Supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Building on a similar global effort, this project will map current threats and impacts of human activities on the California Current marine ecosystem. The project first will survey experts in six subregions of the California Current to explore geographic variation in the effects of threats. A workshop will then use decision theory to evaluate the tradeoffs of using expert opinion to assess threats and associated impacts. Data on ecosystems and threats will be gathered at resolutions of approximately one square kilometer. By synthesizing information and inferences regarding anticipated impacts of threats, project participants will develop a spatially-explicit understanding of the distribution and magnitude of human threats in the California Current.

Project collaborators are based at University of California, Santa Cruz; The Nature Conservancy; University of California, Santa Barbara; and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Sponsor's Role: The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation participates in general oversight of the project.

Investigators:

Ben Halpern
Carrie Kappel
Fio Micheli
Kim Selkoe

Global Mapping Project

Ecosystem-based Management in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands