Definition and Purpose of IEAs - component of ecosystem approaches to management

1. Integrated Ecosystem Assessments: An Overview • Definition and Purpose of IEAs - component of ecosystem approaches to management - pressure & state indicators & responses to management - support NOAA’s primary mission requirements • Current and required capabilities to produce IEAs - examples of IEAs - data requirements - spatial scale and resolution - regional, national, and international dimensions • Strategies for progress - NOAA’s roles and current efforts - next steps – PATT, regional teams, EGT, LOs

2. CHALLENGES to NOAA • Provide scientific support consistent with NOAA’s mission • requirements for natural resource, and coastal management, • Support ecosystem approaches to management that consider • multiple influences and outcomes, • Communicate with the public, regulators, legislators, and • other agencies and partners the current state of marine • ecosystems, pressures they face, and the potential impacts of • management options, • Synthesize knowledge about marine ecosystems in relation • to human activities, recognize gaps, and improve understanding.

3. What is an Ecosystem Approachto Management (EAM)? “Look at the whole picture, not just the parts.” Dave Goethel New England Fishery Management Council SIMOR Fisheries Constituent Listening Session - October 2006 “An ecosystem approach to management is one that provides a comprehensive framework for marine and coastal resource decision making. In contrast to individual species or single issue management, EAM considers a wider range of relevant ecological, environmental, and human factors bearing on societal choices regarding resource use.”……NOAA EGT The #1 Myth Concerning EAM: “Ecosystem approaches to ocean resource management are not well defined and we do not know how to implement them” UN Law of the Sea Meeting, April 2006

4. Integrated Ecosystem Assessments - Definitions Integrated Ecosystem Assessment(IEA) : A synthesis of the status of marine ecosystems from multiple perspectives, including human and physical forcing exerting pressures on the system, and responses of the ecosystem to changes in those factors. IEAs are developed for a specified geographic region, and incorporate multiple indicators of the status of the physical environment, abundance and production of natural resources, processes and interactions among ecosystem components, and the levels of human factors affecting ecosystem goods and services. IEAs are an important supporting element of an Ecosystem Approach to Management (EAM), because they provide the basis for understanding the direct and indirect effects of human actions on the production of multiple ecosystem goods and functions in relation to their target and threshold values.

5. Scoping Scoping Identify goals of EBM and Identify goals of EAM and threats to achieving goals threats to achieving goals Develop ecosystem indicators Develop ecosystem indicators and targets and targets Risk Analysis Risk Analysis Characterization of Characterization of Characterization of Characterization of susceptibility to susceptibility to resiliency to resiliency to perturbation perturbation perturbation perturbation Data Acquisition Data Acquisition Monitoring of Monitoring of Ecosystem Indicators Ecosystem Indicators Assessment of ecosystem status Assessment of ecosystem status relative to EBM goals relative to EAM goals Management Actions Management Actions Dimensions and Process for IEAs • An IEA addresses five dimensions: • Status of the topic being considered • Causes and consequences of the status • Forecast of future status with and without management action • Costs and benefits of possible management actions • Evaluation of past management actions’ success or failure. • A successful IA: • Responds to policy relevant questions • Quantitatively identifies uncertainties in existing • data and information • Includes public participation and peer review • Integrates data across multiple disciplines: • Uses existing high-quality data and information • Forecasts future conditions and outcomes.

6. Components of an IEA • An IEA typically consists of the following components: • Assessment of ecosystem baseline conditions • Assessment of stressors on the ecosystem • Prediction of the ecosystem status with no change in management actions • Prediction of the ecosystem status under different management strategies • Evaluation of the success of management actions

7. Examples of pressure & state indicators, and ecosystem response Ecosystem State Response Pressure Factors Physical Human-Related Conditions Goods Goods Change in Pressures air temperature sea temperature* weather patterns waves salinity* pH circulation* sea level* decadal indices upwelling wind stress sediment transport freshwater input sea ice cover extreme events nutrient input contaminants microbiological inputs radioactive input hydrocarbons atmos. deposition wetlands change fishing effort vessel traffic bycatch non-native species introductions debris (litter) coastal & seabed modifications marine sound extent of hypoxia HAB events invasive species interactions primary production* secondary prod. benthic production species richness diversity protected species status & mortality overfishing status trophic balance body burden contaminants distributions of biota species -abundance -biomass -recruitment fishery catch fishery revenue recreational use aquaculture production non-consumptive uses social use and Importance transportation commerce energy understanding linkages direct impacts indirect impacts interaction effects use correlations & models: single species multispecies habitat spatial climate * = current IOOS core variables

8. NOAA’s Capabilities:Elements of IEA Inputs in NOAA and other Agencies

9. NOAA’s IEA indicators Web-Based http://www.beringclimate. noaa.gov /data/index.php PMEL, JISAO, AFSC

10. Alaska Ecosystem Conditions Report - Trends Red indicates the largest 1/3 of values in the record. The middle third are shown in grey and the lowest third are shown in green. To demonstrate covariabililty over time, the values in some series have been inverted, as noted by a star.

11. Ecosystem models andforecasts to assess responses & understand relationships

12. NATIONAL DIMENSIONS Consistent reporting of a subset of variables will allow a national overview: Viz: “An Integrated Assessment of the Status of the Coastal and Ocean Ecosystems of the United States”

13. REGIONAL DIMENSIONS:Determining the appropriate spatial scale for IEAs LME  Sub-Region  Local area Data systems should allow hierarchical assessment

14. IEA Concept being explored Internationally (UK, Canada, Australia…) issues & challenges differ by sub-region

15. NOAA‘s ROLES:Acting in concert with constituents & partners, IEAs are a regional activity • identify appropriate spatial dimensions for which IEAs are • to be produced • determine key ecosystem issues by IEA region • assess the availability of data informing indicators • collaborate with other USG agencies, states, academia and • stakeholders to incorporate all relevant ecosystem information • and to prioritize the development of indicators • [determine targets and thresholds for management-related • indicators, consistent with legislative authorities] • Evaluate the relationships between pressure and status • indicators using appropriate research, models and forecasts • Provide routine reporting and updates on the status of the • nation’s coastal and ocean ecosystems

16. STRATEGIES: • working across LOs, identify appropriate regional collaborations • to oversee the compilation of IEAs • engage regional partners and stakeholders in the identification • of important issues and assembly of data • develop consistent data standards and procedures among and • within IEA regions to allow comparability and synthesis • propose, develop and test suites of pressure and state indicators • (some common to all regions, some unique to each) • determine research priorities for understanding ecosystem • responses to changes in physical and human pressures • develop periodic reporting mechanisms for IEAs

17. NEXT STEPS:Creating a vision and path to IEAs • develop IEA white paper on process, content, strategies, clients, • inventory, and annotated bibliography [PATT on IEAs] • determine appropriate entities to oversee IEA production, • consistent with regional priorities [NOAA leadership, teams] • support pilot IEA activities in several regions to emphasize • data management and communication procedures, development • of appropriate indicators, and modeling and forecasting for • understanding ecosystem response [EGT 09-13 program, LOs] • continue and enhance ongoing IEA-related activities [LOs, • Cooperative Institutes, international collaborations e.g., w/Canada]

18. Next Step: Integrating Ecosystem Data, Assessments, Models & Forecasts FY-09-13 Program Plan for EGT Program Plan Investment: $8M in FY09 Each with individual data archives Serving specific Management needs NOAA’s Current Ecosystem Data Streams Regional Data Mgmt $2M EGT’s Vision: CA Current IEA Pilot $4M Enabling: Regional Integrated Ecosystem assessments Integrated regional data prioritization, collection & archival Supporting: enhanced Modeling & forecasting NE Trophic Modeling $2M

19. Backup Slides Integrated Ecosystem Assessment Priority Area Task Team Steve Murawski (EGT, NMFS) Gary Matlock (NOS) Mike Fogarty (NMFS) Peter Ortner (OAR) Frank Schwing (NMFS) Phyllis Stabeno (OAR) Phil Levin (NMFS) Ellen Mecray (OAR) Roger Griffis (NOS) Mike Ford (PPI) Scott Mowery (NESDIS) Steve Rutz (NESDIS) Polly Endreny (EGT) Emily Menashes (EGT) Maggie Ernst (EGT)

20. Definition and Characteristics of EAM An ecosystem is a geographically specified system of organisms (including humans), the environment, and the processes that control its dynamics. Characteristics of EAM: - adaptive, - collaborative, - incremental, - takes account of ecosystem knowledge and uncertainties, - considers multiple external influences, - strives to balance diverse social objectives, and - geographically specified.

21. Some Desirable Characteristics of Ecosystem Indicators to Describe Ecosystem Pressures and States • Easy to Understand • Responsive to Manageable Human Activities • Responses Linked in Time to Management Action • Easily and Accurately Measured • Low Responsiveness to Other Factors (e.g., multiple factors) • Measurable Over Large Portion of Area • Existing Data to Provide Historic Dynamics to inform the selection of targets and thresholds Source: ICES Working Group on Ecosystem Effects of Fishing

22. Temperature Salinity Bathymetry Sea Level Surface waves Surface currents Ice distribution Contaminants Dissolved nutrients Fish species Fish abundance Zooplankton species Optical properties Heat flux Ocean color Bottom character Pathogens Dissolved O2 Phytoplankton species Zooplankton abundance IOOS Core Variables Core Variables Decision support products and services Long-term time data series, coordinated in space and time

23. Northeast Shelf Ecosystem Indicators Physical Metrics NAO GoM Temp GB Temp SNE Temp MA Temp Human Metrics GroundfishLand Elasmobranch Land Trawl Income No Vessels Biotic Metrics Total Biomass Mean Wt Groundfish Biomass Other Biomass Elasmobranch Biomass Pelagic Biomass Sp. Richness Sp. Evenness 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 Time Period

24. FINAL REPORTExternal Ecosystem Task Team Report to NOAA Science Advisory Board Evolving an Ecosystem Approach to Science and Management Throughout NOAA and its Partners NOAA SAB MEETING MONTEREY, JULY 25-26, 2006 http://www.sab.noaa.gov/Reports/eETT_Final_1006.pdf [the following two slides emphasize IEAs as a recommended NOAA task]

25. INTEGRATED ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENTS AS THE WAY FORWARD Regionally based Integrated Ecosystem Assessments (IEAs), conveying information on the status of ecosystem health and evaluating the impacts of current and proposed human activities should be the central products of NOAA ecosystem science.

26. Common focus for NOAA’s ecosystem science enterprise RECOMMENDATION 4: NOAA’s Ecosystem Goal Team should lead and participate in the development of Integrated Ecosystem Assessments (IEAs) for all ecosystems in which NOAA has a statutory or trust responsibility. The IEAs are of great significance as: • the integrating product of NOAA’s (and partners’) ecosystem science efforts, • the common core product for clients of NOAA’s ecosystem science