Publication Type: Oral Presentation
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Marine biodiversity and ecosystems are under heavy and increasing environmental pressure from multiple sources for utilization of ecosystem goods and services. A major system approach to coastal and ocean management is the Large Marine Ecosystems (LME). These are conservation relevant regions of ocean space encompassing coastal areas from river basins and estuaries out to the seaward boundary of continental shelves and the outer margins of coastal current systems. Since the early 1990s, LME management supported by the Global Environment Facility has focused on the NOAA-established modular approach to ecosystem assessment. The modules include: productivity, fish and fisheries, pollution and ecosystem health, socioeconomic conditions, and governance. The present study performed a critical revision of the effectiveness of the classic LME modular approach and integrated actual environmental paradigms such as the impact of climate change in the provision of ecosystem services and its effects in human well-being. As a result, the study proposed the Harte LME Model, an extended model based on spatial indicators and named after the Harte Research Institute where it was developed. Four new modules were added to the original model: ecosystem services and conservation, science and technology, education and outreach, and climate change and resilience. The new approach incorporates explicit management goals to assess the changing state, trends and conservation needs of the coastal and marine environment. The new model was developed using the international area of the Gulf of Mexico LME as a case study, but it is expected to be useful to other LMEs around the world.

Publication Type: Oral Presentation
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The Marine Ecology Branch of the South Florida/Caribbean Monitoring Network (SFCN) of the U.S. National Park Service is tasked with long-term monitoring of coral reef ecosystems in 5 National Parks in Florida and the Caribbean. In addition to an extensive list of ‘vital signs’ that SFCN monitors, including coral communities, fish communities, mobile invertebrates, and a variety of water quality parameters, the Marine Ecology Branch has designed monitoring programs to evaluate the ecosystem-level effects of newly created no-take marine reserves inside a few of the National Parks in the network. In addition, SFCN has also detected a number of changes in coral reef ecosystems in these parks in recent years. In 2005, an unprecedented coral bleaching event occurred throughout the Caribbean and was particularly severe in the Virgin Islands. High-frequency, event-driven monitoring data demonstrated that high coral mortality resulted not from direct effects of bleaching but instead from coral disease that spread after corals had begun to recover from bleaching. More recently, SFCN documented a rapid coral disease outbreak on one of the highest coral cover reefs in Dry Tortugas National Park. An emergency response cruise returned to the area a few weeks later to find that the outbreak of active disease had stopped. As global oceans are expected to continue warming in the coming decades, stressors such as bleaching and disease are expected to increase in frequency and severity. These examples illustrate the importance of effective long-term monitoring programs in providing the necessary information for ecosystem-level management.

Publication Type: Poster
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) is a relatively recent concept, whose methodologies are still being developed and tested. As part of these tools, a wide range of Ecosystem Models (EMs) has been designed dealing in different ways with the problem of ecosystem complexity. Relevant questions are on (1) how these different models contribute toward achieving an EBFM; (2) on the conceptual approaches they are based on; (3) On their potentials and limits. To generate elements that assist in analyzing the current use and the potential applications of the EMs, we carried out a bibliographic review to identify how EMs were applied in the decision making process. We contrast these applications with conceptual Ecosystem-Based Management principles to find out to what extent EBFM is achieved. According to ourt review, there is not always a complete understanding of how EMs outputs can be directly applied to the EBFM. In principle, the following different cases could be distinguished; those approache, whose outputs are scientifically robust, but limited to specific parts or phases of the EBFM process (e.g. energy flux, ecological connections); those that attempt to include more system elements (e.g. natural and social relationships, economic processes) with added uncertainty, and those that are complemented by different kind of EMs and interdisciplinary methodologies, which appear better able to realize EBFM objectives.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Given the range of global concerns, the need for interdisciplinary and intercultural dialog as well as improved sharing and methodologies has never been greater. Today's strategic environment features challenges that are global in scale and systemic in na

Publication Type: Oral Presentation
Abstract: Upper Midwest tile-drained lands, by acting as a direct conduit, contribute significantly to nutrient loadings to surface waters . Solving the problem of Gulf Hypoxia and other major water quality problems will require improved conservation efforts targeted to these lands. Reducing these loadings is, however, complicated by the need for measures affecting most if not the entire drainage system and thus more than one field or farm. Wetland restoration within tile-drainage systems has been demonstrated to significantly reduce nitrate loadings, but also provides a suite of ecosystem services. Targeting the restoration of an array of ecosystem services, rather than focusing on just water quality improvement alone could, in part, offset the costs of intervention. An ecosystem services approach, however, will likely require a bundling of government cost-share assistance for land management practices with targeted land retirement—conservation measures that are adminstered by two different government agencies. Using the example of a major drainage district in the Midwest, the cost and the effectiveness to an array of ecosystem services of management practices associated with targeted land retirement are estimated. Potential sources of funding to cover their installation and maintenance costs are identified and policies and procedures to improve cross program coordination are discussed.