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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Designing Data Collection For Decision-Making: Shaping The Coastal First Nations Regional Monitoring System To Meet The Needs Of The Nations, Erica Olson, Brendan Connors, Lara Hoshizaki, Jana Kotaska, Darcy Pickard, Marc Nelitz, Amy Groesbeck, Jordan Benner, Katherine Kellock, Anton Pitts
Designing Data Collection For Decision-Making: Shaping The Coastal First Nations Regional Monitoring System To Meet The Needs Of The Nations, Erica Olson, Brendan Connors, Lara Hoshizaki, Jana Kotaska, Darcy Pickard, Marc Nelitz, Amy Groesbeck, Jordan Benner, Katherine Kellock, Anton Pitts
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The Coastal First Nations (CFN) Regional Monitoring System (RMS) was redeveloped to support decisions related to threats to ecological and cultural values, resulting from changes to existing and impending resource use on the North and Central Coast of British Columbia. As First Nations reassert their governance authority, participate in shared decision-making with other governments, undertake land and marine use planning, and manage their territories and resources, the need for coordinated regional monitoring efforts are increasingly important. We used a systematic and inclusive strategy to determine a suitable monitoring approach to meet the needs of a diverse group of Nations across …
Kelp Forest Dynamics: Links To Climate And Long Term Trends, Helen Berry, Cathy Pfister, Tom Mumford
Kelp Forest Dynamics: Links To Climate And Long Term Trends, Helen Berry, Cathy Pfister, Tom Mumford
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Kelp forests are foundation species in the Salish Sea, and their dynamics are key to the fate of many other species. Research in other regions has shown that kelp abundance is driven in part by climate and can be impacted by human activities (for example, pollution and altered competition among species). While downward trends in kelp abundance have been of concern globally, trends are often locally distinct. We combined long term monitoring datasets and historical records to explore whether bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) and giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) dynamics in the Salish Sea region: 1) correlate with climate conditions, and …
Long-Term Monitoring In Central Puget Sound: Are Local Climate Anomalies Impacting Phytoplankton Populations?, Gabriela Hannach, Lyndsey M. Swanson, Kimberle Stark
Long-Term Monitoring In Central Puget Sound: Are Local Climate Anomalies Impacting Phytoplankton Populations?, Gabriela Hannach, Lyndsey M. Swanson, Kimberle Stark
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Puget Sound is a large and productive estuarine system at the southern end of the Salish Sea. King County’s comprehensive, long-term marine monitoring program tracks water quality in Puget Sound’s Central Basin through year-round collection of data for a suite of physical, chemical and biological parameters. Phytoplankton monitoring began with traditional microscopy methods in 2008, and expanded to include a particle imaging system in 2014. These data are critical to assess how changes from climate, physical conditions and other stressors linked to anthropogenic activity from the region’s growing population may impact the Sound’s biodiversity and trophic structure. Currently, twice-monthly surface …
Monitoring And Enforcement Of Laws And Policies In Canada: The Bad, The Ugly And How We Can Get To Good, Christianne Wilhelmson
Monitoring And Enforcement Of Laws And Policies In Canada: The Bad, The Ugly And How We Can Get To Good, Christianne Wilhelmson
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The creation of strong environmental laws in BC and Canada has improved over the years, however the implementation of these laws is often undermined and their effectiveness to protect ecosystems and communities suffers. The reasons are many but often it’s a question of underfunding of the monitoring and enforcement mechanisms that are necessary to ensure compliance. Other reasons, in particular for regulations that apply to marine and freshwater systems, is the lack of clarity around jurisdictional responsibility and accountability. The confusion around roles, exacerbated by poor communication, results in poor monitoring and response, and laws that are paper dragons only. …
The Wria 9 Marine Shoreline Monitoring And Compliance Project Phase 2, Kollin Higgins
The Wria 9 Marine Shoreline Monitoring And Compliance Project Phase 2, Kollin Higgins
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
This phase builds off of the pilot project undertaken in 2012-2013. The pilot project found many shoreline changes within the WRIA were not permitted, especially on Vashon and Maury Islands. Since the pilot project was completed, King County has undertaken an effort to bring the unpermitted issues found on Vashon and Maury Islands into compliance. The pilot project and King County’s follow on compliance efforts have created community awareness on the islands about the problem and issues around shoreline modifications. This phase will undertake a similar set of boat based surveys of the 92 miles of marine shoreline of Watershed …
Tackling Nebulous Ideas: Building A Shared Monitoring Plan For Tracking Outcomes Of Integrated Floodplain Management In The Puyallup River Watershed, Ilon Logan, Isabel Ragland
Tackling Nebulous Ideas: Building A Shared Monitoring Plan For Tracking Outcomes Of Integrated Floodplain Management In The Puyallup River Watershed, Ilon Logan, Isabel Ragland
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Floodplains for the Future is a multi-organizational collaboration that seeks to improve habitat for salmon, protect communities and critical infrastructure from flooding while preserving agricultural lands in the Puyallup River Watershed. FFTF partners invest in their long-term vision when they dedicate staff time, fund studies and projects, and implement capital improvement plans in the in the Puyallup, White, and Carbon River floodplains. FFTF Partners understand that the key to successful collaborative floodplain management is ensuring that individual stakeholder goals are being integrated at both the project and watershed scales. Partners need to be able to observe progress toward goals. With …
Regional And Temporal Variability In Puget Sound Zooplankton: Bottom-Up Links To Juvenile Salmon, Julie Keister, Julia Bos, Bethellee Herrmann, Mya Keyers, Christopher Krembs, John Mickett, J. A. (Jan A.) Newton, Wendi Reuf, Amanda Winans
Regional And Temporal Variability In Puget Sound Zooplankton: Bottom-Up Links To Juvenile Salmon, Julie Keister, Julia Bos, Bethellee Herrmann, Mya Keyers, Christopher Krembs, John Mickett, J. A. (Jan A.) Newton, Wendi Reuf, Amanda Winans
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
We use data from the Puget Sound Zooplankton Monitoring Program to explore patterns of spatial and interannual variability in zooplankton communities in response to environmental change during 2014-2017. This program is a collaborative effort involving 10 tribal, county, state, federal, academic, and nonprofit entities initiated via the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project with the goal of understanding the key role of zooplankton in food webs and ecosystems. Large interannual differences in the environment over this period strong effects on zooplankton community structure and abundance. 2014 began as a fairly normal year in Puget Sound until the Pacific Warm Anomaly event …
The Citizen Scientific Method: Tapping A Human Natural Resource In Ecosystem Restoration, Bianca S. Perla, Greg Rabourn
The Citizen Scientific Method: Tapping A Human Natural Resource In Ecosystem Restoration, Bianca S. Perla, Greg Rabourn
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Citizen science forms a nexus point between research and education, between social outreach and project implementation, and between local knowledge (traditional ecological knowledge) and scientific knowledge. For this reason, citizen science can be a valuable tool to integrate the many different players in ecosystem restoration projects and help projects succeed. Citizen science can increase civic engagement in ecosystem restoration, fill in data gaps, and help make adaptive ecosystem management a real community process. However, significant challenges often impede the ability of citizen science projects to reach their full potential. Here, we discuss trends and insights gained through examining three citizen …
The Fisher Slough Case Study: Seven-Year Monitoring Summary: Measuring Outcomes For Fish, Farms And Flooding, Jenny Lynn Baker
The Fisher Slough Case Study: Seven-Year Monitoring Summary: Measuring Outcomes For Fish, Farms And Flooding, Jenny Lynn Baker
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Half of Puget Sound’s wild Chinook salmon come from the Skagit River. Although the number dropped dramatically as 80 percent of salmon habitat in the river delta was lost over the last two centuries, the Skagit remains a critical stronghold for Puget Sound Chinook. The Skagit Chinook Recovery Plan calls for 2,700 acres of estuary restoration. But with farms in Skagit County generating more than $500 million each year, there are concerns that habitat restoration would mean loss of agricultural land, and the economy and culture it supports. The Fisher Slough project was intended to overcome long-standing conflicts between farm …
Spatial Distribution Of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Biomass In Puget Sound: Establishing A Baseline, Dany Burgess, Angela Eagleston, Margaret Dutch, Valerie Partridge, Sandra Weakland
Spatial Distribution Of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Biomass In Puget Sound: Establishing A Baseline, Dany Burgess, Angela Eagleston, Margaret Dutch, Valerie Partridge, Sandra Weakland
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Since 1989, Ecology’s Marine Sediment Monitoring Program has collected data to assess the condition of Puget Sound’s sediment-dwelling invertebrate communities (benthos). These long-term data reveal declines in benthos abundance and taxa richness in parts of Puget Sound that do not appear to be correlated with concentrations of chemical contaminants in the sediment. In 2016, a biomass and size classification component was added to the suite of benthic community indices analyzed, as part of a large-scale program redesign intended to shed more light on alternate causes of declining benthos, such as climate change and nutrient enrichment. Benthic invertebrate biomass not only …
Patterns And Variability In Ocean Acidification Conditions In Puget Sound And The Strait Of Juan De Fuca, J. A. (Jan A.) Newton, Simone Alin, Beth Curry, Adrienne J. Sutton, John Mickett, Richard A. Feely, Marine Lebrec, Dana Greeley, Wendi Ruef, Andrea Fassbender, Terrie Klinger
Patterns And Variability In Ocean Acidification Conditions In Puget Sound And The Strait Of Juan De Fuca, J. A. (Jan A.) Newton, Simone Alin, Beth Curry, Adrienne J. Sutton, John Mickett, Richard A. Feely, Marine Lebrec, Dana Greeley, Wendi Ruef, Andrea Fassbender, Terrie Klinger
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The Washington Ocean Acidification Center is working with NOAA and other partners to increase understanding of ocean acidification dynamics and spatial variability in the Salish Sea, and how these correlate with planktonic responses. These data are critical for assessing water quality, areas with higher or lower OA stress, and to understand effects on the food web. Two main strategies are employed; seasonal ship cruises provide spatial coverage and the ability to collect plankton, while mooring buoys provide information on mechanisms and the range of variation due to the high-resolution and constant coverage they provide. Results show a strong degree of …
A Practical And Informative Sandpiper Monitoring Procedure For The Salish Sea, Ronald Ydenberg, Dov B. Lank, Richard Johnston, David Hope, Rachel Canham
A Practical And Informative Sandpiper Monitoring Procedure For The Salish Sea, Ronald Ydenberg, Dov B. Lank, Richard Johnston, David Hope, Rachel Canham
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The Salish Sea contains important sites for shorebirds, including migrants and winter residents. There is a need for practical, informative and easily-applied monitoring procedures and goals. Counts at stopover sites are on their own uninformative, because they are strongly affected by factors unseen by local observers. A fall in the usage of a site might signal a global population decline, but could also be due to a reduction of that site’s quality, to an increase in site quality elsewhere such that some birds redistribute, or to changes in migratory behavior. A good framework for assessing the health of shorebird populations …
Divergent Trends In Migration Timing Of Shorebirds Along The Pacific Flyway, David Hope, Joseph Buchanan, Mary Anne Bishop, George Matz, Moira Lemon, Mark Drever
Divergent Trends In Migration Timing Of Shorebirds Along The Pacific Flyway, David Hope, Joseph Buchanan, Mary Anne Bishop, George Matz, Moira Lemon, Mark Drever
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Long distant migrants timing their arrival on the breeding grounds must make the tradeoff of optimal timing for breeding vs. optimal timing for survival. For many shorebird species, the flyway northward spans thousands of kilometers, and both conditions encountered en route and the priorities of individuals can affect the timing of migration. We used data from spring migration surveys of Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) and Pacific Dunlins (Calidris alpina pacifica) along the Pacific Flyway of North America to determine if the timing of their northward movements changed from 1985 to 2016. We examined 5 sites of varying size along the …
Evaluation Salish Sea Marine Bird Indicators With Insights From Recent Research By Professional And Citizen Scientists, Scott F. Pearson, Martin G. (Martin George) Raphael
Evaluation Salish Sea Marine Bird Indicators With Insights From Recent Research By Professional And Citizen Scientists, Scott F. Pearson, Martin G. (Martin George) Raphael
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Marine birds are often viewed as good ecological indicators because they are relatively well studied and time-series data are often available, our understanding of their population biology is often extremely high, some species are tightly linked to their prey resources and, as upper trophic predators, they offer an integrative view of the dynamics at lower levels of the food web. In 2014, at-sea abundance and trends of the rhinoceros auklet, pigeon guillemot, marbled murrelet and scoters were collectively selected by the Puget Sound Partnership as indicators of the health of the Puget Sound marine food web. Long-term trends for these …