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Ecological Baselines for Oregon's Coast

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Ecological Baselines for Oregon's Coast Ecological Baselines For Oregon’s Coast A report for agencies that manage Oregon’s coastal habitats Roberta L. Hall, Editor Thomas A. Ebert Jennifer S. Gilden David R. Hatch Karina Lorenz Mrakovcich Courtland L. Smith Ecological Baselines For Oregon’s Coast A report for agencies that manage Oregon’s coastal habitats for ecological and economic sustainability, and for all who are interested in the welfare of wildlife that inhabit our coast and its estuaries. Editor: Roberta L. Hall, Emeritus Professor, Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University Contributing Authors: Thomas A. Ebert, Emeritus Professor, Department of Biology, San Diego State University Jennifer S. GilDen, Associate Staff Officer, Communications anD Information, Pacific Fishery Management Council Roberta L. Hall, Emeritus Professor, Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University DaviD R. Hatch, FounDing member, the Elakha Alliance; member, the ConfeDerateD Tribes of the Siletz InDians Karina Lorenz Mrakovcich, Professor, Science Department, U.S. Coast GuarD AcaDemy CourtlanD L. Smith, Emeritus Professor, School of Language, Culture, anD Society, Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon April 2012 To request additional copies, or to contact an author, e-mail the editor: [email protected] Printed by the Oregon State University Department of Printing and Mailing Services, Corvallis, Oregon, April 2012. Contents Baselines for Oregon’s coastal resources 5 Shifting baselines ..................................................................................................................... 5 Goal for this report .................................................................................................................. 6 Baseline chapters ..................................................................................................................... 7 References ............................................................................................................................... 7 Prehistoric baselines 9 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 9 Methods for studying prehistoric resources ......................................................................... 10 The physical environment in the Late Holocene .................................................................. 12 Animals resident on the Oregon coast before 1750 .............................................................. 14 Invasive species and native species extinctions .................................................................... 16 Estuaries, past and present: degradation and restoration .................................................... 17 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 19 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 19 References ............................................................................................................................. 20 AppenDix: Resources anD references for Prehistoric baselines 22 Sites providing faunal data .................................................................................................... 23 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 23 Sea mammal list .................................................................................................................... 28 Invertebrate list ..................................................................................................................... 29 Bird list ................................................................................................................................... 30 Fish list ................................................................................................................................... 31 Shifting salmon baselines 33 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 33 Shifting nature of baselines ................................................................................................... 34 History of management ......................................................................................................... 36 Regional and species comparisons ........................................................................................ 37 Converging constraints on salmon ........................................................................................ 38 Natural factors affecting salmon numbers ............................................................................ 38 Human factors affecting salmon numbers ............................................................................ 40 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 47 References ............................................................................................................................. 48 The sea otter in Oregon’s past anD present 55 Reduction of estuaries, depletion of fish ............................................................................... 56 Translocation attempts and sea otter diversity ..................................................................... 57 Estuary history and restoration ............................................................................................. 58 References ............................................................................................................................. 59 Purple sea urchins along the Oregon coast 61 Geographic distribution ......................................................................................................... 62 General biology of purple sea urchins ................................................................................... 62 Early work with purple sea urchins ........................................................................................ 64 Growth, size and recruitment ................................................................................................ 66 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 72 References ............................................................................................................................. 73 Reflections on baselines anD restoration 77 What we learned ................................................................................................................... 77 Another paradigm .................................................................................................................. 78 Ecosystem restoration ........................................................................................................... 78 References ............................................................................................................................. 79 Ecological Baselines 5 Historical Baselines for Oregon’s Coastal Resources What was the Oregon coast like in the past? Roberta L. Hall, Emeritus Professor, Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University Against the backdrop of growing concern about dead zones, rare and endangered sea mammals, depletion of Oregon’s once‐abundant fish stocks, acidification threatening coastal molluscs, and proposals for marine reserves along Oregon’s coastline, a multi‐ disciplinary group of scientists was called together in 2008 to discuss what is known about Oregon’s coastal resources at specific points in the past. They agreed that knowing more about the condition of resources in the past could help state resource agencies understand its ecological potential and such information would be useful in planning restoration projects as well as determining gaps in knowledge that need to be filled. Called together by John Meyer, representing Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea (COMPASS), the group decided to develop an “Ecological Baselines” report on past coastal resources at whatever times empirical data exist. The range of any human’s life and experiences is too brief and too circumscribed to view ecological change in any but a personal and therefore limited perspective. For example, since 1966, my family has observed birds on numerous trips to the Oregon coast. Although these visits always provide unexpected and interesting sightings, it appears to us that the number and diversity of birds have declined. Other people have made similar observations about various animals and plants. To be useful in understanding the status of any species or of the ecosystem as a whole, however, what is needed is a compilation of empirical records using specified methodologies and covering a longer period of time. Comprehensive empirical surveys of natural resources, at known intervals, would be desirable. The problem is that such surveys, for the most part, do not exist. Without such data, what results are “shifting baselines.” Shifting baselines In 1995, fisheries scientist Daniel Pauly published “Anecdotes and the shifting baseline syndrome of fisheries,” a criticism of fisheries scientists for comparing current conditions with what they witnessed earlier in their careers without considering prior, potentially less‐
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