EcoPrinciples Connect: A Pilot Project Matching Ecological Principles with Available Data to Promote Ecosystem-Based Management

Rebecca G Martone1, Ashley Erickson2, Megan Mach1, Tony Hale3, Aaron McGregor4, Erin E Prahler5, Melissa Foley1, Margaret Caldwell1 and Eric Henry Hartge6, (1)Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford, CA, United States, (2)Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, (3)San Francisco Estuary Institute, Richmond, CA, United States, (4)California Ocean Science Trust, Oakland, CA, United States, (5)California Coastal Commission, San Francisco, CA, United States, (6)Stanford University, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford, CA, United States
Abstract:
Ocean and coastal practitioners work within existing financial constraints, jurisdictions, and legislative authorities to manage coastal and marine resources while seeking to promote and maintain a healthy and productive coastal economy. Fulfilling this mandate necessitates incorporation of best available science, including ecosystem-based management (EBM) into coastal and ocean management decisions. To do this, many agencies seek ways to apply lessons from ecological theory into their decision processes. However, making direct connections between science and management can be challenging, in part because there is no process for linking ecological principles (e.g., maintaining species diversity, habitat diversity, connectivity and populations of key species) with available data. Here we explore how incorporating emerging data and methods into resource management at a local scale can improve the overall health of our coastal and marine ecosystems. We introduce a new web-based interface, EcoPrinciples Connect, that links marine managers to scientific and geospatial information through the lens of these ecological principles, ultimately helping managers become more efficient, more consistent, and advance the integration of EBM. The EcoPrinciples Connect tool grew directly out of needs identified in response to a Center for Ocean Solutions reference guide, Incorporating Ecological Principles into California Ocean and Coastal Management: Examples from Practice. Here we illustrate how we have worked to translate the information in this guide into a co-developed, user-centric tool for agency staff. Specifically, we present a pilot project where we match publicly available data to the ecological principles for the California San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. We will share early lessons learned from pilot development and highlight opportunities for future transferability to an expanded group of practitioners.
Back to: Impacting Policy: Communicating and Incorporating Aquatic and Ocean Science at International, National, State, and Local Levels through Ecosystem-Based Management II