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Climate change impacts on freshwater fish, coral reefs, and related ecosystem services in the United States
Citation:
Climate change impacts on freshwater fish, coral reefs, and related ecosystem services in the United States. CLIMATIC CHANGE. Springer Netherlands, , Netherlands.
Impact/Purpose:
Paper part of CIRA project in special journal issue
Description:
We analyzed the potential physical and economic impacts of climate change on freshwater fisheries and coral reefs in the United States, examining a reference scenario and two policy scenarios that limit global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We modeled shifts in suitable habitat for three freshwater fish guilds and changes in coral reef cover for three regions. We estimated resulting economic impacts from projected changes in recreational fishing and changes in recreational use of coral reefs. In general, coldwater fisheries are projected to be replaced by less desirable fisheries over the 21st century, but these impacts are reduced under the policy scenarios. Similarly, coral cover is projected to decline over the 21st century primarily due to multiple bleaching events, but the policy scenarios delay these declines in Hawaii (but not in South Florida or Puerto Rico). We estimated that policies limiting GHG emissions would provide economic benefits of approximately $17.8 billion over the 21st century associated with maintaining higher values for recreational services for all freshwater fisheries and coral reefs, compared to the reference scenario. These economic values are a subset of the total economic and societal benefits associated with avoiding projected future declines in freshwater fisheries and coral reef cover.
