Full report - Conservation Gateway

Chapter 1 - Introductionabsorb wave action and storm surges as sea level rises. Theultimate measure of its success is tangible effective marineconservation.Northwest Atlantic Assessment TeamsThe Northwest Atlantic Marine Assessment was led by aCore Team of Conservancy staff that included representativesfrom the three subregions in the study area. TheCore Team conducted monthly meetings to direct theassessment process and other technical issues that arose.Separate teams were also developed to address the followingissues:• The Data Management Team identifiedexisting data sources and produced maps andGeographic Information Systems that synthesizemultiple data layers.• The Communications Team coordinated publicoutreach and conducted a survey of stakeholdersabout their views of the region, and need for dataand potential uses of the assessment.• The Science Team established and organizedeleven technical teams, composed of experts in thefield, to review, compile and analyze data for eachof the focal species and habitats. Each team hada TNC leader who was responsible for workingexternal team members, and drafting andcompleting the chapters in this report.The role of the technical teams was to provide guidance tothe team leader on the selection of species and habitats, toreview data products, provide critical review on the chapters,and ensure that the analyses used were appropriateto the data and species. Members of each technical scienceteam are listed in each chapter.The Conservancy is extremely grateful to the large numberof scientific experts and representatives from government,industry and academia that provided assistance astechnical team members or as participants in our peerreview workshops.This assessment is built on the foundation laid by manyprevious assessments of all or part of the region (seeNRDC 2001; Department of Navy 2005; NCCOS2006; CLF/WWF 2007; Cook and Auster 2007; NMFS2009). As our understanding of marine systems grows,and as tools for analyzing dynamic spatial processes increasein sophistication, we expect more refined and comprehensiveassessments to emerge. Just as this assessmentutilized earlier ecoregional plans and data where it existed,the Conservancy anticipates that future assessments willbuild upon this baseline as scientific knowledge advancesand methods are further refined.The Study Area: TheNorthwest AtlanticAs defined in this assessment, the Northwest Atlanticregion spans the area from Cape Hatteras in NorthCarolina to the northern limit of the Gulf of Maine inCanadian waters, and extends from the mean high tidemark seaward to the foot of the continental slope (depthof 2500 m). The study area includes the shorelines of 11states and two Canadian provinces inhabited by morethan 65 million people.The Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregional Assessmentfocuses on two distinct and well-documented marineecoregions – the Acadian (Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy)and the Virginian (Briggs 1974; Spalding et al. 2007).These two ecoregions nest together within the larger ColdTemperate Northwest Atlantic Province, and the similarlybounded Northeast Continental Shelf Large MarineEcosystem (Spalding et al. 2007; Sherman et al. 1988).The 140,745 square mile Northwest Atlantic study areais divided into three ecological sub-regions (Figure 1-1).These subregions were also based on biogeographic ratherthan political considerations to enable geographicallyappropriate analytical approaches to produce maps andtools to guide ecosystem based conservation. The threesubregions described below have distinct and unique characteristics;stratifying our analyses by subregions enabledmore meaningful and robust analysis of each subregion’scharacteristic habitats and species.1-Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregional Assessment • Phase 1 Report