Ranking and mapping human threats and impacts to marine ecosystems in the California current

• Benjamin S. Halpern

Abstract
Building on a similar global effort (Mapping current threats and impacts of human activities on global marine ecosystems this project will map current threats and impacts of human activities on the California Current marine ecosystem. The project will first survey experts in six subregions of the California Current to explore geographic variation in the effects of threats. A workshop will then be held to 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.