Science in the R.I. Special Area Management Plan

William Nuttle, Organizer for CERF 2011 Synthesis Sessions
wnuttle@eco-hydrology.com

Last week NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco joined a host of political leaders to announce Rhode Island’s Ocean Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP). This is a big deal because NOAA touts Ocean SAMP as the template for implementing coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) in the US. CMSP is defined as a comprehensive, adaptive, integrated, ecosystem-based, and transparent spatial planning process, based on sound science. The push to adopt CMSP is international in scope.

In practical terms, CMSP provides a process for analyzing current and anticipated uses of estuaries and coastal waters to determine how to realize commercial, recreational and environmental goals. The motivation behind Ocean SAMP was to get out in front of issues related to installing a couple hundred wind turbines to generate electric power off the Rhode Island coast. The plan encompasses an area of approximately 1,467 square miles, including portions of Block Island Sound, Rhode Island Sound, and the Atlantic Ocean.

If this marks the beginning of the future for coastal planning and management, then widespread implementation of CMSP will affect how coastal and estuarine research is supported and organized in coming years. So, what insights does the Ocean SAMP report provide into what may be the future of our science?

Plan Based on Best Available Information
The Ocean SAMP uses the “best available science” to build a comprehensive understanding of the area’s ecosystems. Through the multi-year process of developing the plan, a Science Advisory Task Force provided expertise and input on issues of science and research. New research was commissioned, and the results of this research are reported in the plan document and in a series of appendices to the main report. A chapter in the main body of the report titled “Ecology of the Ocean SAMP” describes the regional ecosystem.  However, authors opted for using a more traditional, natural history framework;  topics proceed hierarchically from geology and meteorology through physical oceanography, chemical oceanography, and on to biological oceanography.

Coastal and Estuarine Science Moving Forward
Part of the vision for CMSP is the implementation of ecosystem based management of estuarine and coastal areas, thus the attention to thoroughly documenting the ecosystem of the Ocean SAMP at its outset. Ecosystem based management also means committing to conduct ecosystem research, monitoring and analysis on a continual basis as an integral part of management activities in the region. Objectives for the (future?) Ocean SAMP Science Research Agenda are to:

1. Continue to learn about Rhode Island’s offshore natural resources and human activities; 
2. Better understand the potential effects of future development and other human impacts; and 
3. Increase Rhode Island’s understanding of the projected impacts of global climate change. 

Future plans are to convene an advisory group with scientists from partner federal and state agencies, environmental organizations, and users of the Ocean SAMP area. Presumably, it will be up to this group to articulate critical details of the research agenda by identifying data gaps, short- and long-term research priorities, potential partners, and potential funding sources.

The information in this post relates to Topic 6: Management applications of the CERF 2011 synthesis sessions.  I'd like to hear more from anyone who has been directly involved in the development of the Ocean SAMP.

Case Studies of Coastal Science and Management at Regional Scale

William Nuttle, Organizer for CERF 2011 Synthesis Sessions
wnuttle@eco-hydrology.com

The movement toward coordinated management of coastal and estuarine resources at the regional scale will require greater investment in large-scale ecosystem research capable of providing information needed by managers.  On May 18-19, 2009, NOAA’s Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research convened a workshop to examine existing regional-scale ecosystem research and identify practices that lead to research results with direct management relevance and impact.  This workshop assembled over fifty experts on coastal ecosystem science, management and policy representing all coastal regions of the US, including the Great Lakes, and the republic of Palau.  

Location of 8 regional applied ecosystem research case studies

The eight case studies compiled for discussion at the workshop represent a wide variety of physical and ecological contexts; these include the Great Lakes (8 - Lake Erie), a river-dominated coast (4 - northern Gulf of Mexico), tropical lagoon systems (6 - Micronesia and 3 - South Florida), and coastal ocean systems (5 - California coast, 7 - Bering Sea, 2 - Gulf of Maine, and the 1 - Northwest Atlantic). Case studies were chosen to examine a variety of issues, funding, and participation involved in regional ecosystem research. Each case study provided a unique perspective on planning and implementation of regional ecosystem research from the point-of-view of both scientists and managers.

In all cases, the success of the applied ecosystem research depends on the following essential program support elements:

Overarching goals for management of the regional ecosystem articulated by the cooperating agencies and stakeholders and informed by a shared vision of the ecosystem based in science;

Regional coordination among cooperating management agencies and between managers and research scientists;

Clear project objectives that connect results of research and monitoring to the specific programs and mandates of the cooperating management agencies;

An open process for sharing information between agencies and communicating results of research to managers and stakeholders; and

Regular reporting of progress made toward the over arching ecosystem goals based on quantitative indicators based on ecosystem research and monitoring.

The information in this post relates to Topic 3: Management applications of the CERF 2011 synthesis sessions.  Go here for more information about these case studies from the IAN Program of the University of Maryland.

Topics Set for Synthesis Sessions at CERF 2011

William Nuttle, Organizer for CERF 2011 Synthesis Sessions

wnuttle@eco-hydrology.com

Q: How far can you wander into a jungle?

A: Half way.

This riddle came to mind during the June meeting of the Program Committee.  For three days, in Daytona Beach, the committee labored to find our way through the thicket of topics submitted for presentation at the CERF 2011conference in November.  On more than one occasion I found myself wandering off course, distracted reading an abstract that seemed ripe for immediate consumption.  Such were the hazards of this work, but the committee valiantly soldiered on. By the end of day two we finally penetrated to the heart of the jungle and started on the journey back out.  

Initial draft of CERF 2011 program - at the heart of the jungle

We have made good progress since then.  The conference program is now final.  Presenters soon will learn their assigned time and location; possibly these emails have already gone out.  And, we have set some markers - the topics for discussion during the synthesis sessions - intended to aid those who will follow us into this jungle during the CERF 2011 meeting in November.

Synthesis at CERF 2011

The synthesis sessions planned for CERF 2011 will examine how integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA) can be used to help societies, estuaries and coasts adapt to change.  Integrated ecosystem assessment is a tool that scientists and managers can use to gather and synthesize the scientific information needed to support an ecosystem-based approach to management. 

Topics identified for discussion will capture the latest findings, to be presented at the conference, and knit together ideas developed separately in concurrent sessions. The synthesis sessions will address six topics altogether.  Three will be discussed during the session scheduled for Tuesday afternoon and three on Thursday afternoon, at the end of the conference.  Each synthesis topic relates to topics covered by presentations during the regular sessions earlier on the conference schedule.  

Tuesday Afternoon - Present State-of-the-art

The synthesis session on Tuesday afternoon, the second day of the conference, will discuss current approaches to IEA applied to estuarine and coastal ecosystems and lessons learned in the application of estuarine and coastal science to management.

Topic 1: IEA defined -  What is integrated ecosystem assessment and how is it being used in coastal and estuarine ecosystems?

Topic 2: Human dimensions -  How can we include humans and the effects of their activities on the coastal and estuarine environment in integrated ecosystem assessments.

Topic 3: Management applications – What have we learned from past experience of applying science in the management of coastal and estuarine ecosystems.

Thursday Afternoon - Emerging Challenges

The synthesis session on Thursday afternoon, at the end of the conference, will discuss some of the challenges emerging for both managers and scientists and whether and how IEA can be used to respond to them.

Topic 4: Baseline change – How can we account for the effects of uncontrollable change to drivers, e.g. climate change and rising sea level, in ecosystem assessments and in setting management goals?

Topic 5: Dynamic ecosystems - How can we detect, analyze and forecast change in coastal and estuarine ecosystems?

Topic 6: Management challenges - How do the problems that face managers in implementing ecosystem management of coasts and estuaries the regional scale affect the way that science is done?

A Chance to Step Back

Most importantly, the synthesis sessions are meant to give meeting attendees a break in their own wanderings through the CERF 2011 jungle.  They are a chance to step back from the thicket of the regular sessions, take stock of what has been accomplished in coastal and estuarine science, and reconnoitre the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Check back here for newer posts related to the synthesis sessions.