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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Marine Species At Risk: A Salish Sea Transboundary Indicator With More Potential, Dr. Joseph Gaydos
Marine Species At Risk: A Salish Sea Transboundary Indicator With More Potential, Dr. Joseph Gaydos
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Species at risk are native species, sub-species or ecologically significant units that warrant special attention to ensure their conservation. The number of marine species at risk within the Salish Sea is used by the US Environmental Protection Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada as one of ten transboundary ecosystem indicators. Four jurisdictions within the Salish Sea have formal listing processes for marine species: the Province of British Columbia, the State of Washington, the Canadian Federal Government, and the United States Federal Government. As of October 15, 2021, there were 135 species listed as at risk in the Salish Sea: …
Filling The Gap: An Analysis Of Stormwater Utility Fees In The Puget Sound Watershed, Washington, Usa, Raye Evrard
Filling The Gap: An Analysis Of Stormwater Utility Fees In The Puget Sound Watershed, Washington, Usa, Raye Evrard
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The Puget Sound region was an early adopter of funding local stormwater management programs via stormwater utility fees (SUFs). This paper presents a case study characterizing the use of SUFs in this rapidly growing watershed with over 5 million people. We systematically compiled and evaluated data on SUF rate structure for 124 jurisdictions and program budgets for 80 jurisdictions to describe the overall composition of revenues, the distribution of expenditures between capital and operating expenses, and the influence of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) municipal stormwater permit status. We also calculated SUFs applied to individual parcels in 11 jurisdictions …
Assessment Of Vulnerabilities And Trade-Offs For Coordinated Investment In Regional Ecosystem Recovery And Flood Resilience, Nisqually Delta, Washington State, Usa, Dr. Eric Grossman
Assessment Of Vulnerabilities And Trade-Offs For Coordinated Investment In Regional Ecosystem Recovery And Flood Resilience, Nisqually Delta, Washington State, Usa, Dr. Eric Grossman
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Projected changes in coastal sediment dynamics and flood exposure in the coming decades have important implications for estuary ecosystem recovery strategies and principal barriers to their implementation, namely transportation and flood control infrastructure. A numerical sediment transport model was used to evaluate whether the flux of sediment from the Nisqually River to the 308-hectare 2009 Brown’s Farm restoration project is sufficient to recover 1–2 m of subsided marshes given projected sea level rise. The effectiveness of distributary channel restoration alternatives in rerouting and introducing Nisqually River sediment to the restoration area were also assessed. Model and measurements indicate that ~10% …
Citizen Based Salmon Recovery In The Salish Sea, Rachel Vasak
Citizen Based Salmon Recovery In The Salish Sea, Rachel Vasak
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Citizen Based Salmon Recovery in the Salish Sea Since 1990, the Washington State Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups (RFEGs) have been working to involve local communities, citizen volunteers, and landowners in salmon recovery e??orts in Washington State. The RFEGs strive to actively engage diverse communities across the state and provide meaningful ways for thousands of community members to take action to help salmon. The RFEG motto is, “Our program is statewide, our priorities are local.” Each of the state’s 14 RFEGs is an independent nonpro??t organization with a unique mission and specific goals driven by local salmon recovery priorities from habitat …
Mapping, Prioritizing, And Promoting The Removal Of The 15,564 Pilings In The Snohomish Estuary, Elisa Dawson
Mapping, Prioritizing, And Promoting The Removal Of The 15,564 Pilings In The Snohomish Estuary, Elisa Dawson
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The Snohomish County Marine Resources Committee has been leading a multi-year project to promote the removal of pilings in the Snohomish River estuary that are not associated with a dock, marina, or bulkhead. Using a mapping technique and previous data, 15,564 pilings were identified in the Snohomish estuary downstream of Highway 2, many of these pilings are leftover from the logging industry and other previous infrastructure in the Snohomish Estuary. Field work was done to collect detailed ecosystem and feasibility data on the pilings to help evaluate and prioritize pilings for removal. Nearly 7,000 pilings were identified as high priority …
Delivering Science Support For Avian Conservation And Management In Salish Sea Estuaries, Trina Bayard
Delivering Science Support For Avian Conservation And Management In Salish Sea Estuaries, Trina Bayard
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The Avian Monitoring in Estuaries project, led by the Stillaguamish Tribe, Audubon Washington, Ecostudies Institute, and WDFW, seeks to build a stronger scientific basis for avian conservation and the integration of birds into habitat management and restoration through delivery of science products and monitoring tools. In this talk we will highlight our progress to date and share opportunities for participation. The project team has conducted extensive end-user engagement with avian monitoring practitioners and estuary managers, synthesizing existing monitoring data and identifying priority avian management needs and concerns. In Phase I we conducted an inventory and synthesis of avian monitoring associated …
Data-Limited Fisheries Methods Shed Light On The Exploitation History And Population Dynamics Of Esa-Listed Yelloweye Rockfish In Puget Sound, Washington, Markus Min
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Yelloweye Rockfish in the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin were listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2010, and a formal recovery plan for these species was published by NOAA Fisheries in 2017. Under this recovery plan, the criteria for delisting or downlisting are specified as certain levels of spawning potential ratio (SPR), which compares the reproductive capacity of a stock in its current condition relative to an unfished condition. SPR is a proxy for relative stock biomass, a commonly used metric of stock status. Although these metrics can be estimated without catch histories, catch histories improve our understanding of population …
Explorations Into The Assessment Of Hatchery Effectiveness And Interactions Between Hatchery And Wild Fish: Challenges And Results., Andy Rosenberger
Explorations Into The Assessment Of Hatchery Effectiveness And Interactions Between Hatchery And Wild Fish: Challenges And Results., Andy Rosenberger
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Wild stocks of Pacific salmon have experienced significant declines in abundance over the past century. One of the management tools to compensate for these losses has been the use of hatcheries to produce salmon and provide continued support for our fisheries, rebuilding and conservation efforts. There is now widespread recognition of the need to evaluate the role and effectiveness of hatcheries in British Columbia. In 2020, the Pacific Salmon Foundation received funding through the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund to conduct an independent science-based review of hatchery effectiveness in BC. This work is made up of several components, a …
Shoreline Management Plans: A Hindrance Or A Help To Kelp Conservation In Puget Sound?, Katherine Conroy
Shoreline Management Plans: A Hindrance Or A Help To Kelp Conservation In Puget Sound?, Katherine Conroy
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The waters of Puget Sound are home to one of the most diverse assemblages of kelp species in the world, providing numerous ecosystem services. However, documented loss of bull kelp (Nereocystis luekeana) forests in South and Central Puget Sound and observed declines throughout Puget Sound, pose a threat to marine ecosystems dependent on kelp forests for habitat and primary production, and jeopardize economic activities reliant on kelp-based resources. Although the recently released Kelp Conservation and Recovery Plan highlights the need for action, local environmental regulations may complicate implementing restoration projects and may not adequately protect kelp. We used content analysis …
Social Science For The Salish Sea: An Interactive Discussion To Build A Research Agenda, Dr. Sara Breslow, Dr. David Trimbach, Leah Kintner, Heather Cole, Dr. Nathan Bennett, Dr. Leif Anderson, Erin Hanson, Dr. Jamie Donatuto
Social Science For The Salish Sea: An Interactive Discussion To Build A Research Agenda, Dr. Sara Breslow, Dr. David Trimbach, Leah Kintner, Heather Cole, Dr. Nathan Bennett, Dr. Leif Anderson, Erin Hanson, Dr. Jamie Donatuto
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
What do you think we need to know about people to advance the ecosystem recovery goals of our transboundary region? The Social Science for the Salish Sea (S4) project convened 40 researchers and practitioners from academic, governmental, non-profit and Indigenous organizations in Washington and British Columbia to scope an action-oriented “human dimensions” research agenda for our region. In this panel we will present our results, process, recommendations, and progress toward implementing the S4 agenda, and invite your questions and feedback in an interactive audience discussion. We identified 33 social science topics serving 4 major ecosystem recovery goals: ecological health, human …
Pathogen Filtration: An Untapped Ecosystem Service, Corinne Klohmann
Pathogen Filtration: An Untapped Ecosystem Service, Corinne Klohmann
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a marine angiosperm found in coastal temperate waters worldwide. Eelgrass is a vital part of coastal ecosystems providing nurseries for fish, habitat for invertebrates, sediment stabilization, coastal protection, water filtration, and carbon sequestration. In the tropics, seagrass beds have demonstrated their ability to decrease the abundance of the bacterial pathogen Enterococcus. Enterococcus-associated pathogens can sicken humans and other animals in the water. This work examines microbial community composition in seagrass beds in Puget Sound and the underlying mechanisms involved in pathogen filtration by seagrass beds. We assessed microbial abundance and composition using Enterococcus assays as well …
Predicting The Ecotoxicological Impacts Of Microplastics In The Salish Sea Using Gis, Melina Sorensen
Predicting The Ecotoxicological Impacts Of Microplastics In The Salish Sea Using Gis, Melina Sorensen
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Microplastics are ubiquitous in the world's oceans and have negatively impacted marine biota and ecosystem health. The Salish Sea, an inland sea ranging from Vancouver to Puget Sound, is an ecologically significant ecosystem. This study determined the areas in the Northern Salish Sea (Canadian jurisdiction) in which microplastics are likely to accumulate and subsequently where they are likely to cause ecological harm. Modelling and weighted raster analysis was performed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Areas of highest risk were identified, four key ecological areas of concern in relation to the results were investigated, and the potential impacts of microplastics on …
Intertidal Eelgrass Decline Under Combined Effects Of Wasting Disease And Warming, Dr. Lillian Aoki
Intertidal Eelgrass Decline Under Combined Effects Of Wasting Disease And Warming, Dr. Lillian Aoki
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Ocean warming threatens vital coastal ecosystems, including eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows. At meadows along the Pacific coast of North America, outbreaks of seagrass wasting disease are correlated with warm water anomalies. The San Juan Islands in the Salish Sea are a hotspot for seagrass wasting disease; outbreaks have increased since 2013 and can infect 90% of plants in individual meadows. From 2019-2021, we assessed the interactive stressors of warming temperatures and disease outbreaks in intertidal meadows in the San Juan Islands, and we compared disease outbreaks along a latitudinal gradient, including meadows on the Central Coast of British Columbia and …
Region-Wide Declines In Size At Age For Bc Chinook Salmon: Trends And Causes In Space And Time., Dr. Ravi Maharaj
Region-Wide Declines In Size At Age For Bc Chinook Salmon: Trends And Causes In Space And Time., Dr. Ravi Maharaj
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Declines in the size-at-age of Chinook salmon have been observed across the Pacific Northwest. Reasons for these declines are not well understood, though a number of potential causal factors have been highlighted. Here we present an analysis of size-at-age trends for BC Chinook escapements, testing the possible effects of some of these factors including hatchery influence, fishing, ocean conditions and predation among others. This project is part of a broader review of hatchery effectiveness being conducted by the Pacific Salmon Foundation.
Oceanographic Conditions And Harmful Algae In The Strait Of Georgia, Canada – Outcomes Of Seven Years Of Monitoring With The Citizen Science Program., Svetlana Esenkolova
Oceanographic Conditions And Harmful Algae In The Strait Of Georgia, Canada – Outcomes Of Seven Years Of Monitoring With The Citizen Science Program., Svetlana Esenkolova
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Citizen Science Oceanography Program was started in 2015, with assistance from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Ocean Networks Canada (ONC). The purpose of this innovative program is to obtain high-resolution data on oceanographic conditions and lower trophic levels that can be used to assess conditions relevant to juvenile salmon survival in the Salish Sea. Sampling occurs at 50-80 sites, about 20 times a year from February to October, resulting in ~1500 oceanographic stations each year, which are archived at ONC and the Strait of Georgia Data Centre. Analysis of oceanographic conditions (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, …
Urbanization Reduces Understory Kelp Abundance, Macroalgal Function, And Biogenic Complexity In The Salish Sea, Dr. Eliza Heery
Urbanization Reduces Understory Kelp Abundance, Macroalgal Function, And Biogenic Complexity In The Salish Sea, Dr. Eliza Heery
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The Salish Sea, like coastal zones globally, is undergoing rapid urbanization, causing substantial changes to marine habitats and ecosystems. Urban gradient analysis is a common approach in terrestrial and freshwater systems for discerning ecological patterns relative to urban land-use. This study employed a similar approach to assess urban gradients in benthic macroalgal assemblages in Puget Sound. Using benthic photoquadrat data from 38 sites in Central, South, and Whidbey Basin, we characterized the relative importance of urban- and natural-environmental predictors on: (1) the presence/absence of understory kelp, (2) the composition of macroalgal functional groups, and (3) the structural complexity of macroalgal-formed …
Improving The Use Of Science In Collaborative Ecosystem Restoration: Government And Non-Government Knowledge Brokers, Tom Koontz
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
To address complex socio-ecological system challenges, policy makers and managers throughout the Salish Sea, and around the world, increasingly seek collaborative approaches. At the same time, the climate emergency and other environmental threats have drawn greater attention to science and its role in responding to these threats. Scientists are working to not only expand knowledge, but to put it into practice. What are the barriers and opportunities for bridging science and collaboration? In this comparative case study we examine how scientific research is valued, acquired, evaluated, and applied in collaborative ecosystem restoration. We gather data from three different types of …
Salish Sea Marine Survival Project: Putting Findings Into Action For The Future Of Salmon, Jacques White
Salish Sea Marine Survival Project: Putting Findings Into Action For The Future Of Salmon, Jacques White
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The Salish Sea Marine Survival Project (SSMSP, https://marinesurvivalproject.com) published its final Synthesis Report in 2021, summarizing key findings and recommendations from over 5 years of research into the causes of poor marine survival for Salish Sea Chinook, coho, and steelhead salmon. The project, led by Long Live the Kings in the U.S. and the Pacific Salmon Foundation in Canada, united more than sixty regional and international partners to enable one of the most comprehensive assessments of the Salish Sea ecosystem. It offers a critically important model for large-scale scientific collaborations addressing systemic, transboundary questions. This presentation summarizes the SSMSP’s approach …
One Island, One Earth: Exploring Island Ecological Footprints And Fingerprints, Michelle Thompson, Adam Huggins
One Island, One Earth: Exploring Island Ecological Footprints And Fingerprints, Michelle Thompson, Adam Huggins
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Island communities have frequently been portrayed as passive victims of the climate crisis, but are also often considered to be models for the development of social capital and community resilience. As such, small island communities - like those in the Salish Sea - present unique challenges and opportunities in terms of evaluating community preparedness and adaptation to the climate crisis. The ecological footprint concept has long been employed in urban centers throughout our region as a powerful tool for understanding land and resource use in the context of climate change, but until recently has not been applied to small island …
Downscaling Future Climate Models For Local Flood And Socioeconomic Exposure Across The Salish Sea With The Coastal Storm Modeling System (Cosmos), Dr. Patrick Barnard
Downscaling Future Climate Models For Local Flood And Socioeconomic Exposure Across The Salish Sea With The Coastal Storm Modeling System (Cosmos), Dr. Patrick Barnard
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The U.S. Geological Survey Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) is being developed for the Salish Sea to evaluate flood hazards at a scale of 1 m to support coastal planning into the next century. CoSMoS computes extreme water levels and flooding accounting for projected sea level rise and climate change effects on river floods and storms. Modeled tides and storm surge show a mean absolute error of 10 cm across NOAA and USGS tide gages over the hindcast period 2018-2019. Model forcings deconstructed over a 1985-2015 hindcast indicate that storm surge inside Puget Sound is driven primarily by atmospheric pressure …
Deriving Phytoplankton Community Composition In The Salish Sea Using Chemtax And Olci Sentinel 3 Data, Vishnu P. Suseelan
Deriving Phytoplankton Community Composition In The Salish Sea Using Chemtax And Olci Sentinel 3 Data, Vishnu P. Suseelan
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Seasonal and spatial variability in phytoplankton community composition in the Salish Sea was investigated between the spring and summer of 2018 and 2019. Surface water for the measurements for HPLC pigments and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM), total suspended matter (TSM) concentration were collected from (~2 m depth) using a water pumping system installed on the ferry Queen of Alberni. At the same time, an above-water radiometer was installed on the bow of the ferry to measure the water-leaving radiance. The surface bio-geochemical variables such as TChla, CDOM, and TSM concentration has demonstrated a remarkable spatial and seasonal variability. In …
Building With Nature: Blue-Green Systems For Solving Urban Growth And Climate Challenges In Canada, Eva Li
Building With Nature: Blue-Green Systems For Solving Urban Growth And Climate Challenges In Canada, Eva Li
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Urban development has significantly disrupted the City of Vancouver’s (the City) natural water cycle. Building on multi-year strategic planning, the City is undertaking a major shift in the way infrastructure services are planned, designed and delivered by developing interconnected blue-green systems (BGSs) networks. BGSs, park like networks and corridors, aim to manage water and improve water quality; promote connectivity, active transportation, and recreational; and increase access to nature and biodiversity. The “blue” in blue-green systems refers to integrated water management and green rainwater infrastructure (GRI) services. This function includes nature-based constructed practices like rain gardens, wetlands or other forms of …
Prioritizing Sea Level Rise Exposure And Habitat Sensitivity Across Puget Sound, Avery Maverick
Prioritizing Sea Level Rise Exposure And Habitat Sensitivity Across Puget Sound, Avery Maverick
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Sea level rise (SLR) will cause Puget Sound shores to change in the magnitude and frequency of coastal flooding, with cascading effects of accelerated erosion, habitat loss, and other impacts at the local scale. Prior investigations of the extent of coastal flooding and historical patterns of erosion have been conducted across the region in a variety of temporal and spatial extents, but primarily at the shoreline reach scales. The recent release of updated sea level rise (SLR) projections and high resolution topobathymetric data for the Puget Sound region lends itself to a new quantitative analysis of SLR-related hazards at a …
Recovering Yelloweye Rockfish And Bocaccio In The Salish Sea: A Collaborative, Long-Term, Multi-Pronged Approach, Dr. Dayv Lowry
Recovering Yelloweye Rockfish And Bocaccio In The Salish Sea: A Collaborative, Long-Term, Multi-Pronged Approach, Dr. Dayv Lowry
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Recovering yelloweye rockfish and bocaccio in the Salish Sea: a collaborative, long-term, multi-pronged approach Yelloweye rockfish and bocaccio occupying the Salish Sea have been listed under the U.S. Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) since 2010, yelloweye as Threatened and bocaccio as Endangered. In 2017, NOAA Fisheries completed a recovery plan for both species, outlining critical data needs and collaborative policy actions to further recovery. In 2020, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assessed the inside waters (i.e., Salish Sea) population of yelloweye as Threatened, a change from the Special Concern status conferred in 2008. Here, …
Leveraging Community Science To Address Significant Data, Management, And Policy Gaps For Beach Spawning Forage Fish Across The Salish Sea, Virginia East, Jennifer Sutherst, Jacqueline Huard, Ian Bruce, Kyle Armstrong, Alanna Vivani, Graham Nicholas, Jacklyn Barrs
Leveraging Community Science To Address Significant Data, Management, And Policy Gaps For Beach Spawning Forage Fish Across The Salish Sea, Virginia East, Jennifer Sutherst, Jacqueline Huard, Ian Bruce, Kyle Armstrong, Alanna Vivani, Graham Nicholas, Jacklyn Barrs
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Community science is an important tool to address conservation challenges. WWF-Canada has facilitated the development of a ‘Forage Fish Monitoring Network’ within British Columbia’s Salish Sea. This network brings together community scientists, academics, professionals, and First Nation communities in mapping, monitoring, and identifying important spawning habitat for Pacific sand lance (PSL) and surf smelt (SS). PSL and SS are two ecologically important species that use intertidal (beach) habitat for spawning. These fish act as a trophic bridge between zooplankton and culturally and ecologically important predators, such as Marbled Murrelets, and Chinook salmon, which are the primary prey for northern and …
Turning The Tide On Abandoned, Wrecked And Derelict Vessels In The Salish Sea, Michelle Young, Hilary Wilkinson, Troy Wood, Jeffrey Johnson, Jennifer Mcintyre
Turning The Tide On Abandoned, Wrecked And Derelict Vessels In The Salish Sea, Michelle Young, Hilary Wilkinson, Troy Wood, Jeffrey Johnson, Jennifer Mcintyre
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Abandoned, wrecked and derelict vessels in the Salish Sea pose environmental contamination and safety risks. They are also visual eyesores. Untended vessels end up adrift, washed ashore, sunk, or broken apart, releasing fuel and other toxins into the marine environment. The debris and contaminants put marine life and sensitive habitats at risk, endanger mariners and beachgoers, cause harm to shoreline infrastructure, use valuable community resources, and impact the rights and traditions of indigenous peoples. The challenges are also compounded by conflicting jurisdictions between various levels of government dependent on the location, type and impact of the vessel, as well as …
Identifying Rockfish Hot Spot Areas In Puget Sound Through A Spatial Analysis Of Grey Data, Jamey Selleck
Identifying Rockfish Hot Spot Areas In Puget Sound Through A Spatial Analysis Of Grey Data, Jamey Selleck
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Ongoing research continues to inform the conservation efforts and decision making processes related to rockfish recovery in the Salish Sea, and there is continued need in summarizing and quantifying historical information related to rockfish habitat and their areas of occurrence. The relative scarcity of existing empirical data on rockfish in Puget Sound makes every form of available data more valuable. Studies utilizing reviews of grey literature and interviews with local experts and resource users have highlighted the value of local ecological knowledge (LEK) and its use in conservation management. We spatially analyzed rockfish data compiled from historical fishing guide books …
Incentivizing Green Infrastructure Equitably, Aaron Clark
Incentivizing Green Infrastructure Equitably, Aaron Clark
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Incentive-based ecological programs have a checkered history. By providing incentives for voluntary environmental improvement, landowners and communities have the power to choose what changes they want (rather than having changes imposed on them), improvements can occur despite no regulatory requirements, and those changes tend to be enduring because landowner and community buy in leads to better stewardship. However, most incentive programs allocate resources inequitably, funneling public money to improvements in higher income, wealthy and predominantly white communities. But this need not be the case. In 2012 our partners at ECOSS asked community members from several underserved racial and cultural groups …
Results From Seven Years Of Partnership Driven Young-Of-The-Year Rockfish Surveys In The South Salish Sea, Adam Obaza
Results From Seven Years Of Partnership Driven Young-Of-The-Year Rockfish Surveys In The South Salish Sea, Adam Obaza
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Knowledge of rockfish recruitment dynamics and habitat utilization by recently settled rockfishes is valuable for developing appropriate fishery management and recovery actions. Until 2015, no survey effort sought the spatial and temporal data necessary to fill these gaps in the southern Salish Sea. To address this need, NMFS collaborated with state and federal agencies, non-profit groups, and academic institutions to develop a citizen science SCUBA survey program directed at young-of-the-year (YOY) rockfishes. In this program, volunteer and professional divers perform timed roving surveys in discrete habitat types, recording data on rockfish abundance in four morphological classes, as well as qualitative …
Qualitative Network Models Facilitate Multi-Benefit Comparison Of Management Interventions For The Puget Sound Social-Ecological System, Dr. Caitlin Magel
Qualitative Network Models Facilitate Multi-Benefit Comparison Of Management Interventions For The Puget Sound Social-Ecological System, Dr. Caitlin Magel
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Management of coastal systems should be guided by social, cultural, economic, and ecological objectives, but integrative decision support tools appropriate for complex coastal systems remain underutilized. We employed one such tool – qualitative network modeling (QNM) – to evaluate the multi-benefit outcomes of proposed recovery actions for Puget Sound, Washington, USA. The basis for our analysis was a conceptual model developed with regional scientists and stakeholders that describes how human stressors and ecosystem components are connected (via positive and negative links) to recovery objectives across the terrestrial-freshwater-estuarine gradient of a generalized Puget Sound watershed. Through a combination of alternative network …