Session Title

Session Description: Long term monitoring of Salish Sea Ecosystems

Session Description

Long-term changes in Salish Sea kelp forests and the benthos: Evidence of response to chemical contaminants, nutrient loading, and climate change pressures.

As part of a four-session track focusing on how “Long-term monitoring reveals effects of nutrient loading, climate change, and other human-related pressures in Salish Sea ecosystems”, this session moved into the realm of kelp forests and the benthos, examining changes in habitat structure and species assemblages at the bottom of the Salish Sea. A variety of long-term monitoring surveys have been conducted in the Salish Sea spanning nearly three decades, including 26 years of tracking bull and giant kelp abundance, over 3800 SCUBA surveys tracking epibenthic seabed species, 28 years of monitoring three native intertidal clam species, and 26 years of monitoring sediment-dwelling invertebrates and the condition of the sediments they inhabit. While the organisms studied differed, these programs have worked to determine the influence of anthropogenic pressures on the spatial composition of these assemblages and their changes over time. Correspondence between the structure of these different assemblages and measures related to chemical contamination, nutrient loading, and climate change in the Salish Sea were explored. A wrap-up of this Long-term Monitoring Track and the four sessions was also provided, including thoughts about the past, current, and future focus of long-term monitoring in the Salish Sea in the face of changing pressures on this ecosystem.

Keywords

Kelp forests, Benthos, Salish Sea bottom, monitoring surveys

Conference Track

SSE16: Long-Term Monitoring of Salish Sea Ecosystems

Conference Name

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)

Document Type

Event

SSEC Identifier

SSE16: Session Description

Start Date

6-4-2018 10:30 AM

End Date

6-4-2018 12:00 PM

Type of Presentation

Oral

Genre/Form

conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)

Contributing Repository

Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Subjects – Topical (LCSH)

Contaminated sediments--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Analysis; Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Environmental conditions

Geographic Coverage

Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Environmental conditions

Comments

This is an extended abstract for the session.

Rights

This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Type

Text

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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Apr 6th, 10:30 AM Apr 6th, 12:00 PM

Long-term changes in Salish Sea kelp forests and the benthos: Evidence of response to chemical contaminants, nutrient loading, and climate change pressures.