Priorities For Coastal Ecosystem Science

This book describes critical environmental issues that face coastal ocean and Great Lakes areas, including eutrophication, habitat modification, hydrologic and hydrodynamic disruption, exploitation of resources, toxic effects on ecosystems and humans, introduction of nonindigenous species, global climate change and variability, and shoreline erosion and hazardous storms. These issues can be approached through science activities (including research, monitoring, and modeling) discussed in this book and through coordination among federal agencies.

This volume incorporates theoretical and practical knowledge through case studies and reviews to serve as a baseline of information for coastal ecosystem research, and discusses the impacts of pollution, industrialisation, agriculture and climate change on coastal ecosystem biogeochemistry and biodiversity. The case studies address the role of coastal ecosystems as a carbon sink which is getting impacted by anthropogenic disturbances. Through this analysis, the book covers various strategies for the conservation and management of coastal ecosystems, considering their unique ecological and biogeochemical attributes and region-specific threats and impacts. The book will be of interest to a wide range of readers including students, researchers and professionals in coastal ecosystem science, coastal pollution, climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and environmental management. .

Ocean research offers countless benefits, from improving fisheries management to discovering new drugs to enabling early detection of tsunamis and hurricanes. At the request of the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (JSOST), the National Research Council convened a committee to review the draft and final versions of the Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy described in Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United States: Research Priorities for the Next Decade, which represents the first coordinated national ocean research planning effort involving all federal agencies that support ocean science. The plan presents an ambitious vision for ocean research that will be of great benefit to the ocean sciences community and the nation. This book contains both sets of findings (i.e., the committee's review of the JSOST's draft plan [A Review of the Draft Ocean Research Priorities Plan: Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United States] and the review of the final plan). This book recommends that JSOST employ a variety of outreach mechanisms to continue to engage nonfederal partners in ocean research planning efforts, such as establishing external committees to provide scientific and technical advice and to review progress on implementation of the research plan.

This book summarizes three symposia that were convened in the California, Gulf of Maine, and Gulf of Mexico regions to seek new ways to improve the use of science in coastal policymaking. The book recommends actions that could be taken by federal and state agencies and legislatures, local authorities, scientists, universities, the media, nongovernmental organizations, and the public to yield better coastal decisions and policies. It is unique in that it resulted from a partnership among natural scientists, social scientists, and policymakers.

Coastal Ecosystem Processes, written by the renowned marine scientist Daniel Alongi, describes how pelagic and benthic food webs, from beaches and tidal flats to the continental edge, process energy and matter. This volume focuses on recent advances and new developments on how food webs are closely intertwined with the geology, chemistry, and physics of coastal seas. Dr. Alongi presents a process-functional approach as a way of understanding how the energetics of coastal ecosystems rely not only on exchanges within and between food chains, but how such functions are influenced by terrigenous and atmospheric processes. There is a need for documentation and an awareness of just how necessary, yet delicate, is the interplay of biological and physical forces between coastal ocean, land, and the atmosphere. Marine scientists today need to make informed management decisions about sustainable development and conservation of these fragile ecosystems. Coastal Ecosystem Processes provides present and future marine scientists the latest coastal ecosystem information to make the right decisions concerning the ecology of our oceans.

Marine environments support the livelihoods, economies, and quality of life for communities around the world. But growth of coastal populations and increasing demands on marine resources are putting the future of ocean and coastal resources at risk through impacts such as overfishing, wetland drainage, climate change, and pollution of coastal waters. Given these demands, it is vital to build capacity-the people, the institutions, and technology and tools-needed to manage ocean resources. Unfortunately, many capacity building efforts focus on specific projects rather than on capacity building as goal unto itself, resulting in activities that are not funded or sustained past the typically short project lifetime. This book finds that the most successful capacity-building efforts meet the needs of a specific locale or region based on periodic assessments and include plans to maintain and expand capacity after the project ends. The report recommends ways that governments and organizations can help strengthen marine protection and management capacity, including conducting periodic program assessments, making plans to sustain funding, and developing leadership and political will. The book was produced at the request of Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the President's Circle of the National Academies, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, the Marisla Foundation, and the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation.

The North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) was established in 1997 as custodian to a pool of funds intended for the study of the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean. The success of the NRPB is the development of a high quality, long-range science plan that provides a better understanding of ecosystems and their fisheries in the region. This report provides a framework to help the NPRB identify appropriate science themes and mechanisms for administering and distributing the funds. It contains extensive input from residents of Alaskan communities, to help scientists understand and address issues of importance to the local communities. The book makes specific recommendations on long-term research priorities, the NPRB management structure and the development of future programs.