New Integrated Ecosystem Assessments are Completed by NGI Ecosystem Team
September 18, 2012
![Story Photo](/NewsEvents/images/2012/EcoModel_mcanally2012_500.jpg)
With support from NOAA, NGI's Ecosystem Team has just completed Integrated Ecosystem Assessments for four northern Gulf of Mexico estuaries: Galveston Bay, Texas; Barataria Basin, Louisiana; Mississippi Sound in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama; and Perdido Bay, Florida.
An integrated ecosystem assessment is a fusion of information about relevant physical, chemical, ecological, and human processes in relation to specified resource management objectives, such as sustainable fisheries and recreation. It assists management with critical decision-making and policy matters. The four estuaries selected represented a variety of northern Gulf of Mexico estuarine ecosystems over a narrow range of latitude, and offered ample opportunities for contrast and comparison in the assessments.
The Ecosystem Team found that human-related processes dominated all four of the estuaries. Ecosystem stresses include increased fishing pressures, urban/coastal development, boat traffic, nutrients from runoff, and increased pollution. The results and models created by the Team can be used to evaluate strategies for environmentally and economically-sustainable development and use.
The NGI Ecosystem Team is composed of researchers from University of Southern Mississippi; Mississippi State University; Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Alabama; Louisiana State University, Harte Research Institute(Texas A & M), Florida State University, and US EPA Gulf Ecology Division. The team's contributions of the resource management assessments can lead to a sustained vibrant economy and a healthy environment.
For more information on this effort, contact
Dr. William McAnally, Mississippi State University.
View the full
Ecosystem Assessment Management Report.