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Date of Award

Spring 2025

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Environmental Studies

First Advisor

Flower, Aquila

Second Advisor

Laninga, Tamara Jean

Third Advisor

Sobocinski, Kathryn L.

Abstract

Kelp forests are ecologically and culturally significant marine habitats that provide critical ecosystem services. Despite increasing concerns over kelp loss, regional-scale analyses of kelp distribution in the Salish Sea remain limited by disparate datasets collected using varying methodologies. This study harmonizes multiple independent kelp datasets through a standardized geospatial data schema, addressing key barriers to data integration. By focusing on essential attributes—observation year, species, and location—this study develops a unified dataset that enables the first comprehensive assessment of kelp distribution trends across the region. Analysis of the harmonized dataset reveals an overall 9.4% regional decline in kelp extent with data representing kelp observations from 1858 - 2024, with localized losses reaching 48% in South Puget Sound. Additionally, results highlight significant survey gaps, particularly in remote regions of the northern Salish Sea, mid-eastern Vancouver Island, and the southern shoreline of Vancouver Island. In contrast, repeat surveys were primarily conducted near Port Townsend and within the San Juan Islands Archipelago. These findings underscore the importance of expanding long-term monitoring efforts to under-surveyed areas. This study highlights the importance of planning surveys that engage volunteers and prioritize a well-structured data schema, ensuring data collection supports comprehensive analysis through to reporting. It emphasizes the need to design monitoring transects based on species distribution modeling (SDM) to capture accurate ecological patterns of absence and presence. Additionally, the research calls for the establishment of a transboundary data repository that adheres to a unified data schema, fostering collaboration and consistency across regions. These steps will be critical for sustaining kelp forests in the Salish Sea and informing long-term conservation and management strategies.

Type

Text

Keywords

kelp, Salish Sea, Geospatial data integration, Ecosystem monitoring, marine habitat, data harmonization, temporal and spatial analysis, conservation planning, transboundary collaboration, GIS

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1520277395

Subject – LCSH

Kelps--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Geospatial data--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Environmental monitoring--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Marine habitats--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Spatial analysis (Statistics); Transborder data flow--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)

Geographic Coverage

Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

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