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Seascapes: Getting to Know the Sea Around Us. A Guide to Characterizing Marine and Coastal Areas By Peter H. Taylor, Waterview Consulting & Jennifer Atkinson, Quebec-Labrador Foundation
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People increasingly seek to understand the nature and human uses of the ocean in order to address environmental and resource management issues. The marine area characterization process decribed in this guide can be used to produce a well-rounded, comprehensive, and reliable compendium of information that will be invaluable for countless purposes.
Perhaps a particular local issue has gotten you interested in learning about the bay near your home. Perhaps you work at a government or non-government organization involved in ocean and coastal management, and you need to make decisions using information about a particular geographic area. You may have found that valuable, pertinent information about your geographic area is widely scattered, and no one has put it together into a useful form—a marine area characterization.
The need and desire for information about the sea and shore has never been greater. Generally, the goals of a marine area characterization are to
- gather and integrate information about a marine area,
- communicate the information, and
- use the information to guide resource management decisions.
How does one go about characterizing a marine area in a meaningful way? What information is needed? How should the information be obtained and organized? How can the findings be communicated so they are useful? This guide answers those questions.
Section 1: Introduction
Background
What Is a Marine Area Characterization?
Who Performs a Marine Area Characterization?
Why Conduct a Marine Area Characterization?
Examples of Marine Area Characterization Projects
Section 2: A Course of Action for Marine Area Characterization
Overview
Planning
Developing Tools and Acquiring Resources
Conducting the Characterization
Section 3: Components of a Marine Area Characterization
Overview
Oceanographic and Physiographic Components
Biological Components
Human Dimensions Components
Appendix A: Maine Information Sources
Oceanographic and Physiographic Components
Biological Components
Human Dimensions Components
Oceanographic and Physiographic Components
- Substrate Types
- Bathymetry
- Circulation and Currents
- Tides, Tidal Currents
- Winds
- Sea Level
- Vertical Profiles of Temperature, Salinity, and Density
Biological Components
- Historical Perspective on Ecological Changes
- Habitats
- Plants and Animals
- Phytoplankton
- Macrophytes
- Invertebrates
- Fish
- Marine Birds
- Marine Mammals
- Sea Turtles
Human Dimensions Components
- Human Population
- Community Economic Profile
- Land Ownership
- Land Use and Land Cover
- Fisheries and Fishing Industries
- Maritime Transport and Commerce
- Marine Research and Monitoring Sites and Facilities
- Transportation Infrastructure
- Manufacturing Sites
- Natural Resource Use
- Residential Development
- Recreation (Individual, Commercial)
- Public and Private Waterfront Access
- Protected/Conserved/High-Value Natural Areas
- Tidal Restrictions and Barriers to Fish Passage
- Riparian Buffers
- Habitat Restoration Project Sites
- Significant Cultural Sites (Prehistoric, Historical, Current)
- Point Source Pollution (Known or Potential)
- Management Framework for Shore and Water
- Regulatory Framework for Shore and Water
Taylor, Peter H. and Jennifer Atkinson. 2008. Seascapes: Getting to Know the Sea Around Us. A Guide to Characterizing Marine and Coastal Areas. Quebec-Labrador Foundation, Inc. www.qlf.org. 80 p.
Project Manager: Jennifer Atkinson, Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment
Working Group Coordinator: Tracy Hart, Maine Sea Grant
Project Working Group:
William Ambrose, Heather Deese, Michele Dionne, Molly Docherty, Lee Doggett, Stewart Fefer, Jill Fegley, Edward Hawes, Anne Hayden, Elizabeth Hertz, Carol Janzen, John Lichter, Linda Mercer, Slade Moore, Joe Payne, Neal Pettigrew, Linda Rowe, John Sowles, Andrew Thomas, Sean Todd, Barbara Vickery, Richard Wahle, Huijie Xue, Steve Zeeman
Text Reviewers:
Barbara Arter, Jay Astle, Seth Barker, Deborah Chapman, Charles Curtin, Heather Deese, Michele Dionne, Tracy Hart, Edward Hawes, Anne Hayden, Kathleen Leyden, Linda Mercer, Slade Moore, Joe Payne, Craig Pendleton, Kristen Puryear, Laura Singer, Barbara Vickery, Steve Walker
Writer: Peter H. Taylor, Waterview Consulting
Designer: Kathlyn Tenga-González, Maine Sea Grant
Research Assistant: Elizabeth Stephenson
Produced by the Quebec-Labrador Foundation, Inc. with funding in part from the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Award No. NA04OAR4600075 and NA05OAR46011152, and the generous support of the Davis Conservation Foundation, Maine Sea Grant, Maine Coastal Program, Surdna Foundation, and Wallis Foundation.
