Elucidating the Nexus of Science and Society in the Morro Bay Ecosystem
Dean E. Wendt Center for Coastal Marine Sciences California Polytechnic State University Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND VISION FOR ECOSYSTEM-BASED MANAGEMENT PROGRAM..4
2.0 PROGRAM OVERVIEW ...... 5 2.1 Unique Opportunity for EBM 2.2 Comprehensive and Practical Program 2.3 High-Value Objectives and Deliverables 2.4 Built-In Impact, Sustainability, and Replicability 2.5 Proven Leadership to Deliver Results 2.6 Effective Leverage of Volunteer and In-Kind Resources
3.0 PROBLEM DEFINITION AND OVERALL OBJECTIVES ...... 17
4.0 BACKGROUND ...... 17 4.1 Description of Planning Efforts 4.2 Conceptual Model of the Ecosystem 4.3 Definition of EBM 4.4 Current Institutional Framework 4.4.1 Marine Interests Group (MIG) 4.4.2 Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) 4.5 Response to Reviewers’ Comments on the Program Overview and Background Section
5.0 PROJECT ACTIVITIES ...... 29 5.1 General Overview------29 5.1.1 Conceptual Model of Ecological Linkages and Production 5.1.2 Adaptability in Program Management 5.1.3 Dissemination of Information and Data 5.1.4 Linkages to Existing Long-Term Coastal Observing, Monitoring, and Research Programs 5.2 Science-Based Activities ------32 5.2.1 Water Quality (pg. 32) 5.2.2 Bioindicators (pg.37) 5.2.3 Socioeconomic Indicators (pg. 42) 5.2.4 Nursery and Spawning Grounds (pg. 46) 5.2.5 Human Access (pg. 49) 5.3 Organizational/Institutional Activities ------58 5.3.1 Linking Science to Resource Management and Ecosystem Health 5.3.2 Public Outreach and Stakeholder Engagement 5.3.3 Morro Bay EBM Program Organizational Structure (incl. chart)
6.0 REFERENCES ...... 62
7.0 BUDGET JUSTIFICATION ...... 67 7.1 Response to Budget Related Questions
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8.0 IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT PERSONNEL ...... 75
9.0 PLANNING PROCESS PARTICIPANTS ...... 75
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Elucidating the Nexus of Science and Society in the Morro Bay Ecosystem
Ecosystem [based] management is not just about science nor is it simply an extension of traditional resource management; it offers a fundamental reframing of how humans may work with nature. R. Edward Grumbine (1994)
1.0 INTRODUCTION AND VISION FOR ECOSYSTEM-BASED MANAGEMENT PROGRAM The past decade has seen a significant paradigm shift in the management of natural resources. A new “ecosystem based management” (EBM) approach emphasizes a more holistic management concept that involves participation of scientists, stakeholders and managers in an institutional network that encompasses the linkages and the boundaries of ecosystems. Programs based on integrated ecosystem approaches hold the most promise for reaching broad conservation, restoration, and sustainability goals. The proposed Morro Bay Ecosystem-Based Management Program applies this integrated approach to the vitally important scientific, resource management, and stakeholder interests related to the health of California’s Morro Bay and associated coastal regions. As diagramed below, our goals include conservation, restoration, and sustainable use informed by high-quality and broadly-shared ecosystem knowledge.
Conservation
Ecosystem Knowledge
Restoration Sustainable Use
Resource managers, stakeholders, and scientists have worked together to develop a conceptual model of the watershed, estuary, and nearshore environments. This model has identified critical interrelationships that require targeted research in order to inform important resource management issues and develop shared approaches to resolve them. A science team comprised of proven experts in the specific areas of interest has examined existing data and available tools and has proposed concrete projects to elucidate the model and deliver applicable results. Our program addresses a fundamental problem: Regional efforts to conduct science and manage the resources in the Morro Bay area are currently fragmented within narrowly defined elements of the ecosystem (e.g. land/estuary vs. coastal habitats, conservation vs. economic concerns) and driven by isolated institutions (e.g. local governments, State Parks Coastal Commission, Fish and Game, Regional Water Quality Control Board). Our resulting knowledge of the ecosystem as a whole is severely limited and reflects this historical arrangement. A Packard Foundation planning grant has
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California
Pacific Ocean
Figure 1. The Morro Bay Estuary. The estuary is located equidistant from San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Bay is approximately 2,300 acres; it opens into Estero Bay, an open ocean coastal environment. supported the beginnings of a completely new model for ecosystem-based exploration and management of the Morro Bay environment. This full proposal describes our comprehensive plan to enact an integrated program that weds scientific, stakeholder, and management communities across the ecosystem.
2.0 PROGRAM OVERVIEW
2.1 Unique Opportunity for Ecosystem Management The Morro Bay Estuary and adjacent coastal zone provide a unique opportunity within the central coast of California to utilize and benefit from a formalized EBM approach. The Morro Bay Estuary and Watershed is one of the most significant wetland systems on California’s Central Coast (Fig. 1). It juxtaposes a globally significant hotspot for terrestrial biodiversity with a rich and productive coastal marine ecosystem. It serves as a link for many migratory species (e.g., birds, steelhead) and as a permanent home for a variety of fish, mammals, invertebrates, and plants, including 16 federally threatened or endangered species, six of which are endemic to the area. The watershed for the estuary is 48,000 acres (75 square miles) consisting of two primary tributaries the Los Osos and Chorro Creeks (Fig. 2). The bay/estuary is a 2,300-acre semi-enclosed body of water, which flows into the larger Estero Bay. The watershed consists of riparian corridors, agricultural lands, oak grassland, coastal chaparral, and relatively limited urbanization.
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Figure 2. Detailed view of the two major drainages in the Morro Bay Estuary watershed. Figure taken from MBNEP CCMP. The entire watershed is about 75 square miles.
The distribution of habitats within the bay include eelgrass beds, mudflats, salt marsh, sandy beaches, and to a lesser degree emergent rocky substrata. The area outside the bay is dominated by both sandy and rocky intertidal and subtidal benthic habitats with extensive kelp beds north and south of the bay (Figure 1).
The Morro Bay Estuary represents a unique opportunity to develop and implement an ecosystem based management model for several key reasons: · Morro Bay Estuary is an ecological jewel, arguably the least impacted and most naturally functioning estuary within Central and Southern California. · The coastal environment of San Luis Obispo County is important as it is within the transition zone between the Oregonian and Californian biogeographic provinces and is considered to be the most productive coastal upwelling zone in California.
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· Within Central California, the Morro Bay watershed has been identified as one of the most likely places on the Central California Coast to have strong land-to-sea linkages. Indeed, participants at an NCEAS-CCMI workshop in 2004 noted that “…the region encompassing Morro Bay, its watershed, and adjacent coastal areas (e.g., Irish Hills, Coon Creek, Diablo Canyon), is a particularly opportune region for integrated conservation planning and coastal ecosystem-based management (NCEAS-CCMI-3 workshop report, 2004). · The “Morro Bay Ecosystem” includes a functioning commercial and recreational fishing industry, a dense patchwork of coastal state parks, and an increasing population of tourists and retirees. · The Morro Bay Estuary and nearshore coastal area are at the center of several “live” conservation issues that would clearly benefit from our EBM program—the Los Osos sewer project, the Duke Morro Bay Power Plant and Pacific Gas and Electric Diablo Canyon Power Plant larval entrainment controversies, and the establishment of marine reserves as part of the Marine Life Protection Act. · Two established stakeholder entities, the Marine Interests Group of San Luis Obispo County (MIG) and the Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) are utilizing ecosystem approaches to sustain and enhance the marine resources. · The MIG and MBNEP have established productive working relationships among stakeholders (including members from the fishing community, industry such as power companies, environmentalists, elected officials, and other public interests) within the community. Importantly, the MIG and MBNEP have formally articulated shared goals and objectives for the marine resources of Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo County and they are key participants in the Morro Bay EBM Program. · Additionally, stakeholders from the MIG and MBNEP are actively working together on research, management, and outreach activities to achieve their shared goals. · The proposed Morro Bay EBM Program has received committed participation by personnel from all relevant resource agencies in the ecosystem. Morro Bay is an ideal model watershed: small enough to be feasible for study, restoration, and protection efforts, yet large enough to reflect national and international watershed issues such as non-point source pollution, development, agriculture and rangeland uses, and wastewater treatment. Development of a detailed EBM approach for the Morro Bay area will have the benefit of building on significant existing resources and infrastructure, and will complement and magnify ongoing efforts to protect and restore this nationally significant estuarine system. Moreover, a major goal of our EBM program will be to develop a model for regional efforts elsewhere in California, the nation, and in other countries.
2.2 Comprehensive and Practical Program The proposed EBM program is both comprehensive and practical. It is comprehensive because it takes an integrated systems-based approach. Relatively little is currently known about key interactions at the ecosystem level, and as such the program planning process has taken this challenge head-on by identifying issues relevant at all
7 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program systemic levels. This will enable resource managers, stakeholders, and the subsequent replication efforts elsewhere to focus their attention more cost-effectively. The Program’s comprehensiveness also ensures the active engagement of all major stakeholders. Each major resource management agency and stakeholder interest has a keen interest in one or more of the key science projects. This has stimulated solid commitments to a fully integrated ecosystem Advisory Committee. The proposed program is practical because the most pressing issues for resource managers and stakeholders drive it. In addition, the science projects optimally leverage and build upon existing research and established protocols to answer identified research questions. We have also incorporated our proven success in engaging the involvement and insights of “citizen-scientists.” When resource managers and stakeholders (fishermen, birders, trained volunteer monitors, and others) become involved in the definition of critical questions, aid in the collection of data, and share their knowledge and perspectives, we develop a richer understanding of ecosystem dynamics and build a broader base of public understanding and appreciation. In our experience, this type of active citizen engagement has proven essential for effective ecosystem-based approaches.
2.3 High-Value Objectives and Deliverables The Morro Bay EBM Program has distilled a core set of interrelated objectives and deliverables focused on the most important issues of ecosystem concern--water quality, indicators of biological health, indicators of socio-economic health, critical nursery and spawning grounds, and human access—and has developed an effective institutional framework for resource managers and stakeholders to apply the results. The following tables summarize the objectives, deliverables, and management value of the projects described in more detail later in this proposal.
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Water Quality Objectives Key Deliverables Management Value · Deploy instrument arrays at 5 · Design and implementation of a A vital baseline “backbone” for locations including the creek mouths, proven system to monitor physical understanding ecosystem dynamics— the bay/estuary, and the open coast and chemical parameters of the causative mechanisms, effectiveness of · Monitor changes in nitrates so as to “Morro Bay Ecosystem”. watershed policies and restoration create mass balance budgets to · Mass balance budgets to determine projects, and management decisions. determine sources and sinks of sources and sinks of nutrients to the nutrients to the bay bay · Delineate phytoplankton · Delineation of phytoplankton communities (Harmful Algal Blooms communities (Harmful Algal Blooms included) and also use backscatter as included) a proxy for sedimentation · Estimates of sources and load of · Provide real-time data via a web- sediment to the estuary based interface including budgets of · Real-time data via a web-based nitrate, DO, sediment and interface including budgets of chlorophyll a for the bay based on nitrate, DO, sediment and the sources and sinks in the system chlorophyll a for the bay based on · Determine for the “Morro Bay the sources and sinks in the system Ecosystem” how water quality from the watershed affects water quality on the open coast.
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Biological Indicators of Organismal and Ecosystem Health Objectives Key Deliverables (see revised deliverables Management Value on page 42; note deliverables 3 and 4 are only partially funded)
· Determine which target organisms are · Determine the species that promise to Specific tools to assess actual effects of most useful to track environmental provide the strongest and most changing conditions and resource changes comprehensive information to track management decisions on ecosystem life, · Correlate changes in molecular environmental change and monitor resolution of concurrent factors affecting response of organisms with changes in ecosystem health. the ecosystem, and early leading indicators physical and chemical parameters · For those model indicator species, we of ecosystem changes for mitigating or being monitored from the water quality will establish a list of key proteins that corrective action. project are going to be useful as biochemical · Develop useable indicators for indicators of organismal health managers to assess ecosystem health · Develop the most useful indicators for resource managers in order to assess ecosystem health using organismal- level responses. · Provide resource agencies with methodologies that allow application of these data for management and ultimately their decision making processes.
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Socioeconomic Indicators of Ecosystem Health Objectives Key Deliverables Management Value · Create a web-based database of · Web-based database of socio-economic Critical tool to understand and evaluate the socio-economic indicators. indicators (collected annually or bi- human consequences of environmental · Develop a baseline of economic annually depending upon the indicator). policies and develop ecosystem-based uses associated with the Morro · Baseline of economic uses associated management that supports conservation, Bay estuary and near-shore ocean. with the Morro Bay estuary and restoration, and sustainable use. · Provide an annual analysis of nearshore coastal ocean. changes and trends in the · Annual analysis of changes and trends in economic output of estuary and the economic output of estuary and nearshore ocean based activities. nearshore coastal ocean based activities. · Create a model of the functional · Model of the functional links between links between ecosystem ecosystem indicators and economic indicators and economic productivity and value (based on a time- productivity and value (based on a series (panel) analysis of ecosystem and time-series (panel) analysis of economic indicators). ecosystem and economic indicators).
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Critical Spawning and Nursery Areas for Nearshore Fish and Invertebrate Species Objectives Key Deliverables Management Value Habitat: Habitat: Provide high-resolution (1-3m Detailed knowledge of the extent and · · Final GIS products will include: xyz distribution of fish and invertebrate habitats grid) bathymetry and habitat GIS point data and ArcGIS compatible grids, in the bay and estuary, role of the bay/estuary products for the areas within the contour vector themes, geotifs of DEMs for commercially and recreationally scope of the Morro Bay EBM in shaded relief, sidescan sonar mosaics, important fish species, and, thereby, specific Program. ground-truth video clips, and the results guidance on the importance of ecosystem · Leverage CI-CORE funding to from the spatial data model analyses health. provide a more complete picture listed above. of the habitats in the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”. · Original video as well as XTF and HDCS Faunal: acoustic data files and full FGDC- · Determine what fish species are compliant metadata for all files will also obligate residents or obligate be included. seasonal residents of the Morro Faunal: Bay Estuary and how they are · Species lists of fish will be generated for distributed among the available the bay, which will be made available to habitats. resource managers and stakeholders. · Determine the proportion of the · Web interface for citizen scientists and California halibut population in volunteer monitoring participants to the “Morro Bay Ecosystem” that peruse and update (with confirmation is a product of the Morro Bay from appropriate EBM scientists) species Estuary. lists · Understanding of the degree to which the bay serves as a nursery ground for one of California’s most commercially important fish species
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Human Access Objectives Key Deliverables Management Value · Identify and locate the bay and § GIS of coastal areas of San Luis § The GIS will provide resource coastal habitats and species at Obispo County showing physical and managers with a valuable tool that greatest risk to human uses. biological characteristics from data can be used to help manage access collected in early 1980s as part of a to coastal resources that avoids · Determine the levels of impacts statewide data collection effort. impacts to sensitive habitats and that can occur to rocky intertidal § Updated data layers for GIS of species.. habitats at the popular Montaña de coastal biological resources for § Results of studies on human effects Oro State Park due to visitor use. Montana de Oro and Estero Bluffs on rocky intertidal communities State Parks collected as part of this will help park managers determine · Determine the types of uses and study. and justify possible changes in levels of use (“carrying capacity”) § Results of studies on human effects visitor access to sensitive rocky that could be allowed that still on rocky intertidal communities that intertidal areas. protect the biological integrity of will be used to manage visitor § The recommendations for managing these habitats. access. visitor access to sensitive coastal § Baseline biological data for Montana habitats will help protect resources de Oro and Estero Bluffs that can be and reduce human impacts and can used as a basis for long-term be used as a basis for establishing monitoring. management plans at the new § Recommendations for visitor Estero Bluffs and Hearst Ranch management, environmental State Parks education, and outreach. § Recommendations for long-term monitoring
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Institutional Framework to Translate Science into Enhanced Ecosystem Health Objectives Deliverables Management Value · Integration and collaboration of · Active Advisory Committee engaging all Improved coordination of resource resource managers and major resource agencies and stakeholder management activities; increased public stakeholders across the ecosystem. interests in the execution and application interest, understanding, and support for · Informed public with tools to of Program activities for ecosystem ecosystem health; and effective replication understand and contribute to health. elsewhere. ecosystem health. · Public kick off, semiannual workshops, · Platform for advancing ecosystem and biennial “State of the Bay…and understanding and replication Beyond” conference with cable TV elsewhere. coverage and archiving. · Interactive web site and email list serve to involve “citizen scientists” , provide an “ecosystem dashboard” summarizing results, and interpret results via a “Bay Blog”. · Ecosystem Interns aiding integration of results into decision making. · Peer-reviewed articles and access to data sets for researchers and resource managers elsewhere.
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2.4 Built-in Impact, Sustainability, and Replicability The local community has learned through our experience with the MIG and MBNEP that focused public information and engagement reap lasting benefits. The proposed program builds on this effort by taking a multi-faceted approach to ensure that the research results and agency-stakeholder collaboration translate into valuable conservation, restoration, and sustainable use results. The following elements ensure that the Morro Bay EBM will have both immediate and longer-term impact: · Commitment by all major resource management agencies and stakeholders to active participation on an Advisory Committee. This quarterly gathering of key players, to commence concurrent with the launch of the research program will focus attention on critical issues, provide ongoing feedback on scientific progress and results, enhance collaboration among participants, and build an institutional framework for ecosystem management. This model has had proven successful through other local initiatives such as the local Steelhead and Stream Recovery Coalition. · Active public engagement, education, and involvement. The proposed program includes an informative and interactive web site depicting the ecosystem model under development, displaying the results of real-time monitoring, interpreting the information with an engaging “Bay Blog,” and providing opportunities for “citizen- scientists” to add their observations to enhance the understanding of ecosystem dynamics. In addition, we propose semiannual public sessions and a biennial “State of the Bay…and Beyond” conference. Both the MIG and the MBNEP have demonstrated the power of interested and informed volunteers working together to achieve results. We will apply what we have learned from those successes to the Morro Bay EBM Program.
The Morro Bay EBM Program includes several strategies to sustain the ecosystem-based management effort: · Identification of targeted scientific information for ongoing agency data collection and analysis. Each of the major resource management agencies has established ecosystem-based management as a key objective, but individually lacks the capacity to implement such an approach, given the obvious limitations of individual jurisdictions and institutional mandates that only encompass a portion of the ecosystem as a whole. The proposed EBM program presents this group with a starting point for developing calibrated resource management strategies; virtually all resource management organizations affiliated with the Morro Bay watershed have pledged active support and involvement in its design and implementation (see attached letters of commitment). The Morro Bay EBM Program will identify key linkages, critical data sets, and ecosystem dynamics. The Program results will define a discrete and manageable set of data for ongoing collection and analysis that agencies seek and find value in supporting. · EBM Interns (i.e., graduate students) to aid integration of the scientific results into resource agency practices and decision making. EBM involves a shift in perspective and ways of doing business. The proposed Morro Bay EBM Program includes targeted support from trained EBM Interns to help agencies and stakeholder groups interpret and use the results. This will help EBM become part of the “institutional ecosystem” of resource agencies and stakeholders.
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The Morro Bay EBM Program provides both immediate and longer-term replication value: · Immediate usefulness of institutional networks and experience. The Advisory Committee structure and proven effectiveness of our multi-stakeholder organizations offer models applicable elsewhere. · Ecosystem conceptual model for examination and use in other estuarine-coastal areas. As the Program gathers data and tests the model, others can learn from our experience through the web site and published program results. · In-depth understanding of this ecosystem to accelerate understanding of other ecosystems. The Program’s comprehensive approach will help future efforts to more quickly focus on the most salient factors.
2.5 Proven Leadership to Deliver Results The core leadership team of Wendt, Berman, and Maruska collectively has decades of proven expertise in · leveraging resources cost-effectively for high returns, · delivering high-quality, problem-solving scientific results, · communicating effectively with resource managers, stakeholders, and public, and · sustaining and building productive collaborative networks. The MBNEP has received and successfully managed over $2.8 million dollars in federal, state, and private grants in the past five years, and is also responsible, with the Regional Board and Bay Foundation, for directing the expenditure of the $3.66 million Morro Bay Restoration Fund. In addition, faculty members associated with the Cal Poly Center for Coastal Marine Science have acquired and successfully managed over $8 million in grant funding in the last 7 years to execute a variety of research programs aimed at understanding the ecological processes of coastal marine systems. All of the collaborating scientists are proven experts in their field, offering the EBM program the best of local and national talent.
2.6 Effective Leverage of Volunteer and In-Kind Resources The Morro Bay EBM Program builds upon an extensive and valuable network of volunteer and in-kind resources. The MBNEP’s trained volunteers contribute over 1000 hours each year. In addition, MIG participants have provided over 1600 hours of insights and expertise to discuss and disseminate ecosystem information. Collaborative research programs spawned from the MIG include hundreds of uncompensated hours donated by scientists, fishermen, and community volunteers. The local public access cable TV contributes free broadcasting and repeat telecasts of public workshops. We know from past programs that thousands of people watch these informative telecasts.
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3.0 PROBLEM DEFINITION AND OVERALL OBJECTIVES While important, current efforts to conduct science and manage the resources in the Morro Bay area remain fragmented within narrowly defined elements of the ecosystem (e.g. land/estuary vs. coastal habitats, conservation vs. economic concerns) and driven by isolated institutions (e.g. local governments, State Parks Coastal Commission, Fish and Game, Regional Water Quality Control Board). Our resulting knowledge of the ecosystem as a whole is severely limited and reflects this historical arrangement. We currently lack a fundamental understanding of 1) the true boundaries of the ecosystem (i.e., from land to sea) and 2) which aspects of the ecosystem are the critical linking factors (i.e., nutrients, sediment, species, etc). From an institutional perspective, ecosystem-based management is an effort to build and maintain the relevant inter-organization networks to manage an ecosystem (Imperial, 1999). That is, just as a nexus of ecological linkages exist, so too does a series of institutional linkages. With that in mind the broad objectives of our work will be: 1. To develop and monitor relevant physical/chemical, biological, and socioeconomic indicators across the ecosystem and to determine how the various components are interconnected and how they affect one another; 2. To establish a clear understanding of the institutional linkages within the ecosystem and to build and reorganize the “institutional ecosystem” where needed; 3. To provide managers and stakeholders with improved ecological and sociological data for shared deliberation and decision making on an ecosystem-wide basis for maximum impact and cost effectiveness; and 4. To develop a model for EBM that can be utilized in other areas of California, the nation, and the world. These objectives translate into specific deliverables detailed in this proposal.
4.0 BACKGROUND
4.1 Description of Planning Process Efforts The Morro Bay EBM Program Planning Phase had the active involvement of 22 persons on an Advisory Committee. The participants represented key state, federal, and local agencies and a broad range of stakeholder interests (environmental, fishing, recreation, and community at large) [See list of Planning Process Participants, section 9.0] The group met monthly in April, May, and June 2005 to shape and review the Program plans. Members also participated in telephone discussions and email exchanges to provide additional ideas and feedback. Between the Advisory Committee meetings, the Science Team held two day-long meetings to discuss ways to respond to the identified issues and to formulate specific projects. Three members of the science team attended the Advisory Committee meetings to ensure effective cross-communication between the two groups. Through the process, the Principal Investigator communicated closely with both scientists and Advisory Team members to further focus and develop the projects. Key steps in this planning process are detailed below:
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4.1.1Perspectives on the Ecosystem, EBM, and Approach to Management The Advisory Committee reviewed the status of existing information and current activities in the ecosystem area, and shared perspectives on how to pursue EBM in this environment. The members developed the following overall perspectives: · Ecosystem-based management (EBM) -- looking at the larger picture of how various elements of the marine environment interrelate and ways to manage them more productively -- is a topic of keen interest to all stakeholders and agencies. Thus far, however, no one has developed the concept and applied it to the Central Coast environment. · The definition and scope of ecosystem-based management need clarification to address concerns of traditional users. · There is a lack of necessary information to inform and evaluate key resource management issues confronting stakeholders and agencies, resulting in uncertainty and controversy about the efficacy and priority of management actions. · All stakeholders and agencies would like clear indicators of ecosystem health, but few such measures are available with significantly robust scientific explanations to support their relevance. · Purposes of the EBM grant are for science and monitoring that address user- inspired questions in a practical way. The desired results are to be salient (clearly relevant), credible (everyone understands why they were collected), and transparent (everyone understands how they information was gathered and used). Partnerships between this grant effort and public agencies will be important to ensure the effectiveness of these activities. We need clearly articulated goals and milestones that can be accomplished. · The grant needs to provide a clear institutional framework for linking the science, stakeholder interests, and management activities. · Participants perceive that a geographic scope including areas to the North and South of the Morro Bay (e.g. Estero Bay and Port San Luis) would be desirable to capture the watershed-marine effects, provide areas with differing usage levels, and engage important management topics. · Socio-economic issues cut across all of the major study questions and need a set of indicators and method for analysis of impacts.
4.1.2 Development of Key Resource Management and Stakeholder Issues The Advisory Committee developed an initial set of key ecosystem management questions. These evolved into the issues and projects detailed in this proposal.
4.1.3 Development of Preliminary Conceptual Models and Science Projects The Science Team discussed and developed a model for conceptualizing ecosystem dynamics. It also reviewed the issues and questions from the Advisory Committee and outlined potential science projects and data sources to address them.
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4.1.4 Revision of Projects and Confirmation of Data Sources and Management Value The Advisory Committee reviewed the proposed projects, further honed the critical resource management and stakeholder interests, and advised about available data sources to support or complement the proposed research. More in-depth discussions followed to refine the linkages of the science projects with specific resource management issues and processes.
4.1.5 Development of Organizational Structure to Support the Program The Leadership Team and Advisory Committee examined how best to structure the Morro Bay EBM Program from an organizational perspective. This included a review of existing organizations and meetings to determine the potential to leverage those vehicles. The resulting analysis concluded that the Program could effectively utilize the existing forums of the MIG and MBNEP for public and stakeholder participation, and that the newly created Advisory Committee would need to be maintained to ensure the ongoing engagement of senior resource agency staff (see discussion of organizational infrastructure, section 5.2.2).
4.1.6 Securing Commitments from Agencies and Stakeholders for Program Success The Advisory Committee reviewed the refined science projects and confirmed the scope and value. In addition, the Committee members endorsed the proposed organizational structure and confirmed their commitments to participate (See letters of commitment).
4.2 Conceptual Model of the Morro Bay Ecosystem One of the first tasks of the Advisory Committee and the Science Team during the planning process was to develop a conceptual model of the Morro Bay Ecosystem. Our model represents the ecosystem as three separate but integrally connected compartments including the watershed, the bay/estuary, and the coastal ocean (Figure 3). Each of the compartments of the ecosystem is connected by 1) species movements, most notably the use of the bay as a nursery ground for fish and invertebrates, and 2) freshwater input and tidal exchange. By necessity humans critically depend on numerous services that are produced by the natural process and functioning of the ecosystem. That is, humans are “users” of the ecosystem products and services. At the same time, humans also produce stressors on the ecosystem which feed back and affect processes and components within the compartments of the ecosystem. It is the human caused stressors that resource managers regulate so as to preserve ecosystem function and ultimately the long term sustainability of the ecosystem products and services. Effective management requires detailed knowledge of the linkages between the compartments, and of the ecosystem’s response to stressors. One of the goals of our program is to increase our understanding of the linkages and dynamics of the ecosystem so as to provide practical information to resource managers for more cost effective and ecologically effective management of the “Morro Bay Ecosystem” (See Section 5.1.1 for a more detailed model of ecosystem dynamics).
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Coastal Ocean Morro Species Bay/ Species movement Estuary movement s s Watershed
Water Freshwater Exchange by input tides
Ecosystem Services/Products
Users
Stressor s Regulation s Figure 3. Conceptual diagram of the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”. See text for a complete description.
4.3 Definition of Ecosystem-Based Management Traditional approaches to resource management have sought to commoditize and maximize single resources. Early attempts to broaden traditional approaches to include an ecosystem approach occurred well over half a century ago (Grumbine, 1994). Nascent ideas of ecosystem-based management grew primarily from terrestrial systems using natural ecological boundaries (e.g., the range needed to sustain the largest carnivores within a given area) to define functional management units (e.g., Craighead, 1979). Although this was a significant conceptual improvement over traditional management approaches, it still lacked consideration of an important element within ecosystems—the human element. It was the seminal work of Agee and Johnson (1998) that first described the need to consider the human component; managers and biologists must keep in mind the complex social context within which their work occurs. The successes of EBM approaches necessarily depends on sound scientific knowledge of the ecosystem (e.g., Grumbine, 1994) adaptability within management (e.g., Imperial et al., 1993), and participation by stakeholders (e.g., Agee and Johnson, 1998). Additionally, EBM approaches must have clearly defined goals and objectives with specific targets and measures to assess progress (Slocombe, 1998). Formalized EBM approaches are relatively new in marine systems (e.g., Link, 2002; McLeod, 2005) and the recent reports from the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy call for
20 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program implementing ecosystem-based management to address conservation and management of marine ecosystems. As part of our planning process, the EBM Advisory Committee and Science Team agreed on a definition of ecosystem based management that was adapted from the Coast Information Team in Canada--“An adaptive approach to managing human activities that seeks to ensure the coexistence of healthy, fully functioning ecosystems and human communities. The intent is to maintain those spatial and temporal characteristics of ecosystems such that component species and ecological processes can be sustained [and enhanced if depleted], and human wellbeing supported and improved.” (Coast Information Team; http://www.citbc.org). For the purposes of our work, we defined several specific strategic guidelines based on Imperial (1999), Grumbine (1994), Slocombe (1993, 1998), and the recently released consensus statement for marine ecosystem-based management (McLeod et al. 2005); these guidelines are listed below (in no particular order): · A place-based approach, focusing on a specific ecosystem and the range of activities affecting it; · Protection of ecosystem structure, functioning and key processes; · Approaching problems from an integrated or systems perspective; · Definition of broad, relevant goals related to objectives that can be applied in many program areas · Improving institutional performance and the integration of government policies · Active work across administrative boundaries · Enhancing the coordination of various governmental and non-governmental organizations · Broad public participation · Having a strong focus on science, monitoring and ecological integrity · The involvement of key stakeholders in government decision making; · Having a stronger scientific basis behind government policies; and · Integration of ecological, social, economic, and institutional perspectives, recognizing their strong interdependences.
4.4 Current Ecosystem Institutional Framework Importantly, two current entities are practicing ecosystem-based management within the Morro Bay coastal area—The Marine Interests Group (MIG) of San Luis Obispo County and the Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP). Each of the groups concentrates on different geographical areas of the ecosystem. Both have conducted science and monitoring and have made significant effort to inform and work with the appropriate resource agencies. That said, the current institutional arrangement continues to leave us with shortcomings in our knowledge about the boundaries and linkages of the ecosystem, as the MIG focuses on the nearshore coastal environment and the MBNEP is concerned with the watershed and estuary. For example, we have no real understanding of how the watershed and estuary are linked to coastal environment, or of the watershed and bay’s influence on the coastal habitats and marine species (i.e., the outer boundary of the ecosystem). With the active involvement and commitment from the resource agencies and the strong presence of two functioning stakeholder groups who
21 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program pursue common goals for managing marine resources, the Morro Bay area is uniquely suited to build an integrated EBM program.
4.4.1 The Marine Interests Group of San Luis Obispo The Marine Interests Group of San Luis Obispo (MIG) is a stakeholders group founded in January 2003 whose mission is to protect and enhance the marine resources of San Luis Obispo County. The group is composed of 18 representative stakeholders, including elected officials, business people, conservationists, fishermen, scientists, and local residents. The MIG’s official statement of purpose is to: 1) Promote understanding of the marine resources off the Coast of San Luis Obispo County and the needs and interests of the stakeholders involved with their use and enjoyment; 2) Openly examine potential ways to sustain and enhance the resources; and 3) Recommend desirable courses of action (or non-action) as appropriate to support the resources and their sustainable use. This statement of purpose further led the MIG to develop a series of goals and objectives. Slocombe (1998) states that all ecosystem-based approaches need broad, relevant goals related to objectives that can be applied in many program areas. The specific MIG goals and objectives in several key areas are: Information and Awareness · Establish a baseline of data to determine necessary and desirable actions. · Learn the status of the resources and then determine needs. Bring the best fisheries and scientific resources to the task and provide accurate information to policy makers. · Enhance public awareness and understanding of the resources with accurate information and provide educational outreach programs. Health of the Ecosystem · Ensure a clean ocean to sustain the fisheries for future generations and to serve food, sport, and ecosystem health interests. · Preserve sensitive areas and biological resources to protect habitat, sustain diversity, and serve the public interest. · Increase the quality and quantity of marine resources consistent with what the habitat can sustain in a balanced way. Preservation of the Fishing Community · Preserve a lifestyle and culture around sustainable fisheries that reflects that the ocean is a good, healthy place to be and can provide a good sport and quality family experience. · Provide local access to seafood and promote local providers. Management of the Resources · Manage the marine resources to be sustainable with public access and use (both consumptive and non-consumptive) while protecting from damaging uses. · Exercise good stewardship in order to ensure the widest compatibility and use of resources. · Streamline and enhance the effectiveness of management with better coordination and communication among regulatory agencies.
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The MIG’s first course of action as informed by its goals and objectives was the development of a pilot science based collaborative research program to meet in part its stated goals and objectives. This project is an ongoing effort, in the process of seeking continued support from the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. Activities to date include: 1) monitoring of nearshore rockfish species on recreational fishing vessels, focusing on assessment and tagging of adult populations; 2) measurement of juvenile recruitment of rockfish and other ground fish species using diver transect surveys and SMURFS (Standard Monitoring Units for the Recruitment of Fishes); 3) a collaborative study with the commercial nearshore trap fishery, focusing on assessment and tagging of the commercially important Cabezon species; and 4) assessment of the pelagic bird populations within Estero Bay. It should be clearly noted that data from our collaborative studies have been considered by resource managers at both the California Department of Fish and Game (recreational fishing collaboration) and data from our cabezon work was requested by Jason Cope, a member of the PFMC science and statistical committee for their cabezon stock assessment. Further, Rick Starr (California Sea Grant Marine Advisor) requested our data for his presentation to the Blue Ribbon Task Force as part of the MLPA Initiative. The collaborative research by the MIG was specifically designed to be relevant to resource managers, and the group has made significant effort to disseminate research results to interested parties within the management system. One of the key initiatives that the MIG agreed upon, but has not yet gained funding to pursue, is enhanced coordination and collaboration among jurisdictions to improve resource management. Indeed, efforts to depict the multiple agencies and jurisdictions influencing the area have highlighted the need for an ecosystem-based management approach. Establishment of the proposed Morro Bay EBM Program will create the institutional infrastructure to meet this critical and necessary goal.
4.4.2 The Morro Bay National Estuary Program The Morro Bay National Estuary Program is dedicated to protecting and restoring the physical, biological, economic, and recreational values of the Morro Bay Estuary and its watershed. The MBNEP is a cooperative program of government agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, property owners and interested citizens, and is administered by a local non-profit organization, The Bay Foundation of Morro Bay. The Governor named Morro Bay as California's first State Estuary in 1994. The following year Morro Bay was designated one of 28 National Estuaries under Congress’ National Estuary Program (part of the Clean Water Act) to restore and protect estuaries of national significance. The MBNEP began by working with all facets of the community to develop the watershed-based Morro Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). The CCMP received both Federal and State approval in 2001 and the MBNEP is now focused on implementation of this ambitious plan. The CCMP identifies the broad goals for the program, identifies the priority threats facing the estuary, and lays out specific Action Plans to address these threats. The MBNEP is guided by an Executive Committee composed of 13 Seats representing a balance of watershed stakeholders: agricultural, fishing, recreation, and environmental interests, local non-profit organizations, local government including the City of Morro Bay, County of San Luis Obispo, Los Osos CSD, and Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District, and well as the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board,
23 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program and the US EPA. The Estuary Program has no regulatory authority; instead it relies on collaboration, partnerships and voluntary efforts to implement the CCMP. The goals of the MBNEP are to: · Slow the process of bay sedimentation. · Reestablish healthy steelhead trout habitat · Maintain estuary water quality · Ensure the integrity of the broad diversity of natural habitats and associated native wildlife species in the bay and watershed · Maintain watershed functional integrity · Protect social, economic, and environmental benefits provided by the bay and watershed through comprehensive resource management planning · Promote public awareness and involvement in estuarine management issues
The Estuary Program has chosen to focus its resources on implementation of the CCMP Action Plans, including habitat protection through acquisitions and easements, stream restoration and erosion control projects, helping agricultural landowners implement Best Management Practices, environmental education and outreach. In addition, the MBNEP’s Volunteer Monitoring Program has been collecting water quality and other environmental data to track ecosystem health and the effectiveness of MBNEP actions. The CCMP also includes a number of high priority research questions, outlines a broad Environmental Monitoring Plan to assess the health of the estuary and the effectiveness of restoration efforts, and includes an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in the existing institutional structures guiding resource management of the estuary and watershed. The implementation of these important components of the CCMP has been limited by available resources. The proposed Morro Bay EBM Program will address these critical issues of research, monitoring, and institutional structure in an integrated fashion, and in doing so will provide an excellent complement to the ongoing restoration work of the MBNEP.
4.5 Response to Reviewers’ Comments on the Program Overview and Background Section
Reviewers’ comment: Could have done a better job on the context and the management needs being met by this program. Assumes the reader is intimate with the issues and needs in Morro Bay.
Response: The focuses of the research in the Morro Bay EBM program were the result of 3 months of planning done by the Advisory Committee. The general areas of our work were identified and defined through a collaborative planning process with resource managers and stakeholders. The science and monitoring projects proposed were constructed in response to the most critical issues and needs as defined by personnel from the relevant resource agencies responsible for managing Morro Bay and the surrounding nearshore ecosystem. This process is described more fully in section 4.0 of the document.
Is this scalable and can this serve as a model for efforts elsewhere or is this a project only relevant to Morro Bay?
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This program will have applicability to efforts elsewhere. The model, data collection, and analysis will answer key questions. For example, it will address the relevant boundaries for ecosystem dynamics and the factors that influence them through an analysis of the biological signals between watershed, estuary, and nearshore environments. With detailed arrays of data from this ecosystem, we will learn which data prove to be the most relevant and valuable. This will enable future projects to focus their efforts more efficiently.
Members of the Advisory Committee are already considering applications of the insights to additional estuarine and nearshore environments along the San Luis Obispo County coast such as Arroyo Grande Creek and the Santa Maria River. The breadth of stakeholder interests will ensure active efforts along the Central Coast area.
Should farmers be included as part of the stakeholder group? Should pay some attention to terrestrial resources and goals.
Our program has representation of terrestrial resources and goals (including farmer representation) by participation of The Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District (CSLRCD) and the Morro Bay National Estuary Program. The CSLRCD has committed a senior staff person to serve on our Advisory Committee (see letter of support). The CSLRCD works closely with farmers and one of their primary interests is working with farmers to improve water quality through manamgement of terrestrial resources. Additionally, the Executive Committee of the Morro Bay National Estuary Program has two working farmers on it and their interests will be represented through the three MBNEP seats on our Advisory Committee.
How will this work link with other activities in Morro Bay, such as the MIG? Proposal cites the fact that it will have the benefit of "building on significant existing resources and infrastructure." If this is true, why so expensive.
The Morro Bay EBM Program is explicitly linked through the Advisory Committee to all relevant stakeholder, resource agency and academic interests in the Morro Bay area. The Advisory Committee maintains three seats for MIG members and three seats for people from the National Estuary Program in Morro Bay. Thus, the Morro Bay EBM Program is building on significant existing human resources by linking its organizational infrastructure with that of the MIG and the MBNEP. Our ambitious plan to embrace an ecosystem-based management approach creates new networks of scientists, resource managers and stakeholders through research and monitoring projects that are designed to produce knowledge about the ecosystem that will inform management and policy decisions.
Over-fishing is an important threat that isn't addressed in this proposal. Why? Is it being considered elsewhere? If so, how will that information but brought into this project? Research questions are good and interesting, but why has over-fishing been ignored?
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The “Critical Spawning and Nursery Area” component of our research efforts are intimately tied to understanding the importance of the bay as a habitat for recreationally and commercially important fish species. Stock assessment research of the nearshore area has been carried out through collaborative (constituent-based) research efforts between commercial and recreational fisherman and Cal Poly researchers. These programs have been underway for over 2 years and they were first conceived and executed through the Marine Interest Group of San Luis Obispo. The data produced through the MIG’s ongoing efforts will be available and utilized by the Morro Bay EBM Advisory Committee to inform resource managers of the status of the nearshore populations of commercially and recreationally important species. Note that the MIG maintains three seats on the Advisory Committee and that the entire Morro Bay EBM Leadership Team is involved in the MIG.
Overall articulation a vision and goals seems weak. What is the future desired endpoint for this coupled socio-ecological system? Is there a Chesapeake Bay-like goal?
See also 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND VISION FOR ECOSYSTEM-BASED MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
The vision for the results of the Ecosystem-Based Management Program includes the following elements: * well-understood ecosystem dynamics, * expanded awareness of critical levers for ecosystem health among resource managers, key stakeholders, and the public at large, * improved focus and efficacy of restoration and conservation efforts, and * enhanced quality and sustainability of the Morro Bay ecosystem as measured by objective biological and socio-economic indicators.
Many of the questions being posed appear to have relevance to a given agency management responsibility. Is it possible to integrate these needs into a more coherent whole with some sequencing and prioritization of the information to be collected? Proposal would benefit from a workplan that shows the sequencing of the various research activities, when they will produce results and when those results will be presented to managers. This will help insure the right things are started first and that data from one study is available for the next study.
The proposed research projects are the result of the prioritization of needs that came directly from the people that live, work in, and manage the ecosystem. The five areas of research and monitoring are the highest priority needs as identified during the program planning process. That said the program should not be seen as a series of independent project occurring in parallel. Indeed, the separate projects are part of an integrated- systems approach whereby we are seeking to understand the dynamics of the ecosystem through targeted studies of the physical, chemical, biological and socioeconomic elements within the ecosystem. Figure 4 is a first attempt at conceptualizing our systems approach. In terms of sequencing the projects, we expect to be launching all projects
26 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program simultaneously. The projects are not designed as a linear set of activities and data are not needed from one project to begin the next. Data from each of the projects, however, will certainly inform and help explain results from other projects.
Talks a lot about the research being relevant to management needs but some of the research seems very basic in nature. Over what time frame will they deliver results to managers and stakeholders?
We expect our science and monitoring projects to deliver tangible results that will affect change and be utilized by stakeholders and resource managers within a 2-3 year time period. The exception to this assertion being the development of proteomics to identify bio-indicators of ecosystem health, which we expect will take 4-6 years to deliver management deliverables. Given the initial basic research required to develop proteomics as a feasible management tool, the Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics is contributing 400K toward equipment and faculty release-time for this project. We are confident that this particular project will attract additional external funds from federal agencies such as NOAA, NSF, or the EPA, so we are curtailing support for it during year 3 of the EBM proposal. Thus, we have removed the “high risk” associated with the basic science needed to develop the tool in order to demonstrate the proof of concept by the end of year 3.
Proposal doesn't seem to address threats from the land. Are these covered elsewhere? Might be a good idea to do a synthesis of relevant terrestrial work that has already been done in the Morro Bay area and then develop a plan for filling gaps, if needed.
Our proposed science and monitoring of water quality from the mouths of the two creeks that flow into the Morro Bay Estuary will provide data that directly monitor two of the major threats coming from land: nutrient enrichment and to some degree sedimentation. The majority of the restoration work that has taken place in the watershed has been conducted by the Morro Bay National Estuary Program and the The Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District, both of whom are part of our Advisory Committee. One of our first endeavors as an Advisory Committee will be to synthesize the relevant work done in the watershed, and then to execute our projects in the most efficient manner possible to provide needed data.
With respect to reporting, linking science to policy, and communicating these results with the general public, it will be important to collect the information from the individual research activities in one place, and perhaps display them as a set of outcomes.
Our plan is develop a common web site and data server that will allow individuals and agencies to access information appropriate for their interests and needs. We will produce deliverable products at different levels of sophistication depending on the desires of the end user. For example, we expect to provide staff from state and federal agencies both raw data sets and summarized trends. The web site will simultaneously involve “citizen scientists”, through an “ecosystem dashboard” summarizing and interpret results via a “Bay Blog”.
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To get to a set of outcomes, will require a clearer and stronger articulation of vision, goals, and objectives that are linked to well-defined management end-points.
This point is well received and the primary role of the Advisory Committee is to guide the vision, goals, and objectives of the program and to ensure that the overall project activities are linked to well-defined management outcomes. The Advisory Committee will meet several times during the initial phases of the project to ensure that the program clearly articulates their goals and that the resource managers see tangible connections between the program activities and their management end-points.
What other activities (academic, state, federal) are underway in the Morro Bay area, and how will they relate to this activity. For example, what water quality monitoring is underway and who does it and how will it be used here?
For current restoration and implementation efforts see text in Section 4.4.2 on page 23. For a current account of water quality sampling efforts see Section 5.2.1 on page 32.
What thought is being given to designing relevant and cost-effective monitoring programs so the public agencies will in fact pay for "ongoing agency data collection and analysis."
Specific plans for how to translate our work into ongoing agency data collection and analysis is the clear purview of the Advisory Committee and it is one of their primary responsibilities as our work in the estuary commences. Because the Advisory Committee is the forum for interaction among the scientists, resource managers, and policy personnel we believe we have created a robust system to deliver on this essential aspect of our program. Moreover, given that the agencies were a critical component in designing the activities of our program, they recognize the value of the proposed projects and they have a fundamental interest in ensuring its long-term viability.
Would like to see what has resulted from the funds described on page 15 and how they'll be used by this project?
The funding to the MBNEP has supported a variety of implementation projects in the estuary and watershed including for example restoration of riparian buffer zones, acquisition of land, projects to reduce sediment load in the bay, and limited surveys of flora and fauna in the estuary. Further details can be accessed at www.mbnep.org. Funding to the marine science program at Cal Poly has almost exclusively supported basic research on coastal marine ecology including for example physiology of invertebrate animals, fisheries stock assessments and genetics, coastal observation, transport vectors of marine invasive species, and factors controlling the onset of harmful algal blooms. Details can be found at www.marine.calpoly.edu. Collectively these two entities bring a significant amount of scientific and conservation expertise of the Morro Bay Ecosystem to the program and it is in this capacity that the project will utilize their resources.
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Conceptual model could benefit from looking at other efforts to develop similar models and some consideration of conceptual diagrams that could be more useful in explaining processes and management decisions to managers and stakeholders.
Agreed. We will work early on to develop a better conceptual model.
Communications plan is practical and open but not creative. What / who is your audience?
The outreach and stakeholder engagement plan addresses several audiences, each of which is critical to fulfilling the vision and potential for the program. These include key stakeholder groups, resource managers, and the public at large. Both the MIG and MBNEP have demonstrated success in engaging thousands of people with high-quality workshops, web site, email, and written communications. We have excellent linkages and a track record of effective coverage with television stations (NBC affiliate and public access cable), multiple local newspapers, and other media.
Like the layout of the scientific activities, especially the subheads.
Thank you. We are glad that it was effective.
5.0 PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES
5.1 General Overview of Research We are proposing to execute a series of highly integrated science-based projects with the express focus of providing valuable information and data to resource managers and stakeholders. Indeed, during the last three months the specific projects described in this proposal were without exception developed and vetted through a series of workshops and meetings involving the Science Team and the Advisory Committee. As such, our research program by its very nature is relevant to the stakeholders that depend on the ecosystem services and to the resource agencies that manage the user activities that affect the sustainability of ecosystem services. Our overall goal is to develop and monitor relevant physical/chemical, biological, and socioeconomic parameters across the ecosystem, and to determine how the various components are interconnected and how they affect one another. The knowledge generated from our program will allow resource managers to make better informed policy and regulatory decisions, and to understand how implemented changes affect ecosystem services and products.
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Species Species movements movements Upwelling event Morro Bay/ Surface and Ground Water Estuary Coastal Ocean Watershed Water Exchange by Freshwater tides
Commercial s and Recreational Nutrient Primary Fisherman Levels Production s o o o
s o s Fish Stocks Secondary Production Indicators/measurements o Figure 4. Conceptual systems diagram of the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”. “s” denotes changes in the same direction. “o” denotes changes in the opposite direction. As an example using water quality, the dark blue arrows denote water quality changes as a result of ocean water, and the light blue arrows denote water from the watershed. By following arrows, one can trace how an event such as an upwelling in the coastal ocean might affect eel grass production (primary production) in the bay/estuary. 5.1.1 Conceptual Model of Ecological Linkages and Production One of the initial tasks of the Morro Bay EBM Science Team was to generate a conceptual framework to understand the potential linkages within the ecosystem and to provide a context in which to view the interrelatedness of the individual projects. Figure 4 provides a systems approach to describe how the various “compartments” of the “Morro Bay Ecosystem” (i.e., coastal ocean, bay/estuary, and watershed) are related and how changes in nutrient level, for example, might cascade through the various trophic levels and ultimately translate to an ecosystem product for users such as fisherman. . Our program will develop appropriate indicators at each of the identified nodes (delta symbols) and simultaneously track changes across the ecosystem that are occurring at these nodes. This approach will allow us to answer fundamental questions about the Morro Bay Ecosystem that have been identified by the relevant resource agencies and stakeholders. For example, what influence does the quality of water coming from the watershed have on the quality of water on the open coast and how might this influence the health of coastal populations of marine organisms? How important is the health of the bay and estuary to the health of the open coast? How significant is the estuary’s role as a critical site for spawning and nursery grounds for coastal populations of fish and
30 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program invertebrates?
5.1.2 Adaptability in Program Management The research program we have devised has built into it adaptive management procedures. In the same way that the individual projects were developed and vetted through a series of meetings and workshops, the Science Team and Advisory Committee will continue to evaluate and assess the results of both the scientific efforts and resource management decisions and adapt each accordingly.
5.1.3Dissemination of Information and Data All of the EBM Program’s efforts will prioritize providing open access to data and information generated from our projects. As part of the program we will develop a web-based interface for stakeholders, public officials, resource managers, and academics. Naturally each of these potential user groups will desire different levels of detail in the information they wish to access. The web-based interface will allow people to access information appropriate to their interests and expertise. We will provide a range of detail, from distilled interpretations of trends and dynamics, to raw data sets for interested academic and resource agency researchers who wish to conduct their own analyses.
5.1.4 Linkages to Existing Long-Term Coastal Observation, Monitoring, and Research Programs The research and monitoring data collected by the MBNEP will serve as an important starting point and background for the proposed scientific program. These data include limited models of nutrient, bacteria, and sediment loading, habitat maps of the estuary, current and historical aerial photography and topographic surveys of the bay and watershed, and limited inventories of the flora and fauna of the estuary. The Morro Bay EBM Program activities will also leverage significant knowledge currently being generated through other coastal observation programs such as the CSU Center for Integrative Coastal Observation Research and Education (CI-CORE), the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observation System (SCOOS), and the Central and Northern California Ocean Observation System (CeNCOOS). It is important to note that because of Morro Bay’s location in the transition zone between the northern and southern biogeographic boundaries, the Cal Poly Center for Coastal Marine Science is an integral partner in both Northern and Southern California’s regional consortia. Our work with the Morro Bay EBM Program will augment research activities currently underway and will provide a more complete picture of the “Morro Bay Ecosystem” than any entity could carry out in isolation. First, as part of CI-CORE, Morro Bay EBM Program Science Team member Mark Moline is active in the development, deployment and maintenance of time series data along the coast of California. We are currently operating a real-time data system in San Luis Obispo Bay that is used by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board to monitor nutrient pulses into the ocean from San Luis Obispo Creek and hydrocarbon monitoring. Another area of work in the CI-CORE program currently underway that EBM Science Team members are spearheading, is the development of hyperspectral imaging along the coast to determine the extent and distribution of habitats in estuarine systems. We are currently using this technology for species level delineation of submerged and
31 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program above-ground vegetation and substrate types (sand/mud) at 1 meter resolution for the entire Morro Bay and Estero Bay region. In addition to the work on hyperpectral habitat mapping, our proposed Morro Bay EBM Program will also leverage CI-CORE subtidal habitat mapping currently underway using multibeam sonar technology (headed by EBM Science Team member Rikk Kivetek). Another critical area of linkage to ongoing research initiatives is surface current mapping now underway within the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”. Cal Poly serves as node for both long-range (as part of CeNCOOS) and standard range (as part of SCCOOS) high frequency radar used for surface current mapping. The data produced by the Morro Bay EBM Program will complement and leverage data from other coastal monitoring programs; taken together the programs will provide a clearer understanding of the “Morro Bay Ecosystem” for management and conservation.
5.2 Science-Based Activities Proposed scientific activities for the EBM program include detailed investigations in five areas that during the planning period were identified by resources agency and stakeholders to be of critical value. These areas are: 1) water quality, 2) biological indicators of ecosystem health, 3) socioeconomic indicators of ecosystem health, 4) critical nursery and spawning habitats, and 5) human access. In addition to sharing the common goals outlined earlier, project planners have articulated a series of specific goals within each of the scientific activities.
5.2.1 Water Quality (Project Leader, Mark Moline, Associate Professor and Director, Cal Poly Center for Coastal Marine Sciences)
Broad Goal: To determine spatial and temporal changes in physical and chemical characteristics of water quality in the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”. To identify the importance of both natural and anthropogenic sources in causing those changes so as to improve management and policy actions.
Overview Within Central California, the Morro Bay watershed has been identified as one of the most likely places on the Central California Coast to have strong land-to-sea linkages (NCEAS-CCMI-3 workshop report, 2004). However, despite this important possible relationship, we currently do not understand the influence in Morro Bay of water quality from land on the production and health of the bay/estuary and associated coastal areas. Current data collection efforts on water quality are limited to monthly sampling of the bay and watershed by the Volunteer Monitoring Program of the Morro Bay National Estuary Program. Volunteers sample for nutrients, conductivity, temperature, turbidity, E. coli bacteria, and dissolved oxygen at several locations throughout the Bay. While these efforts have served to create a valuable long-term data set, the timing and resolution of current methodologies cannot address a series of important and unresolved questions brought forth by the Advisory Committee during the planning process. For instance, what is the impact of the watershed water quality on the bay/estuary and the open coast within the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”? How are the spatial and temporal dynamics of the nutrient and physical parameters related to primary and
32 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program secondary production in the “Morro Bay Ecosystem? What are the contributions of nutrients from sources other than the creeks and open coast (e.g., input via groundwater from Los Osos)? Our current understanding of the system is that the variability in nutrient concentrations in the Bay can be 3-4 orders of magnitude on a scale of hours. The current frequency of monitoring in the Bay simply cannot resolve the temporal and spatial dynamics and, therefore, does not provide the information needed to address fundamentally important questions posed by the resource managers on the Advisory Committee. Also, building upon the surface current mapping from SCCOOS and CeNCOOS, the Morro Bay EBM Program will be able tag a water mass leaving the bay and provide the real-time track of the water. This will enable analyses such as interpreting the movement of an El Niño event up the coast tracing local changes observed by our equipment array.
Objectives · Deploy instrument arrays at 5 locations including the creek mouths, the bay/estuary, and the open coast · Monitor changes in nitrates so as to create mass balance budgets to determine sources and sinks of nutrients to the bay · Delineate phytoplankton communities (Harmful Algal Blooms included) and also use backscatter as a proxy for sedimentation · Provide real-time data via a web-based interface including budgets of nitrate, DO, sediment and chlorophyll a for the bay based on the sources and sinks in the system · Determine for the “Morro Bay Ecosystem” how water quality from the watershed affects water quality on the open coast.
Methodological Approach Real-time equipment arrays placed in the watershed creek mouths (2), bay/estuary (2), open coast (1) (Figure 5). Each station will consist of a seabird 911 CTD, an oxygen sensor, a Satlantic nitrate sensor, and a combination scattering/chl fluorometer. The CTD will allow us to interpret whether the source of sediment and nutrients are terrestrial or oceanic in origin. The CTD will also allow for interpretation of residence times of water masses relative to tides to indicate environmental conditions for low DO events in the bay. The nitrate sensor will track the sources and fates of nitrate in the bay and the fluorometer will be able to delineate phytoplankton communities (Harmful Algal Blooms included) and also use backscatter as a proxy for sedimentation. All of these instruments will be integrated into a single power source and data module. The power source will be changed every two months, which coincides with the maintenance of the buoy and sensors. Bio-fouling will be minimized for the DO and nitrate sensors with a copper intact mesh that has been demonstrated to reduce the rate of fouling in coastal systems. The fluorometer will have an automated wiping device to keep the optics free of material. The data module will integrate data from all sensors and send data via a HF Freewave modem, to a receiving station at the San Luis Bay Harbor District Office. The data will then be sent to Cal Poly State University via cable for analysis and archiving.
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The network of sensors will have an integrated software package to provide real- time data on a website and also provide a real-time budget of nitrate, DO, sediment and chlorophyll a (a measure of primary productivity) for the bay based on the sources and sinks in the system. These data will allow academics, resource agencies and the public to see bay responses to the events that have been previously missed by the traditional monthly sampling approaches. Our previous work has shown that these events can be short in duration 6-12 hours, but have a disproportionate impact on issues such as sedimentation. As part of SCCOOS and CeNCOOS, Cal Poly has participated in the design, installation, and maintenance of networked systems as proposed here.
Deliverable Products · Design and implementation of a proven system to monitor physical and chemical parameters of the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”. · Mass balance budgets to determine sources and sinks of nutrients to the bay · Delineation of phytoplankton communities (Harmful Algal Blooms included) · Estimates of sources and load of sediment to the estuary · Real-time data via a web-based interface including budgets of nitrate, DO, sediment and chlorophyll a for the bay based on the sources and sinks in the system.
Value to Management/Policy The data generated from this project will serve as baseline “backbone” for multiple other projects in the ecosystem. For instance, if large shifts in eel grass distributions and abundance are observed, data from the water quality arrays will provide information about causative mechanisms such as drastic shifts in nutrients, temperature, or salinity. Likewise, the data generated will provide information on the effectiveness of watershed implementation projects, such as shifts in land management or restoration projects. The array will help resolve current issues regarding sources of nutrients to the ecosystem (e.g., Los Osos groundwater input) and project staff will respond to agency inquiries for analyses such as potentially useful information for setting and monitoring TMDLs for nutrients.
Response to Reviewers Reviewers’ comments: Are these buoys similar to what MBARI is proposing to deploy in Elkhorn Slough? Will there be coordination between the two efforts?
The buoys proposed in the Elucidating the Nexus of Science and Society in the Morro Bay Ecosystem proposal are very similar to the ones proposed for the Elkhorn Slough. They will both have the capabilities to measure salinity, temperature, nitrate, phosphate, oxygen, chlorophyll, and scattering, most being identical sensors. Dr. Moline has been in contact with Dr. Ken Johnson from MBARI, discussing both the technology as well as the data systems. Although the data products will differ in their application for managers, we are currently in discussion regarding maintenance, calibration, and data serving and have already identified a number of coordination possibilities. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Moline have worked on other projects together and see this effort continuation of that collaborative approach.
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What indicators are currently gathered? Will you do a power analysis to know how much data is enough for the needs of managers versus the needs of scientists?
Data that is currently gathered is primarily implemented by the Morro Bay Estuary Program and implemented by a large number of volunteers. Monthly samples are collected for harmful algae around the Coast Guard buoy off Morro Rock, nitrates in the creeks and in locations around the Bay, and fecal coliform in and around the bay for shellfish contamination concerns. While these sampling efforts are beneficial for snapshots of bulk loads and encourage community involvement, they do not address the appropriate time scales of change in the bay. Because of this, the data collected often has trends (or lack of trends) that are unexplainable and may compromise decision making. What we plan in the proposal is to identify that time scale that is most relevant to the needs of managers. With an instrumented approach, the ability to take and manage data daily is no different to every 15 minutes or every second for example. One of the priorities in the first year will be to work on the sampling frequencies (different parameters may require different approaches) that are most appropriate for the management issue, and tools like power analysis, temporal correlation/decorrelation length scales and variogram analyses will be employed. The science being proposed here is in the context of management decisions.
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Figure 4. The spatial placement of monitoring equipment arrays within the Morro Bay Estuary and associated open coast. 1) open coast; 2) mouth of the bay/estuary; 3) Chorro Creek mouth; 4) Los Osos Creek mouth; 5) back bay. The spatial arrangement shown is required to address such questions as the source and sinks of nitrates. Placement of the arrays must be at the creek mouths (source) and the harbor mouth (source and possible sink). We further need to have one array directly in the bay to account for endogenous sources of nitrates for example. Finally, to reference the ambient levels on the coastal ocean, placement of another unit in Estero Bay is required.
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5.2.2 Biological Indicators: Proteomic and Genomic Approaches to Evaluate Organismal-level Responses to Ecosystem Change (Project Leader, Lars Tomanek, Assistant Professor, Cal Poly Center for Coastal Marine Sciences)
Broad Goal To develop and utilize representative bioindicators to monitor and track changes in ecosystem health. To determine the dynamics and response of secondary production in the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”.
Overview One of the primary needs highlighted by resource managers on the Advisory Committee was the development of indicators to measure ecosystem health. To that end we are seeking to evaluate how natural processes and anthropogenic changes in the abiotic environment affect individual organisms. While measuring key parameters of ecosystem dynamics (nutrients, chlorophyll and other measures of water quality), we will also be simultaneously tracking early-response changes at the molecular level in individual organisms, which provide an integrated response that reflects the interaction between endogenous processes (e.g., reproductive cycle) and changes in the biotic (e.g., pathogens) and abiotic environment. Thus, we can evaluate if environmental change translates into an organismal response and therefore, if it is relevant to organisms and the health of the ecosystem. Moreover, early molecular changes of model bioindicator organisms will enable us to detect potentially negative changes in the ecosystem so that management actions can be taken early before the onset of more significant declines in populations. Our methodology will further allow us to detect physiological changes in response to the accumulation of organic pollutants that are not regularly monitored.
Objectives · Determine which target organisms are most useful to track environmental changes · Correlate changes in molecular response of organisms with changes in physical and chemical parameters being monitored from the water quality project · Develop useable indicators for managers to assess ecosystem health
Methodological Approach Measurements of protein expression and RNA/DNA ratios allow us to assess the organismal-level response to multiple environmental factors like changes in nutrient levels due to nearshore up-welling events and changes in temperature or salinity due to extreme tides and heavy-rain falls during the winter season. It also will allow us to detect a response to water pollutants such as herbicides from agricultural run-off within the Morro Bay watershed. Detailed proteomic profiles will provide us with a differentiated picture of the biochemical and genetic responses to changing environmental factors and will allow us to weigh the importance these changes have on the organism. This work will be at the center of our organismal-level monitoring efforts. Changes in protein expression patterns have been established as biochemical indicators of various physiological conditions of organisms. For example, they can indicate changes in growth and metabolic rate due to higher nutrient levels (Dahlhoff, 2004), and can differentiate between specific and general stress conditions (Kültz, 2005).
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Previous studies have been methodologically limited to investigate from one to a handful of proteins at the most. Recent advances in protein separation techniques (Simpson, 2004) have now made it possible to detect hundreds to thousands of proteins simultaneously, greatly improving our ability to use changes in protein expression as indicators of physiological condition. For example, studies that focused on the stress protein complement alone can now detect over thirty instead of four heat-induced stress proteins using metabolic labeling (Tomanek, in press). The power of protein separation is augmented by our ability to use mass spectrometry to identify many of the separated proteins (Simpson, 2004). This proteomic approach was until recently limited to so- called model species that are genetically well-characterized, e.g., species with fully sequenced and annotated genomes. We have recently shown (Drs L. Tomanek and D. Kültz of UC Davis) that this approach not only works for model organisms like mouse (Valkova et al., in press) and the marine sea squirt Ciona intestinalis (Tomanek and Kültz, 2005), but also for closely-related sister species of such model organisms (Ciona savignyi) and species that are genetically poorly described, such as the the intertidal mud- flat sponge Tetilla mutabilis (Kültz, unpublished observation). During the initial phase we propose to assess the suitability of several species as indicators for how individual organisms respond to ecosystem changes in and around Morro Bay. Among the candidate species are a variety of organisms that are commonly found in Morro Bay and that cover a diverse set of habitats (benthic versus pelagic), possess distinct feeding strategies (e.g., filter-feeding mussels and omnivorous fish), are of commercial interest (e.g., oysters of the genus Crassostrea), and are known indicators of water quality (e.g., mussels of the genus Mytilus). We are also going to include the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), the long-jaw mudsucker (Gillichthys mirabilis), a fish that is commonly found in the mud-channels of estuaries, sticklebacks (Gasterosterus aculeatus), which can be found in the transition zone between the rivers of the Morro Bay watershed and the adjacent estuaries, and halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepsis) for which Morro Bay may be an important nursery and feeding habitat. Some of these species are genetically well-characterized like the purple sea urchin, others are not. However, we have shown that the protein expression patterns of both groups can be quantified and many of the proteins identified. At the end of the first year, after evaluating the suitability of each of the candidate species, we will focus our monitoring efforts on a targeted subset of species. A less complex and comprehensive but useful measure of the potential growth capacity of organisms is the ratio of RNA/DNA (Dahlhoff, 2004). These ratios are often up-regulated in response to increasing nutrient levels, because DNA levels stay constant while the increasing build-up of tissue consisting of proteins requires higher levels of ribosomal RNA, which makes up the bulk of the total RNA content. We propose to include the measure of RNA/DNA ratios to augment our measurements of protein expression.
Deliverable Products: · Determine the species that promise to provide the strongest and most comprehensive information to track environmental change and monitor ecosystem health.
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· For those model indicator species, we will establish a list of key proteins that are going to be useful as biochemical indicators of organismal health · Develop the most useful indicators for resource managers in order to assess ecosystem health using organismal-level responses. · Provide resource agencies with methodologies that allow application of these data for management and ultimately their decision making processes.
Value to Management/Policy We will develop key indicators of organismal health using the Morro/Estero Bay ecosystem as a model system. These indicators will provide agencies with more specific tools to assess the organismal-level response to environmental change as a basis for policy and management decisions. For example, the results may be able to distinguish between the effects two simultaneously occurring environmental changes have on organismal health: water pollution by agricultural chemicals and salinity changes that are both caused by heavy rains and the co-occurring run-off during the winter months. The tools also will serve as early leading indicators of a decline in organismal health before it manifests itself in a decline of the population, which will allow for mitigating actions to be implemented during early stages of an ecosystem crisis.
Response to reviewers Reviewers’ comments: The approach they outlined will at best give very crude data and, without a better description of how they plan to use the data I fear that it will not provide any insight into the problem but will just be an exercise in using a biochemical tool for its own sake.
This is very basic work and won't provide indicators within the time period of the proposal. There may be a place for this work, but I would think it would be better for the group to focus on a different set of biological indicators while the science for the work they propose is further developed. Can they cite an example of where the proposed work has been demonstrated? Seems like a stretch at this time, especially with respect to what they claim in the Value to Management/Policy section.
The proposed proteomic and genomic biological indicators are problematic. RNA/DNA ratios are a blunt instrument. They generally measure growth rate in bacteria, where they have been well established as a method. For animals and plants, RNA/DNA ratios depend on many things, and the data are much less simple to interpret. Protein expression profiles are worse. The text makes it seem as if this was off-the-shelf technology easily applied in bulk to many things. In fact it is not simple technically, identification of proteins is extremely difficult, and the data are tricky to interpret. In a controlled setting, you might be able to relate protein expression patterns with a particular environmental feature if you were extremely good at 2D protein gels. To use this as a tool for environmental monitoring is too far beyond what is practical right now. I could see focusing on a few species and using the tool to 1) establish a baseline protein spectrum, 2) correlate variation in the spectrum with environmental change over daily, weekly, seasonal or yearly time scales, and 3) begin to explore which of the thousands of proteins might be changing. It should be put into a category of high-risk tool development until being proven in this setting.
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Response: All three reviewers voice various levels of skepticism about the proposed proteomic and genomic approaches. They all point out the novelty and risks associated with these tools. The fact is that studies in marine ecology and ecotoxicology are rapidly moving towards genomics- and proteomics-enabled approaches, as described in detail in two recent reviews (Hofmann et al. 2005; Wilson et al. 2005). The motivation is based on the success these approaches have had in discovering biomarkers for various disease conditions in human and animal-model subjects (LaBaer, 2005). In several biomedical fields these are now the methods of choice to characterize biomarkers (see the reviews in any recent issue of the Journal of Proteome Research). To date this has led to the discovery of proteins whose variation in expression indicates changing conditions in such diseases as cancer, diabetes and autoimmune diseases (LaBaer, 2005). The strength and great advantage of these approaches lies in their capacity to detect not only a single protein marker but an entire protein profile that changes with various stages or subtypes of a disease (Gillette et al. 2005; Marko-Varga et al. 2005). Ecological studies have applied a proteomic approach to characterize the variation in ecotypes of natural populations of Arabidopsis (Chevalier et al. 2004) and to describe the protein profiles of hibernating squirrels (Epperson et al. 2004). In the marine environment, proteomics have been used to characterize protein profiles that can distinguish closely related species (Piñeiro et al. 2001; López et al. 2002a; López et al. 2002b; Piñeiro et al. 2003 and the many references therein) and to detect toxic exposures of mussels due to polyaromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals under field conditions (Knigge et al. 2004). Again, the strength of this approach lies in its capacity to monitor many thousands of proteins simultaneously. This enables us to not only describe in detail the protein profiles that correspond to a certain toxic exposure and environmental stress, e.g. osmotic and temperature stress, but it also enables us to characterize which physiological process is affected the most by the stress. At this point, this is the most advanced and superior approach to monitor the physiological conditions of individual marine organisms.
As one can gather from the reviewers’ comments, the methodology has its challenges. For example, as one of the reviewers pointed out that to be successful one has to be “extremely good at 2D protein gels.” Fortunately, the 2D protein gel images that Dr. Tomanek has obtained in the past, which have just been published, have been said to be among the best people have seen (at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Tomanek, 2005). Furthermore, Dr. Tomanek’s laboratory at Cal Poly State University has now a medium- to high-throughput capacity to run such protein gels. The additional funding that has been committed by the College of Science and Math will make this a state-of-the-art proteomics facility. We will have the expertise and the facilities to successfully apply this methodology to monitor the physiological conditions of individual organisms in response to environmental change (please refer to the letters of support you received in regard to this section of our proposal). Recent work by Dr. Tomanek on separating proteins with 2D protein gels of the marine sea squirts
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Ciona savignyi and C. intestinalis has convinced BioRad, a biotechnology company and a leader in protein separation techniques, to collaborate with his research group at Cal Poly State University.
Another challenge is the identification of proteins once they are separated. The identification is done with a mass spectrometer, an item we originally included in the budget of the proposal and which will now be completely funded by Cal Poly State University. The challenge is twofold: first we have to obtain a peptide mass fingerprint and identify short stretches of the amino acid sequences of the peptides. During my work in Dr. Kültz’s laboratory at the University of California, Davis, I was able to obtain such information without major problems, using the mass spectrometer (Applied Biosystems AB4700) we propose to purchase, a reliable and now well-proven tool along the proteomic workflow. The other challenge is to match this information against other sequences from various databases, which are readily available, to securely identify the protein. Until recently it was assumed that this was only possible with model species, organisms whose whole genome had been sequenced and annotated. Dr. Kültz has shown that our experimental approach can identify proteins from all kinds of organisms, including such organisms as an intertidal mud-flat sponge from Mexico (Tetilla mutabilis) for which no genomic information is available.
Thus, the reviewers have rightly addressed the various challenges of a proteomic approach, but have missed the tremendous advantages this approach has when in the hand of someone who has the expertise. One of the reviewers states that he can see the feasibility of the following scenario in which we would “(1) establish a baseline protein spectrum, (2) correlate variation in the spectrum with environmental change over daily, weekly, seasonal and yearly time scales, and (3) begin to explore which of the thousands of proteins might be changing.” Since Dr. Tomanek has demonstrated the feasibility of a proteomic approach by addressing how environmental stress (osmotic and temperature stress) changes protein profiles in two different marine species groups (gastropods and ascidians), we are sure we will be able to execute the reviewer’s scenario.
Finally, the reviewers question the value this work will have on setting policy issues. If resource managers are interested in the physiological conditions of individual organisms in response to environmental changes in Morro Bay, the proposed work will provide a much superior picture of the effects these changes have on the conditions of individual organisms than the monitoring of a handful of protein biomarkers can provide. This alone is of great value and of importance for resource mangers. An additional advantage is the greater sensitivity such an approach confers to detect changes in physiological conditions early on, before environmental conditions exert more detrimental and irreversible effects on a population of marine organisms. For example, we will be able to distinguish between the physiological effects (protein profiles) of off-runs from early and late periods of the rainy season that contain different amounts of organic pollutants from pesticides and herbicides out of the Morro Bay watershed. This is exactly what the resource agencies are interested in and we will communicate the results clearly and coherently to these agencies to encourage future use of these methods.
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Revised Deliverable Products Since our revised budget will make the deliverable products contingent on obtaining outside funding for the third year of this part of our proposal, we are now proposing a more specific time table for their delivery, although we will work on all of them with changing emphasis throughout the entire time period of the proposal.
Year One and Two:
(1) Determine the species that promise to provide the strongest and most comprehensive information to track physiological conditions in response to environmental changes.
(2) Establish a baseline protein profile for these species.
(3) Start to correlate variation in protein profiles with environmental change over different time scales.
Year Three:
(4) Define and further characterize specific protein (indicator) profiles for distinct environmental changes.
(5) Provide resource agencies with standard protocols to monitor physiological conditions of individual organisms and develop interpretive tools to apply the results of this methodology to management decisions.
5.2.3 Socioeconomic Indicators: Linking the Ecosystem Health to Economic Productivity and Well Being in Morro Bay (Project Leader, Linwood Pendleton, Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering, UCLA)
Broad Goal To determine how ecological health influences the economic wellbeing of people who live near and make a living from the Morro Bay estuary and near shore ecosystem.
Objectives · Create a web-based database of socio-economic indicators. · Develop a baseline of economic uses associated with the Morro Bay estuary and near shore ocean. · Provide an annual analysis of changes and trends in the economic output of estuary and nearshore ocean based activities. · Create a model of the functional links between ecosystem indicators and economic productivity and value (based on a time-series (panel) analysis of ecosystem and economic indicators).
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Methodological Approach We will develop a set of socio-economic indicators that reflect the intensity of use, economic value of use, economic impact of use, and the broad perception of users involved in a variety of commercial and non-commercial estuary and marine based activities. Examples of non-commercial activities include beach going, wildlife viewing, recreational fishing, and marine science. Examples of commercial activities include commercial fishing, activities that support the non-commercial activities listed above (e.g. hotels, restaurants, bait shops), and coastal housing. For instance, the socio- economic indicators of beach going would include number of users, frequency of visits by users, distance traveled by users to visit Morro Bay, and expenditures of users. As a second example, we will consider potential indicators of the value of commercial fishing by examining total landings, value of landings, catch per unit effort. Additionally, we plan to conduct surveys on knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of people that live near and make a living from the Morro Bay Estuary and nearshore ocean. We plan a baseline survey followed by annual or biannual surveys. The most efficient approach would be to stagger surveys by type of use so that we conduct surveys on market aspects of the Morro Bay marine economy one year and surveys on non-market values (e.g. the value of recreational fishing and non-consumptive uses) on the other year. (We also would like to explore the possibility of finding indicators that capture broader measures of community health.) Economic Value data will be archived and managed following protocols being established by the National Ocean Economics Program (www.oceaneconomics.org).
We will use our socio-economic indicators to: · gauge the sustainability of estuary and near shore ocean based activities, · explore the linkages between changes in ecosystem services/ecological indicators and economic uses and values and the public’s perception of the Morro Bay ecosystem (formally, we will use multivariate statistical methods to model economic outcomes as a function of ecosystem health), · estimate the non-market value of ecosystem services (e.g. the value of ecosystem services that generally are provided by nature free of charge including wildlife viewing, swimming in clean ocean water, recreational fishing).
Deliverable Products · Web-based database of socio-economic indicators (collected annually or bi- annually depending upon the indicator). · Baseline of economic uses associated with the Morro Bay estuary and near shore ocean. · Annual analysis of changes and trends in the economic output of estuary and near shore ocean based activities. · Model of the functional links between ecosystem indicators and economic productivity and value (based on a time-series (panel) analysis of ecosystem and economic indicators).
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Value to Management/Policy Resource managers often need to demonstrate the human consequences of environmental policies, including ecosystem based management policies. Wise adaptive management requires a system of monitoring and feedback that allows policymakers to identify and modify policies that may have untoward or economically burdensome impacts on resource users. Likewise, adaptive management also requires that policymakers identify and further promulgate ecosystem based policies that are particularly effective. By developing a system of social and economic indicators, we provide managers with the first opportunity to see how changes in ecosystem health and services translate into changes in social and economic wellbeing.
Response to Reviewers Reviewers’ comments: List of things they will tally as indicators seem potentially useful indicators, rather mechanical, and no theoretical underpinning.
Response: THEORY: Socio-economic indicators fall into three broad categories: indicators of use, indicators of economic output, and indicators of value. Indicators of use include user days, participation rates, and the factors that underlie these previous indicators (especially population levels and growth). Indicators of use have been well developed in the literature for recreational uses (see Leeworthy and Wiley 2001, Leeworthy et al. 2005) and indicators for fisheries and tourism in California are being developed by the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the NOAA office of Special Projects. Indicators of economic output for the coastal and ocean economy have been developed by that National Ocean Economics Program (www.oceaneconomics.org) of which Pendleton is a primary team member. These indicators measure the economic through-put of coastal and marine ecosystem-based economic activities. Principle indicators include total gross revenues and jobs, salaries, and taxes (the latter three can be estimated directly or based upon gross revenues). Indicators of economic value are much more difficult to determine. To date, systematic indicators for economic value have not been applied to the coastal zone, but the development of these indicators is a primary charge of the National Ocean Economics Program. Pendleton, the lead non-market economist, will work with the NOEP working group to develop indicators of value and then will apply these indicators to the Morro Bay Ecoystem-based economy. Potential indicators of economic value include non-market values estimated from bi-annual travel cost surveys (for recreationists), costs and earning surveys (for fishers, processors, and local business owners), and questions regarding knowledge attitudes and perceptions of coastal users.
How will they develop the indicators? What will determine the importance of the different indicators and how will they decide what to collect, given a limited budget?
Indicators will have to be developed using a working group of local users (including businesses) and sub-working groups (broken down by user and business types). Potential indicators will be categorized based on (a) how well the indicator best captures use, economic impact, or value (based on Pendleton’ work with the NOEP Working Group and the Morro Bay Working Group), the availability of data (e.g. whether indicator data
44 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program already exist or whether data need to be collected de novo), and the frequency of data collection needed to capture important trends or changes in economic health. The primary Morro Bay Socio-Economic Working Group will be charged with prioritizing uses and businesses that are most likely to be dependent on ecosystem health (i.e. those users and businesses that would experience the largest changes in economic health and performance if there also were changes in ecosystem health and performance). The primary working group would have to determine how budgetary funds would be allocated across firms and business types. The Morro Bay subgroups would be charged with identifying indicators that meet the criteria mentioned above and also with developing protocols and procedures for collecting these data. Through the Marine Life Protection Act, Pendleton already is working with many important leaders in the Morro Bay community to develop socio-economic indicators that will be used to develop monitoring and evaluation protocols for marine protected areas. Our work in the Morro Bay Ecosystem-based Management Project would continue and expand this work.
Is there other work in California to both draw from and link to?
Yes, the Marine Life Protection Act (Pendleton is one of two socio-economic experts on the Science Advisory Team and also the Regional Stakeholder Working Group) and the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary’s Socio-economic Data and Monitoring Working Group (Pendleton is an active participant in this group).
Would like a better description of how the indicators will be sued in the decision-making processes of managers and stakeholders.
Without a time series of indicators, policy makers (a) cannot determine the economic performance and health of the local ecosystem-based economy, (b) cannot predict future changes in ecosystem performance and health (including changes in economic output, jobs, salaries, taxes, and local non-market benefits), and (c) cannot determine how ecosystem-based factors influence economic performance and health. The first two uses of the data (identifying trends and predicting future performance) are tools critical in managing any kind of economy. Managing the local Morro Bay economy without this kind of data would be like managing a business without any idea of your earnings! The third item, linking ecosystem health with economic health, is the most important socio- economic research question. To date, we are able to make only vague guesses about how ecosystem health and services influence the local economy. As a result, policymakers have little solid evidence to use to estimate the potential economic benefits of ecosystem- based management alternatives (or even worse, the potential economic costs of ecosystem degradation). The Morro Bay EBM Project will provide the first concurrent time series data collection of ecosystem and economic factors. Using time series economic analysis (panel data analysis) we will break important ground in our ability to use ecological and economic data to show how ecological and economic systems, even at a local scale, influence and depend upon each other.
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How will the list of indicators be developed? Will this be a collaborative process involving scientists and the members of the advisory committee?
See above.
This is different than a socio-economic study that gets at how the system works and the value of a healthy system to one of the communities (fishery, tourism, etc) that use it/depend on it.
Given budgetary constraints, we have decided to focus on indicators rather than long- term, repeated socio-economic analysis. Once developed, indicators can be collected repeatedly and over a large geographic area, for relatively modest costs. Socio-economic analyses are expensive, time consuming, and costly. While socio-economic analyses do provide a more detailed picture of the current socio-economic value of uses and businesses that MAY depend on ecosystem health, these types of analysis do not provide very good data for illuminating how ecosystem health (factors) are related to economic health (factors). Without a better knowledge of these ecosystem-economy links, socio- economic analyses only provide an upper bound for the potential value of ecosystem serves, but tell us very little about the value of ecosystem-based management.
5.2.4 Critical Spawning and Nursery Areas for Nearshore Fish and Invertebrate Species (Project Leaders, Habitat Mapping--Rikk Kivitek, Professor and Director - Seafloor Mapping Lab, CSUMB; Faunal--John Stephens, Irvine Professor of Environmental Biology Emeritus, Occidental College, Executive Director, Vantuna Research Group, Adjunct Professor, Cal Poly Center for Coastal Marine Sciences)
Broad Goal Determine the relevant extents, distributions, and characteristics of critical spawning and nursery areas for nearshore fish and invertebrates species in the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”. Determine the importance of the bay/estuary as a nursery environment for coastal species of fish and invertebrates.
Overview Estuaries are thought to be important nursery habitats for certain fish and invertebrate species. Morro Bay is the only permanent estuary between Monterey in central California and Goleta, in the southern California Bight. No detailed assessment of the adult ichthyofauna or invertebrate fauna of Morro Bay exists. The Bay contains a variety of habitats including, freshwater streams and marshes, salt marshes, eel grass beds, sand- mud channels, and natural and manmade hard substrates. We are taking a two-pronged approach to determine the extent and distributions of critical spawning and nursery habitats in the Morro Bay ecosystem. The first is collaboration with CI-CORE to conduct high resolution bathymetry to determine the spatial distribution of sandy and rocky bottom habitats within the bay and open coast (hereafter referred to as “habitat”) and the second approach is to conduct a multi-gear sampling of habitats within the bay and to carry out a focused study on halibut to determine the extent to which adult
46 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program populations used Morro Bay Estuary as a nursery habitat (hereafter referred to as “faunal”).
Objectives Habitat: · Provide high-resolution (1-3m grid) bathymetry and habitat GIS products for the areas within the scope of the Morro Bay EBM Program. · Leverage CI-CORE funding to provide a more complete picture of the habitats in the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”. Faunal: · Determine what fish species are obligate residents or obligate seasonal residents of the Morro Bay Estuary and how they are distributed among the available habitats. · Determine the proportion of the California halibut population in the “Morro Bay Ecosystem” that is a product of the Morro Bay Estuary.
Methodological Approach Habitat: Our plan is to leverage CI-CORE funding with the Morro Bay EBM Program support to create a comprehensive habitat and bathymetry map of all intertidal and subtidal areas within Estero and Morro Bays, including those too shallow for vessel navigation. Our general approach will be to use acoustic remote sensing (multibeam bathymetry and sidescan sonar) to create high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) and substrate maps of the seafloor. The acoustic mapping surveys will be conducted in conjunction with the planned CICORE aerial hyperspectral surveys of Morro Bay and Estero Bay. Co-location of these data sets will enable calibration and groundtruthing of the hyperspectral data with the acoustic results for mapping coverage of all intertidal and subtidal habitats within the EBM areas. All multibeam bathymetry and sidescan sonar data will be collected using the CSUMB Seafloor Mapping Lab’s (SFML) Reson 8101 sonar system in full compliance with NOS and FGDC data standards and protocols. The SFML employs a variety of spatial data models developed for DEM terrain analysis and biologically relevant marine habitat classification. Spatial analyses for this project will include, but not be limited to, those for slope, aspect, rugosity, and geomorphic feature classification. The multibeam bathymetry and sidescan sonar data will be collected with the SFML’s hydrographic survey vessel, the R/V VenTresca. Ground truthing of the sidescan sonar mosaics will be done with a PONAR sediment grab fitted with a SplashCam video drop camera. Georeferenced video data will be recorded direct to disk using a Horita GPS-3 interface for stamping each frame with time and GPS position. Faunal: Species distributions: Multigear sampling in all available bay habitats will occur 3 times per year to assess seasonality in the presence of species within each of the habitats. A variety of gear will be used including purse seines, beach seines, otter trawls, beam trawls, enclosures, and diver transects. The California halibut uses protected inshore habitats such as estuaries, bays, and salt marshes as juvenile nursery grounds, but they migrate to deeper waters as adults. Otoliths, a bone in the inner ear of all bony fish, grow continuously by the deposition of calcium carbonate crystals within a protein matrix. As the ototlith grows it incorporates
47 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program trace elements from the environment that have been absorbed across the fish’s gills or gut. Since bays and estuaries have much different chemical signatures than the open coast elemental chemistry of the ototlith can be used to determine if the individual used an estuary or open coast as a nursery environment (e.g., Forrester and Swearer 2002). We are proposing the use of this methodology to determine what proportion of adult individuals collected from coastal populations of California halibut in the Morro Bay Ecosystem utilized a bay/estuary as a nursery ground.
Deliverable Products Habitat: · Final GIS products will include: xyz point data and ArcGIS compatible grids, contour vector themes, geotifs of DEMs in shaded relief, sidescan sonar mosaics, ground-truth video clips, and the results from the spatial data model analyses listed above. · Original video as well as XTF and HDCS acoustic data files and full FGDC- compliant metadata for all files will also be included. · Examples may be seen at the SFML IMS website http://seafloor.csumb.edu.
Faunal: · Species lists of fish will be generated for the Bay, which will be made available to resource managers and stakeholders. · Web interface for citizen scientists and volunteer monitoring participants to peruse and update (with confirmation from appropriate EBM scientists) species lists · Understanding of the degree to which the Bay serves as a nursery ground for one of California’s most commercially important fish species
Value to Management/Policy Resource managers will have detailed knowledge of the extent and distribution of fish and invertebrate habitats in the Bay and Estuary. These data will be utilized for any process or management decision that relies on such knowledge. The work from this project will also begin to address the role of the Bay/Estuary for both commercially and recreationally important fish species and it begin to determine for management purposes the species linkages in the compartments of the “Morro Bay Ecosystem”.
Response to reviewers Reviewers’ comments: What is CI-CORE doing and can you say more about the linkages?
Response: CICORE has already supported the collection of hypespectral imagery in the Morro Bay area, but does not yet have co-located acoustic bathymetry and sidescan sonar data for calibration. The mapping to be funded by this proposal would greatly increase the utility of the existing hyperspectral data by providing the water depth and substrate ground-truthing required to make use of the hyperspectral coverage in water depths too
48 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program shallow for full acoustic coverage (shoreline to 5 m water depth). Our expectation is that the acoustic survey work to be supported here, combined with the CICORE hyperspectral data would be used to create a seamless habitat and bathymetry map of the entire Morro Bay study area. Neither technology alone is sufficient for creating such a product. The CICORE partners are perfecting this dual sensor approach with the co-located hyperspectral/acoustic data sets we have collected for Humboldt Bay. This approach would be applied both within Moro Bay and along the kelp forest habitats in Estero Bay. At present, there is no CICORE funding for acoustic mapping in the Morro Bay area.
How does this work link with other efforts by the Coastal Conservancy?
I am not aware of any other Coastal Conservancy efforts in the area, unless they are referring to the HF Radar project, which I am not involved in.
"These data will be utilized for any process or management decision that relies on such knowledge." Please be more explicit and give some examples of where data might be used.
Species distribution data can be combined with targeted algorithmic habitat analysis of the high-resolution multi-beam bathymetry data (e.g. meter scale rocky versus soft- bottom versus mixed, or high versus low relief) to produce species-specific habitat maps. These products can then be used for GIS-based stock assessment (species density x available preferred habitat area). (We can provide a manuscript in press detailing this approach.)
The resulting habitat maps will be of immediate value to the ongoing California MLPA evaluation, selection and monitoring design process given the dearth of near shore high- resolution habitat data for state waters. Also, because successful ecosystem based management must be tied to quantifiable performance metrics, it is dependent upon an appropriately designed monitoring program. Knowing the sizes, shapes and locations of the various habitat types within the management area will be critical to the design and placement of these monitor efforts.
5.2.5 Sustainability of Human Access in the “Morro Bay Ecosystem” (Project Leader, John Steinbeck, Vice President, Tenera Environmental)
Broad Goal Determine the effects of human uses on marine biological communities in the Morro Bay Estuary and the associated coastal habitats.
Overview Marine habitats support diverse assemblages of plants and animals that can be affected by a wide variety of human uses (Zedler 1978, Beauchamp and Gowing 1982, Povey and Keough 1991, Newton et al. 1993, Addessi 1994, Brosnan et al.1994, Murray et al. 1999, Engle and Davis 2000). Therefore, one of the critical components of an ecosystem-based management program is accounting for human activities and balancing these activities
49 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program with resource protection. Resource managers involved in the planning of this project also identified this as one of their priorities. Their concerns centered on determining the effects of various human uses and high levels of visitors to coastal resources. The greatest concern was voiced by the managers of the local State Parks, who are responsible for areas of Morro Bay, and Montaña de Oro State Park (MDO) that forms the southern boundary of Estero Bay (Figure 5). MDO is an extremely popular coastal destination for both locals and visitors to the area. In addition, the State Park System has recently acquired a section of the coast (Estero Bluffs) at the northern boundary of Estero Bay and management plans for the park are still being developed. The information provided from this component of the Morro Bay EBMP will help resource managers develop plans that will allow them to maintain coastal access in areas where appropriate while maintaining critical habitats. While a wide variety of human activities occur in Morro Bay and the two coastal parks, they are also popular for school groups, tourists, and the local public to observe, explore, and learn about the various species, their environment and ecology. This results
Figure 5. Locations of Montaña de Oro and Estero Bluffs State Parks relative to Morro Bay.
50 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program in large numbers of visitors to these areas, especially to rocky intertidal areas that contain diverse habitats and species. The preservation of the biological communities in these areas is therefore essential to their continued aesthetic and educational uses. Most impacts on rocky intertidal communities from visitor use can be divided into two categories: trampling effects and collecting effects. The presence of large numbers of visitors walking through the intertidal can crush, break, and dislodge marine plants and animals (Bally and Griffiths 1989, Underwood and Kennelly 1990, Povey and Keough 1991, Keogh and Quinn 1998, Schiel and Taylor 1999). Impacts can also result from organisms that are collected for a variety of uses including human consumption, bait, aquaria, or scientific studies (Hockey and Brosman 1986, Ortega 1987, Addessi 1994, Lindberg et al. 1998). The effects of trampling and collecting also result in secondary effects due to altered species distributions, changes in food availability, and habitat disruption (Ghazaanshaki et al. 1983, Moreno et al. 1984, Duran and Castilla 1989, Povey and Keough 1991, Brown and Taylor 1999, Schiel and Taylor 1999). Since we expect that the primary focus of human uses in Morro Bay and the coastal State Parks are non-extractive aesthetic and educational uses we will focus the biological studies on detecting the effects of visitor use on the rocky intertidal areas of MDO. The study focuses on MDO because the park receives the highest numbers of visitors locally, and it contains rocky intertidal habitat that has been shown to be sensitive to high numbers of visitors. The results of the studies will be used to develop a set of recommended management actions that will result in increased protection of Bay and coastal resources.
Objectives Input from the Advisory Committee was used to develop the following specific research objectives for this task. · Identify and locate the bay and coastal habitats and species at greatest risk to human uses.
· Determine the levels of impacts that can occur to rocky intertidal habitats at the popular Montaña de Oro State Park due to visitor use.
· Determine the types of uses and levels of use (“carrying capacity”) that could be allowed that still protect the biological integrity of these habitats.
Methodological Approach
The nature of this component of the EBMP will require frequent interfacing with resource managers and the EBM Advisory Committee and therefore the proposed work plan will remain flexible and adaptive to changing needs that may arise during the course of the project.
Objective 1: Identify and locate the bay/coastal habitats and species at greatest risk to human uses. This task will first involve identifying sources of information to help identify potential sensitive habitats and resources in Morro Bay and the surrounding coastal areas. The information reviewed as part of this task will provide basic research for the entire
51 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program
EBM project as well as all of the tasks associated with the public access component. The primary sources of information will include the scientific literature, reports from resource management agencies including the Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP), California State Parks (CSP), California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), California Resource Conservation District (RCD), and Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (CCRWQCB), and sources of data on shoreline habitats from MMS, PISCO and Diablo Canyon. The primary tool used in identifying potential sensitive habitats and resources in Morro Bay and the surrounding coastal areas will be an existing spatial database of the coastal areas around Morro Bay originally collected in the 1970s and 1980s by a team of scientists, under contract to the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS). The shoreline physical and biological data was collected for the entire California coast using helicopter videotape and ground-truth surveys. The data were transferred onto 165 USGS quad maps covering all of the coastline and islands of California. The purpose of the surveys was to develop a statewide set of coastal maps with shoreline biological and substrate information for determining areas most sensitive to oil spills. The information provides a unique historical data set on shoreline characteristics for all of California that can be used for resource management and biological research. The existing MMS maps for the entire state have been scanned electronically and have been incorporated into ESRI ArcView/ArcGIS for the coastline areas of the Monterey Bay and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries. The data in the GIS exist as spatial data layers consisting of line and point shapefiles. The GIS currently includes the coast from San Francisco down to Cambria in northern San Luis Obispo County and only an additional 9 quad maps would need to be transferred to complete the area south to Point Conception. The data from the coastal GIS could also be incorporated into more extensive databases such as the Central Coast Comprehensive Wetlands GIS Database Project being developed as a pilot project for Morro Bay. Information from the GIS and the sources previously identified will be used to design surveys to map sensitive habitats and species. The main focus of the surveys will be on the MDO and Estero Bluffs (EB) State Park properties (Figure 5). These are the areas within Estero Bay with the largest sections of rocky shoreline and have existing resource management and enforcement efforts that could potentially implement any recommended changes to public uses or access developed through this project. The surveys will map the various shoreline habitats along the 9.0 and 4.5 km (5.6 and 2.8 miles) of coastline in MDO and EB with special attention to significant intertidal habitat resources. The information collected would be compiled along with existing historical data from other studies conducted in these areas. The surveys would mainly be conducted during low tide periods to allow the best viewing of intertidal habitats. Various habitats of interest such as mussel beds, surfgrass beds, sea palm populations, potential abalone habitat, and significant tidepool locations would be identified and mapped. In areas with reasonable foot access to the intertidal zone, we would create a checklist of species in the immediate vicinity and classify the areas in terms of sensitivity to potential visitor impacts. Similar habitat mapping is being done on the PG&E property directly south of MDO to plan for public access required by the Coastal Commission as a condition of a coastal zone permit. Tenera is also conducting these surveys. The data
52 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program from the PG&E surveys will provide data on habitats for an additional 3-
4 miles of coastline that can E C be incorporated into the N Low Use A Low Use coastal GIS. D N U
B Low Use Low Use Controls A
Objective 2: Determine the S E levels of impacts that can I High Use C High Use E
occur to rocky intertidal P habitats at the popular S Montaña de Oro State Park Impact Assessment Restoration Assessment TIME due to visitor use. The information Figure 6. Conceptual change in the abundance of a from the previous tasks will species in high and low use areas after visitor traffic has be used to design surveys been re-directed. Followin g management actions that will provide data on abundances recover in the high use area, while they the effects of human uses decline in the area changing from low to high use. on rocky intertidal communities in MDO. One of the critical components of this task is identifying rocky intertidal areas in MDO that receive the highest levels of visitor use. We will rely on input from park managers and staff to identify these areas since a human use survey of the entire MDO shoreline would be expensive and time consuming. The results would also probably verify information already available from the Park staff based on their years of experience. Detecting changes due to visitor use is complicated by the high level of natural variation in abundances for many coastal biological communities, especially rocky intertidal communities that experience high levels of natural disturbance (Steinbeck et al. 2005). The large natural variation in species abundances require that studies be conducted over a reasonable period of time to determine if any effects of visitors can be detected. The power of statistical tests to detect change is directly affected by variation, sample size, and the magnitude of change. Studies to determine the effects of visitor use on intertidal areas at Pt. Pinos and Fitzgerald Marine Reserve were conducted for very short periods and did not detect any statistically significant effects of visitor use (Tenera 2003, 2004). Although there may not have been any detectable effects, the study designs were limited to one-time comparisons between areas with high- and low-levels of visitor use with generally low statistical power to detect change. We propose to increase the statistical power of the studies to detect changes due to visitor use by sampling monthly for several years and using a before-after-control- impact (BACI) design (Stewart-Oaten et al. 1986). The BACI design analyzes the differences between two treatments over repeated sampling events, before and after the application of the treatment. In a BACI design the replication is provided by the paired sampling events. Whereas abundances of biological organisms can be quite variable over time and among locations, the BACI assumes that abundances at study sites that are subject to the same factors will track one another even though their absolute abundances may be quite different. Therefore, the variable analyzed in a BACI is the differences in
53 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program abundance between treatments for each of the sampling events. This helps reduce the number of replicate surveys required to obtain a given statistical power because the differences will tend to be much less variable than the absolute abundances. The power to detect changes due to visitor use will also be increased by sampling monthly for 1-2 years before and after implementation of management efforts to reduce visitor effects. The conceptual model for the design is shown in Figure 6 where management actions to increase visitor use in an area are implemented in a low use area, while measures to reduce impacts are taken in a high use area. This design not only increases the power to detect change by increasing the differences between areas, but it also provides strong evidence that the changes detected from the study are the result of visitor effects. Surveys will also be done at EB on a less frequent basis to determine if changes in the biological communities at MDO can be detected relative to the communities at Estero Bluffs and establish a baseline database of information on the biological communities at the park. Objective 3: Determine the types of uses and levels of use (“carrying capacity”) that could be allowed that still protect the biological integrity of these habitats. The final report on these studies will present a set of recommendations for management consideration that would promote conservation of the Bay and coastal natural resources. As in other resource stewardship programs, considerations may include access location restrictions to consolidate visitor use, set aside areas for specific uses such as education, research and visitors, and limitations on the frequency of access. Seasonal or other timing limitations on access can also be valuable conservation tools. Partial closures and rotation of site closures provides another option, depending on the types of impacts managers are trying to avoid (Keough and Quinn 1998). This would require ongoing monitoring and management to determine rotation and closure schedules. Increased educational outreach will likely be an important component of the recommendations. Educational outreach to increase awareness of the sensitivity of intertidal zones to human impacts has been shown to decrease impacts to rocky intertidal areas (Chan and Molina 1969). Outreach could also occur in the form of increased signage and working with educational groups such as the Morro Bay Natural History Museum and MBNEP. Recommendations in the final report will also address the need for long-term monitoring of the resources. An adaptive approach to resource management requires on- going data collection efforts that provide managers with feedback on changes in the biological communities that may occur as a result of management actions, changes in human use patterns, or changes in environmental conditions, such as increased seawater temperatures due to short-term events such as El Niño or longer-term global climate change. The coastal GIS created as part of this study will also be an important tool for long-term management of coastal resources. The GIS already includes data from coastal shoreline areas of northern San Luis Obispo County including the coastal areas recently acquired by the State from the Hearst Corporation. Much of this stretch of coast is relatively pristine and includes the largest mainland haulout site for northern elephant seals in California. The information from this project and the coastal GIS will be invaluable in the planning efforts for this area.
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Deliverable Products § GIS of coastal areas of San Luis Obispo County showing physical and biological characteristics from data collected in early 1980s as part of a statewide data collection effort. § Updated data layers for GIS of coastal biological resources for Montana de Oro and Estero Bluffs State Parks collected as part of this study. § Results of studies on human effects on rocky intertidal communities that will be used to manage visitor access. § Baseline biological data for Montana de Oro and Estero Bluffs that can be used as a basis for long-term monitoring. § Recommendations for visitor management, environmental education, and outreach. § Recommendations for long-term monitoring.
Value to Management/Policy § The GIS will provide resource managers with a valuable tool that can be used to help manage access to coastal resources that avoids impacts to sensitive habitats and species. The GIS provides historic data that can be compared with existing and future data to help identify long-term changes to coastal resources. § Results of studies on human effects on rocky intertidal communities will help park managers determine and justify possible changes in visitor access to sensitive rocky intertidal areas. The results of the studies will also help planning for management of visitor access at the new Estero Bluffs and Hearst Ranch State Parks. § The biological data that will be collected can be used as a baseline for further studies and comparisons. Even if regular monitoring is not continued, periodic surveys every year could be used to determine if any changes are occurring to State Park properties and help guide and justify management changes. § The recommendations for managing visitor access to sensitive coastal habitats will help protect resources and reduce human impacts and can be used as a basis for establishing management plans at the new Estero Bluffs and Hearst Ranch State Parks.
Response to reviewers Reviewers’ comments: Work seems very localized and not part of a broader ecosystem study. Who will use results besides the state parks?
Response: The rocky intertidal is one of the major habitat types in the coastal areas of central California surrounding Morro Bay. In many areas these habitats are still relatively unaffected by impacts related to anthropogenic impacts including visitor use. Due to population growth in this area and throughout California coastal areas, sensitive habitats such as the rocky intertidal will be subject to increased human disturbance. This is especially true for this area of the central coast where two coastal areas have been recently acquired by the State Park system and will soon be open to the public. These two areas contain sections of coastline with extensive rocky intertidal areas that are still in
55 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program relatively pristine conditions. Montana de Oro State Park is also in the study area and is used by the public for a wide variety of activities. The Park is popular for school groups, tourists, and the local public to observe, explore, and learn about the various species in the rocky intertidal, their environment and ecology. The preservation of the biological communities in these areas is therefore essential to their continued aesthetic and educational uses.
The coastal area around Morro Bay is a perfect location for these studies due to the presence of Montana de Oro State Park (MDO) which currently receives high levels of visitor use, the opening of two new coastal State Parks that will benefit from the information gained from the study, and the existence of long-term data from several studies in pristine rocky intertidal habitats that can be used as baseline data for the study. Therefore, we have the opportunity to look at an area (MDO) with existing high levels of use, look at changes over time at two new State Parks that will receive increasing levels of visitor use over time, and compare these areas with existing data from pristine areas that will continue to be collected independently. This set of circumstances provide a unique opportunity to conduct a rigorous and detailed study of visitor use impacts to rocky intertidal areas that will be of benefit to all of the citizens of California that are potential visitors and users of rocky intertidal areas. The results will be widely applicable to other coastal areas in the State and can be used as a resource management planning tool for the new State Parks on the central coast and in other coastal parks in the State.
Many other resource agencies will benefit from the research in San Luis Obispo County. Tenera has recently completed a visitor impact study at Point Pinos, Pacific Grove, CA for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) and City of Pacific Grove. This was immediately followed with a similar study at Fitzgerald State Marine Park for the MBNMS, San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Division, and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS). They will also be implementing a similar visitor use study at Duxbury Reef in Marin County that will begin in 2006 for the GFNMS. All resource stewardship planning and implementation for these agencies will benefit from additional information and insights gained from the studies in San Luis Obispo County. Conversely, resource stewardship planning for State Parks in San Luis Obispo County will benefit from the research findings from the studies completed in other areas of the State.
Will this work be comparative with other areas, if so, how will that be done?
Tenera Environmental, who will be responsible for this project component, has conducted similar visitor use studies for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary at Point Pinos in Pacific Grove, CA, for San Mateo County at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve at Moss Beach, CA, and is starting similar studies for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary at Duxbury Reef in Marin County, CA. All of these studies are similar in design to the proposed study but were not conducted for the same period of time proposed for this study. In addition, these studies did not have the benefit of the extensive long-term data available from the Diablo Canyon Power Plant rocky intertidal monitoring study that has been conducted by Tenera Environmental since 1976. As a
56 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program result, it has been extremely difficult to detect and, more importantly, to assign changes in these areas to the effects of visitor use due to the lack of rigorous designs that would have provided a high degree of certainty that the observed effects were the results of visitor impacts. Alternatively, we applied a ‘weight of evidence’ approach. In this approach strong evidence for visitor use effects is based on significant impacts between areas with high and low levels of visitor use being detected in a large number of species that could be susceptible to visitor impacts. Although evidence of visitor use impacts were detected in these other studies, the effects were not widespread due to the high natural spatial variation that makes it difficult to detect differences between areas. This limitation is addressed by the proposed central coast study which will be conducted for a longer period of time with existing long-term data for comparison.
The results from this study will therefore not only assist in management planning of public access to coastal areas in the immediate study area, it will also provide comparative and supporting data for previous studies and the studies being planned at Duxbury Reef. The rocky intertidal in these other study areas support the same suite of species found in the Morro Bay study area. Therefore the results will be directly comparable with the results of these other studies and can be used to help support some of the conclusions of these other studies. This is another example of one of the larger benefits of this study.
Is trampling one of the greatest threats to the health of the ecosystem?
We have chosen to focus on trampling effects in the proposal because it is the most noticeable effect of high visitor use. It is therefore being used as an indicator of other direct and indirect effects of high visitor use. It is especially appropriate as an indicator because many of the intertidal areas in San Luis Obispo County could be characterized as algal dominated and trampling has a direct effect on intertidal algal communities.
A trampling effect occurs as a result of organisms being crushed or dislodged from rocks. Heavy visitor traffic can also prevent rocks from becoming recolonized, resulting in worn rocks and pathways.
Trampling effects are considered one of the greatest threats to the health of rocky intertidal communities, because any visit to the shore, regardless of the purpose of the visit, will result in some form of trampling impact. Trampling effects are an additional impact component of all potential visitor impacts that include collecting for souvenirs, collecting for curiosity, collecting for bait, sale, and aquaria, poaching for consumption, handling and displacing organisms, fishing, and rock turning.
Worn rocks and pathways from trampling are visible indicators that high use has altered the normal state and appearance of the intertidal community. In contrast, effects from collecting and rock turning are not as easily noticed. Changes in species composition, abundance, and distribution from collecting and rock turning are more difficult to detect, and often difficult to separate from a trampling impact.
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5.3 Organizational/Institutional Activities (Project Leaders, Berman, Maruska, Wendt)
5.3.1 Linking Science to Resource Management and Ecosystem Health The Morro Bay EBM Program provides clear and concrete linkages between the science projects and the incorporation of their results into resource management and improved ecosystem health. The following outline describes the key elements.
Advisory Committee Key Responsibilities: · Review planned research and results. · Ensure linkages with resource management decision-making issues and processes. · Provide a forum for agencies, stakeholders, and NGOs to exchange ecosystem-related information, discuss issues, and encourage collaboration. · Guide engagement and communication with stakeholder groups and public. Membership: Resource Management Agencies (one senior manager from each) · California Coastal Commission · Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District · Department of Fish & Game · Los Osos Community Services District · City of Morro Bay · NOAA Fisheries · PFMC · RWQCB · San Luis Obispo County Planning · State Parks · U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Multi-Stakeholder Groups · Morro Bay National Estuary Program (3 persons) · Marine Interests Group of San Luis Obispo County (3 persons) Scientific Representation · Sub Group of Science Team (3 persons) Leadership Team · Dean Wendt, Ph.D., Project Director · Dan Berman, Exec. Dir., MBNEP · Don Maruska, Strategic Advisor, Mgmt. Consultant, and Facilitator · EBMP Coordinator
Activities Start Up · Monthly meetings for first three to six months to review and fine-tune key management issues and science protocols and to advise Leadership Team (1st
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meeting--one half day in person with full Science Team; subsequent sessions set for 2 hours, preferably in person, otherwise by telephone conference call). Ongoing · Quarterly updates with semi-annual sessions in person (afternoon meeting for Advisory Committee members; late afternoon/evening public session jointly sponsored by MIG and MBNEP to share relevant updates and results—video taped for broader audience replays).
5.3.2 Public Outreach and Stakeholder Engagement The Morro Bay Ecosystem-Based Management Program has the benefit of two well-established multi-constituency stakeholder groups that have achieved proven results. The MBNEP holds quarterly ‘Implementation Committee’ meetings of the many entities active in the bay and watershed to report on progress and encourage collaboration. These meetings are open to and attended by the public as well as agency staff and stakeholders. Updates and feedback on the EBM program will be integrated into the agenda for these meetings.
Public Kick Off Meeting Objectives: · Provide overview of program · Engage public in discussing issues and opportunities · Capture ideas · Encourage citizen-scientist opportunities Participation: · Advisory Committee · MBNEP · MIG · Public at large [with media outreach and public access cable coverage and reruns]
Web Site and Email List Serve Objectives: · Describe program and activities · Depict ecosystem model(s) and interactions · Display dynamic, real-time monitoring results accessible 24/7 · Engage visitors with “Bay Blog” to describe and interpret conditions and trends with easy-to-understand “ecosystem dashboard” summarizing key information · Identify opportunities for “citizen-scientists” (fishermen, birders, MBNEP volunteer monitors, etc.) to input observations and enrich understanding of dynamics · Explain how you can make a difference · Invite comments and feedback · Provide a set of tools for resource managers, educational institutions, and public to learn about the ecosystem and how it works
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Semi-Annual Public Review of Plans and Results Objectives: · Describe key activities · Present results and how they are being used · Solicit stakeholder feedback · Identify issues and opportunities for the future Participation: · Advisory Committee · MBNEP (especially the Implementation Committee) · MIG · Public at large [with media outreach and public access cable coverage and reruns]
Scientific Conference “State of the Bay . . . and Beyond” [targeted for Fall 2006] Objectives: · Engage top-flight scientific presentations for an in-depth, multi-day program. · Provide a high-value public learning opportunity that integrates key elements. [Note: The MBNEP has established the “State of the Bay” forum with great success. We are proposing to broaden the 2006 program to highlight the full ecosystem context and showcase the integrated Morro Bay EBM Program.]
5.3.3 Morro Bay EBM Program Organizational Structure The Morro Bay EBM Program benefits from an experienced Leadership Team (Wendt, Berman, and Maruska) that has worked together through the MIG for two and one half years and delivered results at both the scientific, stakeholder collaboration, and organizational level. The addition of an EBM Coordinator working closely with the Principal Investigator in offices at Cal Poly will provide added infrastructure for efficient and effective Program management (See organizational chart below).
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Leadership Team Principal Investigator · overall responsibility for and Advisory integration of the program Committee Science Team · guidance for Science Team and · review planned research · science project leadership Advisory Committee and results · completion of key projects · focal point for communications · ensure linkages with · participation in translation decision making to resource management · collaborate to enhance MBNEP Director Strategic Advisor management effectiveness · linkage with · linkage with MIG MBNEP · guide communication with · program mgmt. stakeholders and public · program mgmt. guidance guidance · facilitation
EBM Coordinator Support Staff · daily administration · research technical · support for science support projects · IT for info gathering · ongoing point of contact with stakeholder groups and dissemination and public Public Outreach · MIG + MBNEP meetings · State of the Bay Conference · Web site
Ecosystem Interns
· Linkage of results to resource managers and public
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6.0 REFERENCES
Addessi, L. 1994. Human disturbance and long-term changes on a rocky intertidal community. Ecol. App. 4(4):786-797.
Agee, J. K., and D. R. Johnson. 1988. Ecosystem management for parks and wilderness. University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington.
Bally, R. and C. L. Griffiths. 1989. Effects of human trampling on an exposed rocky shore. Int. J. Env. Studies. 34:155-125.
Beauchamp, K. A. and M. M. Gowing. 1982. A quantitative assessment of human trampling effects on a rocky intertidal community. Mar. Env. Res. 7:279-293.
Brosnan, D. M. and L. L. Crumrine. 1994. Effects of human trampling on marine rocky shore communities. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 177:79-97.
Brown, P. J. and R. B. Taylor. 1999. Effects of trampling by humans on animals inhabiting coralline algal turf in the rocky intertidal. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 235:45-53.
Chan, G. L. and A. Molina. 1969. The conservation of marine animals on Duxbury Reef. College of Marin, Kentfield. 56 p.
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Ecosystem Principles Advisory Panel. 1999. Ecosystem-based fishery management. National Marine Fisheries Service, Washington, D.C. 54pp.
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Forrester, Graham E. and Stephen E. Swearer 2002. Trace elements in otoliths indicate the use of open-coast versus bay nursery habitats by juvenile California halibut. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Series 241: 201-213.
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Hockey, R. A. R. and A. L. Bosman. 1986. Man as an intertidal predator in Transkei: disturbance, community convergence and management of a natural food resource. Oikos. 46:3-14.
Hofmann, G. E., Burnaford, J. L., and K. T. Fielman. 2005. Genomics-fueled approaches to current challenges in marine ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20, 305-311.
Imperial, M. T., T. Hennessey, and D. Robadue, Jr. 1993. The evolution of adaptive management for estuarine ecosystems: The National Estuary Program and its precursors. Ocean and Coastal Management 20(2):147-180.
Imperial, M. T. 1999. Institutional analysis and ecosystem-based management: The institutional analysis and development framework. Environmental Management 24(4):449-465.
Keough, M. J. and G. P. Quinn. 1998. Effects of periodic disturbances from trampling on rocky intertidal algal beds. Ecol. App. 8(1): 141-161.
Keough, M. J. and G. P. Quinn. 2000. Legislative vs. practical protection of an intertidal shoreline in southeastern Australia. Ecol. App. 10(3):871-881.
Knigge, T., Monsinjon, T., and O.-K. Andersen. 2004. Surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry approach to biomarker discovery in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) exposed to polyaromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals under field conditions. Proteomics 4, 2722-2727.
Kültz, D. 2005. Molecular and evolutionary basis of the cellular stress response. Annual Review of Physiology 67: 225-257.
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LaBaer J. 2005. So, you want to look for biomarkers (introduction to the special biomarkers issue). Journal of Proteome Research 4, 1053-1059.
Leeworthy, V.R. and P.C Wiley. 2001. Preliminary estimates from versions 1-6: coastal recreation participation. National Survey on Recreation and the Environment 2000. US Department of Commerce. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Ocean Service. Special Projects. Silver Spring, Maryland.
Leeworthy, V.R., Bowker, J.M., Hospital, J.D., and E.A. Stone. 2005. Projected participation in marine recreation: 2005 & 2010. National Survey on Recreation and the Environment 2000. US Department of Commerce. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Ocean Service. Special Projects. Silver Spring, Maryland.
Link, J.S. 2002. What does ecosystem-based fisheries management mean? Fisheries 27: 18-21
López, J. L., Marina, A., Vázquez, J., and G. Alvarez. 2002a. A proteomic approach to the study of marine mussels Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis. Marine Biology 141, 217-223.
López, J. L., Marina, A., Alvarez, G., and J. Vázquez. 2002b. Application of proteomics for fast identification of species-specific peptides from marine species. Proteomics 2, 1658-1665.
Lindberg, D. R., J. A. Estes, and K. I. Warheit. 1998. Human influences on trophic cascades along rocky shores. Ecol. App. 8(3):880-890.
Marko-Varga, G., Lindberg, H., Löfdahl, C.-G., Jönsson, P., Hansson, L., Dahlbäck, M., Lindquist, E., Johansson, L., Foster, M., and T. E. Fehniger. 2005. Discovery of biomarker candidates within disease by protein profiling: principles and concepts. Journal of Proteome Research 4, 1200-1212.
McLeod, K.L., J. Lubchenco, S.R. Palumbi, and A.A. Rosenberg. 2005. Scientific consensus on statement on marine ecosystem-based management. Signed by 217 academic scientists and policy experts with relevant expertise and published by the Communication Partnership for Science and Sea at http://compassonline.org/?q=EBM
Moreno, C. A., J. P. Southerland, and H. F. Jara. 1984. Man as a predator in the intertidal zone of southern Chile. Oikos. 42:155-160.
Murray, S. N., T. G. Denis, J. S. Kido, and J. R. Smith. 1999. Human visitation and the frequency and potential effects of collecting on rocky intertidal populations in southern California marine reserves. CalCOFI rep. 40:100-106.
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NCEAS-CCMI-3. 2004. Report of the meeting on Coastal Conservation Planning, Santa Cruz, California, September 27-28
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Piñeiro, C, Vázquez, J., Marina, A. I., Barros-Velázquez, J., and J. M. Gallardo. 2001. Characterization and partial sequencing of species-specific sarcoplasmic polypeptides from commercial hake species by mass spectrometry following two-dimensional electrophoresis. Electrophoresis 22, 1545-1552.
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7.0 BUDGET JUSTIFICATION
Personnel
Principal Investigator Dean Wendt (The Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics is contributing 50% of matching funds toward release-time for Professor Wend in years 1 and 2t) Funds are requested to support the Principal Investigator of the project. Funds are requested for two separate categories: 1) release time from teaching during the academic year equivalent to a 50% reduction in teaching load, a portion of the 50% release time is being matched by the Dean of the College of Science and Math at Cal Poly; and 2) added base salary for work on the project during the summer and academic year. The PI will be involved in the overall coordination and administration of the entire program including budget management, development of the science projects, hiring of project personnel, outreach and communication of the program activities in academic (e.g., scientific meetings, university seminars, etc.) and public settings (stakeholder meetings), organization and direction of semi-annual workshops for the science team, planning and participation of advisory committee meetings, and direct supervision of the EBM coordinator.
Faculty Mark Moline Funds are requested to provide a 25% reduction in teaching load during the academic year for Mark Moline. Professor Moline will lead the water quality real-time array project. His work will include design and deployment of the individual arrays in Morro Bay, development of the web-based interface and data systems to serve and archive data from the arrays, and direct supervision of the information technology staff person. He will also participate in the habitat evaluation and characterization project, as he is the lead researcher in the CI-CORE program for hyperspectral characterization of habitats in the Morro Bay Estuary and associated coastal areas. As described in the proposal text, data from the hyperspectral evaluation from CI-CORE will be combined with data from the EBM multibeam sonar bathymetry to provide a more complete habitat picture of the ecosystem.
Lars Tomanek (The Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics is poviding100% of the funds for Professor Tomanek’s release time) Funds are requested to provide a 25% reduction in teaching load during the academic year for Lars Tomanek. Professor Tomanek will lead the biological indicators project. In addition to conducting the basic research and data analysis associated with this project, he will manage all personnel on the project including a full-time research technician, one graduate student, and one undergraduate student.
Royden Nakamura We are seeking annual support for 100 hours of work by Royden Nakamura as part of the critical spawning and nursery areas project. His work will be involved in taxonmomic ID’s of collected fish during the multi-gear sampling in Morro Bay. He will
67 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program also assist John Stephens in advisement of one graduate student and one undergraduate student working on the project.
John Stephens John Stephens will be the project leader on the faunal portion of the critical spawning and nursery environments. He will directly advise one graduate student and one undergraduate student working on the project and he will manage the entire multi- gear sampling activities. He will also facilitate the collection of California halibut, sample preparation of the otoliths, and deal with the logistics of having sample analysis contracted.
Staff and Technical Personnel EBM Coordinator We are requesting funds to support one full-time coordinator. The primary tasks of this person include daily administration of the program details, agenda setting and organization of logistics for meetings and workshops, support for science projects, ongoing point of contact with stakeholder groups and public.
Information Technology Technician We are requesting full-time support for one IT technician. His/her responsibilities will include building and managing the web-based interface for the program, running the software for the telemetry receiving station for the water quality equipment arrays, archiving and serving data collected from the arrays, and developing and managing the “Bay Blog” site. This individual will be directly supervised by the PI and Mark Moline.
Senior Technical Staff Position For the bioindicator project we are requesting funding for a research technician, whose responsibility will include the sampling of animals, the preparation and analysis of protein samples using gel electrophoresis, and the subsequent identification of proteins via mass spectrometry. The person will closely coordinate his/her workflow with the activities of the graduate and undergraduate students involved in the project. It is necessary to have a research technician coordinate the analysis of samples in the laboratory, to maintain an efficient workflow and to provide students with technical guidance when necessary. In summary, the person is going to be managing the day-to- day activities in the laboratory in coordination with the Project Leader. This position is essential for the successful discovery of new bioindicators of organismal health.
Part-time technical staff Funds are being requested to support two part-time technical staff with expertise working on other ongoing Cal Poly research projects. Both of these individuals will be involved in the initial design, and deployment of the water quality equipment arrays. Both have previous experience designing instrumentation and software for such systems through their work on the water quality instrumentation in San Luis Obispo Bay for the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Their expertise will be utilized during the initial set-up period and it will be accessed in subsequent years on “as needed” basis. These individual will be directly supervised by the PI and Mark Moline.
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Students We are seeking funds to support four graduate students and four undergraduate students over the duration of the project. A Cal Poly graduate student will be associated with each of the major project areas (with the exception of the socio-economic indicator project as a student from UCLA will be supported through a sub-contract on that project). Students will be centrally involved in data collection, analysis, manuscript preparation, and oral and poster presentations at scientific meetings. We are additionally interested in having each of the students supported through the program spending time working directly with personnel at local resource agencies as “EBM interns”. This experience will “connect the loop” of science and resource management and it will foster EBM as an approach to resource management.
Travel We are requesting funds to support travel to scientific meetings and workshops for all project personnel to present results from various projects.
Equipment
Computers Although the Cal Poly Center for Coastal Marine Science has significant computer and network infrastructure, we expect to purchase a modest amount of computer equipment to support the water quality equipment arrays and the new project staff (e.g., EBM Coordinator).
Water Quality Arrays We are requesting support for 5 individual equipment arrays for the water quality projects. The spatial arrangement shown in Figure 4 is required to address such questions as the source and sinks of nitrates. Placement of the arrays must be at the creek mouths (source) and the harbor mouth (source and possible sink). We further need to have one array directly in the bay to account for endogenous sources of nitrates for example. Finally, to reference the ambient levels on the coastal ocean, placement of another unit in Estero Bay is required. Each unit consists of the following instrumentation:
CTD (Salinity and Temperature) DO (Dissolved Oxygen) Flurometer (Measures chlorophyll a) Nitrate sensor Data Module Battery Mooring Freewave Modem
Details of the equipment can be viewed at:
69 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program http://www.satlantic.com/default.asp?mn=1.15.25.35
Telemetry Receiving Unit All five units of the array will transfer data at regular intervals from a wireless freewave modem. The telemetry receiving unit is required on land to receive data and it will serve as the interface to the web-server that will ultimately archive and present data. A single telemetry receiving unity will function for all 5 water quality arrays.
Mass Spectrometer (The Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics is contributing 100% matching funds toward the purchase of this item) We are also requesting funds for an Applied Biosystems 4700 Proteomics Analyzer, a mass spectrometer that is capable of analyzing the mass of protein fragments and their amino acids. The information obtained via mass spectrometry is used to identify the corresponding protein. This broad and so-called “systems biology approach” is an innovative path for discovering new environmental bioindicators. The methodology is currently at the forefront of the discovery of medical biomarkers, and is developing rapidly. The 4700 Proteomics Analyzer’s proven technology and reliability over the last three years, and the comparatively affordable price due to a recent steep price reduction, make this instrument the ideal choice for our project. The advantage of having an instrument on site is the ability to optimize the detection of proteins from a variety of organisms, especially ones that are non-model organisms that are often of great interest to ecologists and environmental toxicologists, e.g., species of the mussel genus Mytilus. This service is either not available or is too costly from companies that offer to analyze protein fragments via mass spectrometry. In conjunction with other complementary methodologies that we are currently using, the purchase of this instrument will therefore support an innovative path to the discovery of new bioindicators of organismal, and thus of ecosystem health.
Supplies Funds are requested to support supplies including those used for office tasks and administration, meeting and workshop execution, minor field equipment, and laboratory reagents and basic operating necessities.
Other Operating Costs Recruitment We expect to need funds in the first two years for recruitment of project personnel including new staff (e.g., technician) and graduate students.
Tuition As part of our support for graduate students we are requesting funds to pay for their tuition.
Contractual Arrangements (Subcontracts) A few of the projects or portions thereof will be carried out using contractual arrangements. Likewise, funds to support to key project personnel (Maruska and Berman) will also be carried out under contractual agreements with their organizations. The PI still maintains full control of the deliverables and reporting for the entire project.
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Subcontract (Tenera Environmental) Tenera Environmental is particularly well qualified to address the human access components of the Morro Bay EBMP. Tenera specializes in marine environmental consulting and assessments and has offices in Lafayette and San Luis Obispo, California. Tenera staff capabilities have been developed over 25 years of work experience coordinating and conducting marine environmental programs with a variety of clients from government agencies and private companies. They are staffed by a group of professional marine scientists with advanced degrees in a variety of marine specialties. These include intertidal and subtidal ecological surveys, fisheries surveys, habitat mapping, spatial analysis, biostatistical analysis, and oceanography. Pertinent project experience includes: · Recently awarded contract to conduct intertidal surveys to evaluate the biological impacts of visitor use at Duxbury Reef, Marin County for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
· Intertidal surveys to evaluate the biological impacts of visitor use at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve for the San Mateo County Department of Parks and Recreation
· Intertidal surveys to evaluate the biological impacts of visitor use at Point Pinos, Monterey Peninsula for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Subcontract (Don Maruska and Company, Inc) Don Maruska has been central to the success of numerous projects involving complex issues of resource management and stakeholder participation. He has served as the facilitator of the Marine Interest Group of San Luis Obispo for the past two and a half years and has a proven track record in the local community. He is currently a strategic advisor for the MLPA Initiative and has conducted a series of public workshops as part of the implementation of the MLPA process. His efforts will be essential to integrate the traditionally separate groups (i.e., stakeholders, resource managers, scientists) that are all central to the success of the Morro Bay EBM program. Specifically, he will facilitate the meetings of the Advisory Committee, oversee communication across all program components, and provide strategic guidance as needed.
Subcontract (Vantuna Research) We are requesting funds to contract the triennial faunal surveys of Morro Bay. The execution of this portion of the project requires a significant amount of field equipment, which makes it more cost effective to contract through an experience research group. Vantuna Research has conducted similar multi-gear sampling surveys for ichthyofauna at numerous sites in southern California.
Subcontract (Rikk Kivetek, CSUMB) We are requesting funds to support a subcontract to CSU Monterey Bay for the multibeam sonar habitat mapping. The project leader, Professor Kivetek, is the director of the seafloor mapping laboratory at CSUMB and he will be performing the work most likely during summer 2006. The laboratory maintains and operates a state-of-the-art hydrographic survey system supported through external funding for the expressed
71 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program purpose of shallow water, coastal marine habitat mapping. Rikk Kivitek and his group have used this system to map nearshore marine habitats along more than 200 miles of California coastline since putting it into service in March 2000.
Subcontract (Morro Bay National Estuary Program) Funds to support staff time and administrative activities are requested for Daniel Berman at the MBNEP. Berman (along with Maruska and Wendt) form the core leadership team for implementation of the Morro Bay EBM program. Berman will work closely with the PI and the MBNEP Executive Committee to coordinate and execute activities associated with the EBM Advisory Committee. Berman will also direct and coordinate the activities of the MBNEP volunteer monitoring program, which will be an important aspect of public outreach for the Morro Bay EBM program. Berman will also be responsible for planning and executing another important program event, the State of the Bay and Beyond conference, which will occur during the second year of the project.
Subcontract (Linwood Pendleton, UCLA) The sub-contract to Pendleton includes only one summer month of salary and support for one graduate student researcher. The bulk of the funds in this sub-contract ($60,000 in year 1 and $30,000 in year 2 and 3) are for on site data collection including the convening of working groups. Telephone and travel costs are modest considering the distance from UCLA to the study site.
7.1 Response to Budget Related Questions
Reviewer comment: While letters of support from the various public agencies is good, providing funding in addition to the commitment of staff to attend meetings would demonstrate real involvement and ownership in this activity. It would also make it more likely that they would try to use the results.
Response: Agreed. We have currently received matching support (pending board approval) from the Coastal Conservancy and we are also seeking additional funds from the Regional Water Quality Control Board. As the project develops we anticipate that other agencies represented on the Advisory Committee will provide financial support for the projects.
There is substantial salary going to the various PIs, in terms of release time and overload/summer time. The Packard Foundation would like to know what other sources of support the PIs currently have or have pending. The Foundation would also like to know if any of the PIs will be more than 100% committed (Billable) and what university policy is on this topic?
We have provided detailed profiles of all external support current and pending for the PIs as well as a written document outlining the policy of the University on release time and overload compensation. Briefly, the University allows faculty to work 125% during the academic year and also weekends and holidays. Said another way, faculty can bill for an extra 10 hours a week during academic year and they can work weekends and holidays as
72 Wendt, D.E. Morro Bay Ecosystem Based Management Program well. During the summer months faculty can bill external projects for 50 hours a week and also weekends and holidays.
Foundation staff costs total approximately $225,000 over the course of three years. It is not clear what is provided for this cost. If the Foundation plays the role of Fiscal Sponsor, the Packard Foundation is used to those costs being about 4%, which would be in the order of $120,000 in this instance.
I think the budget line-item was misinterpreted. The line item for Foundation staff is benefits associated with hiring any full-time employee such as retirement, medical care, unemployment insurance, etc. These costs are fixed. The line item that includes the Foundation as the fiscal sponsor of the project is part of the indirect cost line item, which stands at a reasonable 15%. The University has a federal indirect cost rate of 35%, but is contributing 20% of that to the project. The remaining 15% go towards operating costs associated with being the fiscal sponsor, running lights, heat, etc.
The Mass Spectrometer is expected to have use beyond this project and the questions was raised why the College can't pick up the full cost?
The Dean of the College of Science and Math has agreed to purchase in full the mass spectrometer.
Subcontract to Tenera for the Tide pool trampling seems expensive. Reviewers questioned the relevance to an EBM effort. Perhaps this is something for the Central Coast Water Quality Board to consider in the context of the settlement with PG&E for Diablo Canyon.
The Coastal Commission, Coastal Conservancy, The Regional Water Quality Control Board, and State Parks all list the human impacts study as central to their interests. Although not yet specified, we believe the Coastal Conservancy will direct their funding to this project.
Costs for facilitation seem high. What other groups does Maruska facilitate? MIG? MLPA? Can these costs be reduced?
With expertise from an MBA and JD from Stanford University, experience as founder and CEO of three Silicon Valley companies, and success as a leading business coach, Don serves a key leadership role in the overall guidance and support for this program's success. We decreased support for his work by 10% in year 3 of the project.
How does the proposed mapping work connect to other mapping activities supported by the Coastal Conservancy? Is this something to ask them to consider?
We are not aware of any Coastal Conservancy funded effort to map in Morro Bay. We think it is likely that they will direct a portion of their contributed funds toward this effort.
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The subcontract to Linwood Pendelton at UCLA also seems very high and should be reviewed.
The project was reviewed and the budget was reduced by 26K. See budget justification for further detail associated with the project costs.
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8.0 KEY IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT PERSONNEL
1. Daniel Berman, M.S. Director, Morro Bay National Estuary Program 2. Rikk Kvitek, Ph.D. Professor and Director, Seafloor Mapping Laboratory, CSU Monterey Bay 3. Don Maruska, J.D., M.B.A., CEO Don Maruska and Company, Inc. 4. Mark Moline, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Director, Center for Coastal Marine Science, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo 5. Royden Nakamura, Ph.D. Professor, Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 6. Linwood Pendleton, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering, UCLA 7. John Steinbeck, M.S. Vice President, Tenera Environmental 8. John Stephens, Ph.D. Irvine Professor of Environmental Science Emeritus, Adjunct Professor, Center for Coastal Marine Science, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo 9. Lars Tomanek, Ph.D. Assitant Professor, Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo 10. Dean Wendt, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Center for Coastal Marine Science, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
9.0 ADVISORY COMMITTEE PARTICIPANTS IN PLANNING PHASE (APRIL – JUNE 2005)
Resource Management Agencies California Coastal Commission Ross Clark, Central Coast Water Quality Coordinator Jack Gregg, Water Quality Supervisor Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District Deborah Barker, Watershed Coordinator Department of Fish & Game John Ugoretz, Central Marine Manager Los Osos Community Services District Gordon Hensley, Director City of Morro Bay Rick Algert, Harbor Director NOAA Fisheries John Field, NMFS Fisheries Ecologist RWQCB Karen Worcester, Environmental Specialist State Parks Nick Franco, District Superintendent Greg Smith, San Luis Obispo Coast Sector Superintendent
Multi-Stakeholder Groups Morro Bay National Estuary Program Henriette Groot, Implementation Committee Chair Gary Ruggerone, Bay Foundation Board of Directors
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Marine Interests Group of San Luis Obispo County Bob Hather, recreational fishing Leslie Krinsk, environmental/public at large
Scientific Team Representation John Steinbeck, Vice President, Principal Scientist, Tenera Environmental Lars Tomanek, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. Cal Poly Dean Wendt, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. Cal Poly, Principal Investigator
Leadership Team Dean Wendt, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. Cal Poly, Principal Investigator Dan Berman, Exec. Dir., MBNEP Don Maruska, strategic advisor, mgmt. consultant, and facilitator
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