SLIDE 1 The future of restoration: Gulf of Mexico case study
Extramural Gulf Restoration Research
(an exceptional time and place)
- R. Eugene Turner
- Dept. Oceanography and Coastal Studies
Louisiana State University (euturne@lsu.edu) The Science of Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Restoration Consortium for Ocean Leadership 7 March 2012
SLIDE 2
107 x 106 km2 inhabitable land on Earth = 1.5 ha (3.8 ac) per person
SLIDE 3
107 x 106 km2 inhabitable land on Earth = 3.76 ac per person
SLIDE 4
107 x 106 km2 inhabitable land on Earth = 3.8 ac per person GOM = 5.2 acres per person
SLIDE 5
107 x 106 km2 inhabitable land on Earth = 3.8 ac per person GOM = 5.2 acres per person $5 to 20 Billion = $386 per person ($952 in coastal zone)
SLIDE 6
The usual suspects: Damages before the DWH oil spill and coming soon to a coastal zone near you Pollution Hurricanes Dead Zones Climate change Invasive species Nutrient enrichment Centuries of fishing Flood protection levees Piecemeal development Alteration of river systems Inappropriate development Species losses or endangered Wetland loss (1,835 mi2 in LA)
SLIDE 7
Recognize that ecosystem resilience has been compromised by multiple human interventions predating the spill. Acknowledge that significant future environmental change is inevitable and must be factored into restoration plans and actions for them to endure. Treat the Gulf as a complex and interconnected network of ecosystems from shoreline to deep sea. Recognize that human and ecosystem productivity in the Gulf are codependent and that human needs from, and effects on, the Gulf must be integral to restoration planning.
Framework for Restoration Research
SLIDE 8
Recognize that ecosystem resilience has been compromised by multiple human interventions predating the spill. Acknowledge that significant future environmental change is inevitable and must be factored into restoration plans and actions for them to endure. Treat the Gulf as a complex and interconnected network of ecosystems from shoreline to deep sea. Recognize that human and ecosystem productivity in the Gulf are codependent and that human needs from, and effects on, the Gulf must be integral to restoration planning.
Framework for Restoration Research
SLIDE 9
Recognize that ecosystem resilience has been compromised by multiple human interventions predating the spill. Acknowledge that significant future environmental change is inevitable and must be factored into restoration plans and actions for them to endure. Treat the Gulf as a complex and interconnected network of ecosystems from shoreline to deep sea. Recognize that human and ecosystem productivity in the Gulf are codependent and that human needs from, and effects on, the Gulf must be integral to restoration planning.
Framework for Restoration Research
SLIDE 10
Recognize that ecosystem resilience has been compromised by multiple human interventions predating the spill. Acknowledge that significant future environmental change is inevitable and must be factored into restoration plans and actions for them to endure. Treat the Gulf as a complex and interconnected network of ecosystems from shoreline to deep sea. Recognize that human and ecosystem productivity in the Gulf are codependent and that human needs from, and effects on, the Gulf must be integral to restoration planning.
Framework for Restoration Research
SLIDE 11
Options
SLIDE 12
The soft underbelly of decisions
Stove pipe Fragmented Control issues Baseline shifts Wrong end of the list Sometimes contentious Status quo management Educational infrastructure Not just knowledge lapses Disenfranchised participation
SLIDE 13
The soft underbelly of decisions
Stove pipe Fragmented Control issues Baseline shifts Wrong end of the list Sometimes contentious Status quo management Educational infrastructure Not just knowledge lapses Disenfranchised participation
a “wicked problem set”
SLIDE 14 1957 Early 1980s 2007
McClenachan, L. 2009.
Trophy fish: Key West charter boats
SLIDE 15 1957 Early 1980s 2007
Trophy fish: Key West charter boats
McClenachan, L. 2009.
SLIDE 16 1957 Early 1980s 2007
Trophy fish: Key West charter boats
McClenachan, L. 2009.
SLIDE 17
- 2. GOM Reserves, Laboratories, Parks, etc.
SLIDE 18 3 4 1 5 3 3 2 5 4 1 1 4 3 5 2 1 4 4 4 5 1 5 5 5 1
- 2. GOM Reserves, Laboratories, Parks, etc.
SLIDE 19
- 3. Watersheds and water quality
SLIDE 20 Caernarvon flow path 12
Alliance refinery
- 3. Watersheds, a wicked problem set
50 mi2 of Wetland loss, not wetland restoration
SLIDE 21 Farm payments and fertilizer applications
Broussard, Turner and Westra, in revision
SLIDE 22 Some Implications
- Addressing these coupled issues requires
unprecedented political and social collaboration
- 5,000+ km2 ‘experimental eco-socio-political units*
*Jordan et al. 2007. Sustainable development of the agricultural bio-economy. Science 316: 1570-1571.
SLIDE 23
- Addressing these coupled issues requires
unprecedented political and social collaboration
- 5,000+ km2 ‘experimental eco-socio-political units*
*Jordan et al. 2007. Sustainable development of the agricultural bio-economy. Science 316: 1570-1571.
Some Implications
SLIDE 24
- C. H. Peterson and 18 co-authors 2011
Thank you
