

• U.S. Ocean Commission Report
• Ocean Research Priorities Plan
• NOAAs Ecosystem Research and Science Enterprise
  Report
• NOAAs 2007 Stakeholder Forum

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Approach

• NOAAs FY2010-2014 Strategic Investment Question
  on IEAs
• Appropriate balance of spatial scale
• Capacities needed
• Options in light of capabilities
• Ecosystem Goal Teams description of What is an
  Integrated Ecosystem Assessment?
• Tool
• Product
• Process

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Management Question
Using existing information on living marine
resources, water quality, habitat, climate
change, and natural hazard impacts what are the
management and data needs for maintaining a
biologically healthy, safe and economically
viable GOM?
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Goal

• First, the GOM IEA will assess
• the history of GOM ecosystem services
• the current status of ecosystem services and
• present management practices and projections of
  sustainability of ecosystem services in the
  future.
• Secondly, the GOM IEA will provide an assessment
  of linkages and responses of the Gulf ecosystem
  to terrestrial management practices.

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Assembly, organization and communication of data
and information
Data Portal A fundamental component of the GOM
IEA provides ability to easily discover, access,
and share diverse ecosystem data information in
a variety of formats and display venues.
Gulf Ecosystem Modeling The GOM IEA will
synthesize and quantitatively analyze information
on relevant physical, chemical, ecological, and
human processes.
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Vision A clean and healthy, sustainable,
productive and biologically diverse GOM.Problem
Statement What are the consequences of
ecosystem change to the people of the GOM?
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Ecosystem Attributes of Concern

• Living Marine Resources (fisheries and
  protected species)
• Nutrients and Water Quality (eutrophication
  and contaminants)
• Habitat (coastal wetlands, reefs and shelf)
• Climate and Ocean Circulation (temperature,
  rainfall, sea level, currents, weather,
  hurricanes)
• Coastal Hazards (society, economic pressures)

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Focus Area
Eastern coastal
Central coastal
Western coastal
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Deliverables Year 1

• Relevant data sets identified, synthesized and
  delivered through Data Portal access.
• Develop a conceptual model of the Gulf
  Ecosystem w/ 1st order quantification of
  stressors and indicators linked to the ecosystem
  and demonstrating where and at what magnitude
  interactions occur.
• Assess existing trophic, oceanographic and
  atmospheric models.
• Assess current management activities and
• options.

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Deliverables Year 2

• Develop indices of status and trends for
  stressor indicators in the Gulf
• Complete assessments and projections of
  stressor impacts
• Develop initial ecosystem model(s) linking
  biological systems to oceanographic and
  atmospheric systems.

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Deliverables Year 3

• Refine ecosystem models with expanded data input
  to predict responses to given stressor scenarios
• socio-economic factors
• trophic dynamics and climate variability
• Integrated Assessment Report on management tools
  and effective management options.

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Out Years

• Improve monitoring, refine ecosystem level models
  and address adaptive management options.

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Contributing Partners
NOAA (Primary) NMFS LMRs and HabitatNOS
Nutrients and Habitat Natural Hazards (CSC)OAR
Climate NESDIS Data organization and
presentation NWS Climate Federal
Collaborators Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management
Council EPA Gulf of Mexico Program GCOOS USGS
NGOM Program State Collaborators Gulf of Mexico
Alliance Gulf States Marine Fisheries
Commission Academic Institution Collaborators
Harte Research Institute Northern Gulf
Institute Natural Hazards Research Center, U of
Colorado
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Examples of Pressures
Anthropogenic
Natural
Alteration of wetland hydrology Fishing
incidental removals (bycatch) Contaminant inputs
from land sources Eutrophication Fishing directed
removals Food web disruptions, invasive
species Wetland habitat degradation and
loss Freshwater inflow alteration Marine
transportation (includes shipping activities,
channel dredging and dredged material
disposal) Oil spill events
Coastal erosion Cyclic variability in trophic
dynamics Sea level change Short and long term
weather cycles Storm events, hurricanes
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Examples of States
Anthropogenic
Natural
Dollar value of structures covered by flood
insurance Infrastructure development onshore and
offshore Number of people living on the
coast Fishery catch patterns Wetland habitat
change patterns Coral degradation patterns
Benthic community structure Cetacean population
dynamics Coral growth patterns Coastal habitat
distributions Harmful Algal Blooms Hypoxia