Ecosystem Integration & Assessment

Implementing Actions Meeting
The EIA Priority Issue Team(PIT) met on August 2nd-5th, 2010 in Biloxi, Mississippi as part of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance All Hands meeting to develop a EIA PIT Workplan. Items outlined in the EIA PIT Workplan were prioritized and specific tasks to accomplish the actions were developed. View the new Governor's Action Plan

Ecosystem Services

Humans benefit from a variety of products and services provided by ecosystems, these are called ecosystem services (ES). ES are the contributions from the Gulf of Mexico marine and coastal ecosystems that support, sustain, and enrich human life. They are divided into four categories: supportive (e.g. nutrient cycling), regulating (e.g. disturbance regulation), provisioning (e.g. food), and cultural services (e.g. recreation).

Although ecosystem services are important, cases in which they have been applied to real policies and decisions and rare. For society to make informed decisions about a sustainable use of the environment, a link from the quantification of ES to society’s needs is necessary. Decisions are believed to be incomplete and inefficient if they do not include all benefits and costs, so when do we start including ES into decision-making in the Gulf of Mexico?

ES analysis is multidisciplinary, involving ecologists, physical scientist, modelers, social scientists, and economists. Our team has taken this multidisciplinary approach and has been involved in different projects concerning ES:
(Pictured here: Attendees of the Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Services Collaboratory Meeting in Pensacola, Florida January 14-15th, 2010)

• Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (GecoServ) - Two main goals of this searchable database are to allow the distribution and sharing of information on ES valuation studies and to identify current gaps in the ES literature. Conducting primary studies can be very expensive and time consuming, so many researchers are choosing to use value transfer (VT) instead. The purpose of VT is to estimate the benefits and costs of one study by adapting an estimate from another study. To be able to do that, access to previous studies is essential and databases like the GEcoServ become even more important.  This database is available now at Gecoserv.org.  
• Evaluation of Ecosystem Services of Coastal Habitats- Sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this project aims at generating procedures and tools for mapping ES and the values of those services for Gulf of Mexico coastal habitats. Mustang Island, Texas, a typical Gulf barrier-island system is used as the study area. This project will provide decision support tools and information needed to implement ecosystem-based management.   
• Evaluation and Application of Ecosystem Services for Decision Making in the Gulf of Mexico in support of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Ecosystem Integration and Assessment Priority Issues Team- Sponsored by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the goals of this project include continuing the ongoing work of identifying and cataloging existing information related to the coastal and marine ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico, conducting a data gap analysis and identifying areas where more information is needed, and supporting decision making by integrating ecosystem services values (monetary and non-monetary)in the process. Part of this last initiative will include convening a workshop to identify the mechanisms to incorporate ES into decisions.

Gulf of Mexico Geospatial Tool Development

The EIA has developed decision support tools which will be used by coastal resource managers to address priority issues within the Gulf of Mexico, improving knowledge on the status and health of Gulf resources, and allowing for better management and planning.

GOMA Data Viewer
The US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), in cooperation with the Ecosystem Integration and Assessment PIT, has developed a data visualization tool. This tool provides public access to environmental and economic data that will be used to address priority issues of concern within the Gulf of Mexico. Habitats like oyster reefs and mangroves can be selected and associated geospatial data is viewable with this tool.  

GDAPT - Gulf Data Acquisition Planning Tool
This web mapping application will allow Gulf of Mexico Researcher to view and share data acquisition plans.  This application is being developed using the ESRI ArcGIS Server Silverlight API, and will leverage the work done by the USACE on the USACE Spatial Viewer.