Section II. Resource Needs Summarized from MBNMS Site Characterization
Sections
All section authors were asked to include several topics in their overviews
which we believed would help us later summarize MBNMS resource needs, including:
Few authors addressed all these subjects, in part due to space limitations
(we had asked authors to limit sections to about 5 pages text plus unlimited
tables and figures, based on scoping meeting suggestions to make the site
characterization a small, concentrated document) and author familiarity
with specific subjects. Therefore, this summary is clearly not comprehensive:
it is as likely to reflect authors' backgrounds, interests and time available
to complete the sections, as much as relative importance of resource needs.
With this caveat in mind, resource needs as identified by section authors
generally fell into two categories: a) needs to better understand basic
natural processes, communities, and/or assemblages; and b) needs to better
understand and/or modify human impacts.
A) Need to better understand basic natural processes, communities, and/or
assemblages.
A lack of information about geographic regions outside Monterey Bay was
identified by several authors. The geology south of Point Sur has been poorly
studied (see Geology II.C.), as have kelp forests
(see Kelp Forest Community) and marine mammal populations
(see Marine Mammals ) both north and south of the
Monterey Bay region.Surprisingly little is apparently known about the water
circulation of the northern and southern bights within Monterey Bay (see
Physical Oceanography section). Most striking, however, was the lack
of information available for the benthic fauna (see
Deeper Bottoms) and chemical processes (see Chemical
Oceanography) of the seafloor beyond Scuba depths, which comprises more
than 90% of the MBNMS.
Other such gaps included:
poorly understood oceanographic processes, i.e.:
- hydraulic effects of headlands on coastal winds, and sensitivity to larger-scale
variations (see Climate and Meteorology section);
- timing and phasing of seasonal oceanographic-meteorologic processes (see
Physical Oceanography section);
· poorly understood communities, i.e.:
- cold seeps (see Cold Seep Communities section);
- cracked and cobble rocky shores (see Rocky Shore Communities
section);
- soft-bottom communities near riverine inputs (see
River Mouths section);
· poorly understood aspects of some assemblages, i.e.:
- sandy beach meiofauna (see Sandy Beach section);
- kelp forest predators, esp. dynamic relationships between them and impact
on kelp community (see Kelp Forest section);
- pelagic fauna at depths greater than 500 m depth (see
Pelagic Zone);
- cetaceans (see Marine Mammals section);
- marine mammal offshore habitat needs and prey resources (see
Marine Mammals section);
- anadromous fish use of nearshore ocean environment (see
Anadromous Fishes section)
B) Need to better understand and/or modify human impacts
Much of the Socioeconomic Uses section summarizes human impacts which should
be referred to directly, and are therefore not resummarized here. However,
nearly all section authors were also concerned about documented or potential
negative human impacts relevant to their specific subjects, i.e.:
Two authors also expressed a need for long-term monitoring studies (see
Rocky Shores, Marine Mammals
sections) to establish baseline information enabling more accurate assessment
of natural variation vs. human impacts.
Interestingly, only one author identified a need to expand on a positive
human impact to MBNMS natural resources, i.e. restoration efforts on local
coastal dunes (see Coastal Dunes section; but also
see marine reserves information in Human Influences
section).
Next - Section III.
Resource Needs Summarized from MBNMS Expert Interviews
Resource Needs Table of
Contents
