NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MARINE ECOREGIONAL ASSESSMENT FEBRUARY 27, 2006 THE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF CALIFORNIA 201 MISSION STREET, 4TH FLOOR SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105 Northern California Marine Ecoregional Assessment February 27, 2006, Version 1.1 The Mission of The Nature Citation: The Nature Planning Team: Conservancy is to preserve the plants, Conservancy of California. Mary Gleason animals and natural communities 2006. Northern California Matt Merrifield that represent the diversity of life on Marine Ecoregional Assessment. Chuck Cook Earth by protecting the lands and Version 1.1, Feb. 27, 2006. Miguel Hall waters they need to survive. Photo credit. Cover: Whale tail off the Contact: Carmel Coast. ©Rebecca Wells, TNC. Mary Gleason The Nature Conservancy of CA Design & Layout: Audrey Davenport, Sylvia Stone th 201 Mission Street, 4 Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6 Introduction ………….…………………………………………………………………………………………. 8 Description of Ecoregion ……………………………………………………………………………… 12 Ecological Setting …………………………………………………….………………………………………………………………………12 Socioeconomic Setting…………………………………………….………………………………………………………………………16 Coastal and Marine Planning in the Region ………………………………..…………………..………………………24 Existing Marine Protected Areas and Coastal Public Lands ………………………………..……………..26 Selecting Conservation Targets ………..……………………………………………………….. 27 Ecological Systems and Communities …………………………………..……………………………………………………30 Benthic Habitats ……..…………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………..39 Biologically Significant Areas …………..………..………………………………………………………………………………..42 Species ……………………..……………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….47 Setting Conservation Goals …………………………………………………………………….….. 57 Identifying Stratification & Planning Units ……………………………………….….. 60 Assessing Suitability ………………..……………………………………………………………….….. 61 Designing a Portfolio of Conservation Areas …………………………………….….. 63 Site Selection Approach …………………….…………………………………………...…………………………………….……..63 Delineating Marine Conservation Areas ………………………....………………………………………………..…...65 Data Management and Data Limitations ……………………...…………………….…. 67 Marine Geodatabase and Data Management……………………………………………….……..…………….…..67 Data Gaps and Limitations …………………...…………………………………………………………….……………….…...68 Identifying Statewide Gaps in Marine Protection …………………………….…. 73 Assessing Threats & Opportunities ………….…………………...…………………….…. 77 Threats ……………………………..…………………….………..………………………………...…………………………………….…….77 Opportunities …………………………………………………..…………………....………………………………………………..…...82 2 Partners ……………………………..………………….…………………………………………...…………………………………….…...84 Developing Strategies ……………………………………………………...……………………..…. 85 Prioritizing Portfolio Conservation Areas ……………………...………………...…. 88 References ..………………..………………….……………………………………….……………….…… 89 3 LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES & APPENDICES Tables Table 1: Oceanic Seasons in the Northern California Marine Ecoregion………………….....13 Table 2: Existing MPAs in the NCME Marine and Estuarine Environments.……………26 Table 3: Conservation Targets for the Northern California Marine Ecoregion.…………29 Table 4: TNC Benthic Habitat Model Inputs .……………..…………………………………...………………40 Table 5: Definition of Upwelling Zones by Subregion ………………………………………………………45 Table 6: Representation Goals for Conservation Targets ………………………………………...……..59 Table 7: Cost Factors Used to Assess Suitability ……………...………………………………...……………..61 Table 8: California Marine Protected Areas Summary ..……………………………………………………75 Table 9: California Marine Gap Analysis Summary …………………………………………………..………76 Figures Figure 1: West Coast Marine Ecoregions Figure 2: Northern California Marine Ecoregion Figure 3: Marine Protected Areas and Public Lands Figure 4: Shoreline Systems Figure 5a-c: Ecosystems and Communities Figure 6: Benthic Habitats: Greene Classification Figure 7: Benthic Habitats: TNC Habitat Model Figure 8a-c: Biologically Significant Areas Figure 9a-c: Species Occurrences: Invertebrates and Fish Figure 9d: Species Occurrences: Birds and Mammals Figure 10: Stratification and Planning Units Figure 11a-c: Suitability Index Figure 12: MARXAN Best Solution Figure 13: MARXAN Summed Solution and Final Portfolio Figure 14a-c: Portfolio Conservation Areas Appendices Appendix I: Peer Review Workshop Participants Appendix II: Socioeconomic Data (Tables 1-9b) Appendix III: Conservation Targets and Goals for the NCME Appendix IV: Crosswalk of ESI Classification with TNC Shoreline Targets Appendix V: Methods for Developing a Benthic Habitat Model for the Northern California Marine Ecoregion Appendix VI: Conservation Status of Species Level Targets Appendix VII: Target Conservation Goals Achieved in Ecoregional Portfolio Appendix VIII: Conservation Area Profiles and Targets Present 4 California Sea Lion in Kelp. © Andrew Drake 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The mission of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on earth by protecting the land and waters they need to survive. Recognizing that a focus on the marine realm is critical to achieving our mission, TNC has launched a Marine Initiative to link land and sea conservation. With the support of the Marine Initiative, science and planning staff of The Nature Conservancy of California prepared this assessment of the most important areas for conservation of marine biodiversity in the Northern California Marine Ecoregion – one of four major divisions of the California Current System – that extends from Oregon south to Point Conception and covers 11 million hectares (42,493 square miles). The California Current is recognized as a globally significant region of temperate upwelling that supports a rich diversity of marine life. TNC recently completed the Southern California Marine Ecoregional Assessment for the region from Point Conception south to mid-Baja California (TNC 2004). An ecoregional assessment provides a framework to set priorities and guide conservation actions. The data and decision support tools required to develop a marine conservation assessment can guide both conservation and ecosystem-based management efforts. This ecoregional assessment follows a planning methodology outlined in TNC’s planning guidance document, Designing a Geography of Hope, and builds on a growing body of experience in marine conservation planning. The objective of an ecoregional assessment is to identify a portfolio of conservation areas that together contain multiple and viable examples of important ecological systems, communities, and species across their environmental gradients and represents the biodiversity of the region. Our assumption is that the biodiversity of the ecoregion can be efficiently conserved in a well- designed portfolio that includes both irreplaceable and representative conservation areas. To do this, we identified conservation targets, or elements of biodiversity (ecological systems, habitats, species) that were the focus of the assessment and represent the ecoregion’s diversity. We compiled spatial data on the distribution of 146 conservation targets in a geographic information system (GIS) database. We used a coarse filter approach that relied primarily on the distribution of ecosystems and habitats, and incorporated species-level targets selectively. The conservation targets included ecosystems and communities (such as beaches, rocky intertidal, tidal flats, coastal marsh, kelp beds), benthic habitats, biologically significant areas (such as seamounts, the shelf- slope break, submarine canyons), and selected species (such as seabird colonies, marine mammal rookeries, estuarine dependent species). We then set quantitative conservation goals for each target, stratified by subregion across the ecoregion to capture environmental and genetic variation. We used MARXAN, a site-selection software tool, to identify a portfolio of marine conservation areas that best met the biodiversity conservation goals. We then convened a workshop of marine scientists to help us review and revise our portfolio. 6 The assessment identified a portfolio of conservation areas that represent the diversity of estuarine, near-shore and off-shore habitats and provides a conservation vision for the ecoregion. A total of 55 marine and estuarine portfolio conservation areas were delineated; these conservation areas together represent 25% of the area of ecoregion. While the ultimate goal is the protection of the entire portfolio, a preliminary and qualitative assessment of threats and opportunities in the ecoregion was used to identify priority action areas. With this assessment, TNC and its private and public partners can be confident that site level marine conservation activities are not isolated, but part of a larger conservation design for the region that meets specific conservation goals. The identification of these 55 portfolio conservation areas makes no presumption about the best strategies for conservation at individual sites. Assessment of critical threats to these conservation areas during site-scale planning will drive the development of key strategies. TNC and its partners utilize a variety of strategies for marine conservation including habitat protection, acquisition of coastal lands through fee or easement, leasing and ownership of submerged lands, elimination of destructive fishing practices, improved watershed management, and policy changes. At some sites, TNC has found that marine protected areas (MPAs) are the most appropriate strategy for the conservation