Climate Change Effects and Adaptation Approaches in Marine and Coastal Ecosystems of the North...

This Phase I draft final report provides a first-ever compilation of what is known—and not known—about climate change effects on marine and coastal ecosystems in the geographic extent of the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NPLCC). The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service funded this report to help inform members of the newly established NPLCC as they assess priorities and begin operations. Production of this report was guided by University of Washington‘s Climate Impacts Group and information was drawn from more than 250 documents and more than 100 interviews. A final report will be published in 2012 following convening of expert focus groups under Phase II of this project. Information in this report focuses on the NPLCC region, which extends from Kenai Peninsula in southcentral Alaska to Bodega Bay in northern California west of the Cascade Mountain Range and Coast Mountains. The region contains approximately 38,200 miles (~ 61,500 km) 1 of coastline and is home to iconic salmon and orca, a thriving fish and shellfish industry, and a wide range of habitats essential for the survival of fish, wildlife, birds, and other organisms. Many of these species, habitats, and ecosystems are already experiencing the effects of a changing climate.