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STRESSED SEBATES: A TRAIT-BASED EVALUATION OF CLIMATE RISKS TO ROCKFISHES OF THE NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC USING THE COASTAL BIOGEOGRAPHIC RISK ANALYSIS TOOL (CBRAT)
Citation:
Marko, K., D. Reusser, H. Lee, C. Folger, AND R. Graham. STRESSED SEBATES: A TRAIT-BASED EVALUATION OF CLIMATE RISKS TO ROCKFISHES OF THE NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC USING THE COASTAL BIOGEOGRAPHIC RISK ANALYSIS TOOL (CBRAT). Presented at Pacific Estuarine Research Society, Newport, OR, April 03 - 05, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
This abstract represents a poster that will be given at a regional meeting of pacific northwest estuarine scientists. The purpose of this poster will be to identify species' traits of rockfishes that make them more or less vulnerable to various climate change scenarios.
Description:
The EPA and USGS have developed a framework to evaluate the relative vulnerability of near-coastal species to impacts of climate change. This framework is implemented in a web-based tool, the Coastal Biogeographic Risk Analysis Tool (CBRAT). We evaluated the vulnerability of the 74 rockfish (Sebastes spp.) that are currently known to occur in 12 MEOW (Marine Ecoregions of the World) northeastern Pacific ecoregions from the Beaufort Sea down through the Gulf of California. Using traits such as relative abundance at an ecoregion scale, population declines, growth, productivity, and habitat preferences, we assigned a high vulnerability score to 39 of the 74 species of Northeast Pacific Sebastes in one or more ecoregions. 16 of the 30 (53%) rockfish species occurring within the Puget Sound ecoregion were given a high vulnerability, and 20 of the 52 (38%) rockfish species were given a high vulnerability in the Oregon, Washington Outer Coast ecoregion. Current population decline (largely from over fishing) coupled with projected additional stresses from climate change is the single most important trait, accounting for 38% of the high vulnerability classifications. The second most important trait, accounting for 31% of the high vulnerability classifications, was rarity in the southernmost ecoregion of a species’ range, which presumably reflects a vulnerability to climate warming. Greater detail regarding the process of assigning vulnerability scores, as well as an analysis of vulnerability by ecoregion will be presented.