CHALLENGESChanging Ecosystems

CHALLENGESOne Ocean, Many Users – Cumulative Impacts

WHO WE ARECHONe II

SUSTAINABLE OCEANS

Challenges And Solutions

SOLUTIONSHow much risk is too much?

SOLUTIONSA Connected Ocean

SOLUTIONSConservation Strategies

W H O W E A R E The Canadian Healthy Oceans Network II (CHONe II) ... a strategic partnership of Canadian university researchers and government scientists, brings together 39 researchers from 11 universities, one community college, and multiple federal research labs from coast to coast in Canada. The Network trains a large group of interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers.

CHONe’s research explores the characteristics that define how Canada’s oceans will respond to management strategies, such as networks of Marine Protected Areas, spatial closures, and restoration efforts. Our research also clarifies and quantifies how ocean stressors such as pollution, climate change and fishing, individually and collectively, alter the diversity of life in the ocean and how ocean environments work, including those environments we use most intensively to obtain food and other resources.

The large geographic scope and diverse resources we extract from Canada’s oceans mean that scientists from across the country must work toward common objectives, sharing diverse research tools and common scientific approaches. Ocean stakeholders need an active network of marine scientists to apply leading-edge scientific knowledge to develop sustainable ocean use strategies. CHONe contributes to Canada’s national and international commitments on sustainable oceans, including the National Conservation Plan, while simultaneously advancing basic knowledge of ocean life.

[CHONe II]

The diversity of ocean life from genes to species to ecosystems represents an irreplaceable natural heritage crucial to human and Earth’s well-being, linking closely to sustainable use of ocean resources. The global ocean provides 95% of Earth’s liveable environment, hosts the greatest breadth of species diversity, produces about half of the oxygen we breathe, provides significant food resources, supports diverse industries, and regulates climate.

S U S TA I N A B L E O C E A N SC H A L L E N G E S A N D S O L U T I O N S

S U S TA I N A B L E O C E A N SCHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONSOceans worldwide show clear evidence of significant ecological changes, including warming, declining extent and thickness of sea ice, increasing acidification, oxygen depletion, food web changes, and declines in multiple commercial fish stocks.

Oceans change in response to natural and human stressors that threaten both marine biodiversity and ocean health. Maintaining healthy oceans requires effective strategies for conservation and sustainable use based on strong science. These important objectives require new research that pushes the boundaries of current knowledge of marine ecosystems.

Maintaining healthy oceans requires effective conservation and sustainable use strategies based on strong science.

Society needs conservation actions that achieve real benefits that help mitigate human pressures on ocean ecosystems. CHONe supports ocean policy and management actions that promote sustainable development and economic activity for future generations.

[CHONe II]

• COASTAL STRESSORS

• SEA GRASS AND SEAWEED STRESSORS

• OCEAN OXYGEN AND TRAWLING EFFECTS ON ECOLOGICAL FUNCTION

• INDICATORS RELATED TO LARGE SEA FLOOR ANIMALS

• FOOD WEB RESILIENCY

• OCEAN NOISE CREATED BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES

C H A L L E N G E SC H A L L E N G E S A N D S O L U T I O N S

O N E O C E A N , MANY USERSHuman-induced changes increasingly alter the physical, chemical, and biological environment of ocean ecosystems. Increasingly, ocean managers in Canada require information on the impacts of multiple stressors such as warming, hypoxia, acidification, and invasive species on biological communities. Thus, researchers must evaluate information on past and current stressors and biological communities at various scales in time and space to establish relationships between stressors and biological response. CHONe II aims to understand how key stressors, individually and cumulatively, alter marine biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services in environments we frequently use and depend on.

C O A S TA L S T R E S S O R S Embayments include some of the most diverse and productive coastal features in the ocean. Often, a large suite of variables, both natural (e.g. freshwater river and estuarine inputs) and anthropogenic (e.g. sewage outfalls, ports, dredging), influence embayments, where human impacts often increase over time in both magnitude and frequency. Managers increasingly must consider multiple stressors in their management decisions and thus require better understanding of how interaction of stressors impacts the biota and the ecological processes those species support. However, potentially complex interactions among stressors complicate prediction of cumulative effects. In addition, managers increasingly seek simple measures (indicators) of biological communities (or “ecological health”) because cost and access may limit sampling opportunities.

In partnership with the City and Port Authority of Sept-Iles, Quebec and their research arm INREST, CHONe addresses how interaction of natural and anthropogenic stressors influences water column and seafloor communities on a sub-Arctic coastline, and evaluates indicators of biological status and change. Our research focusses on Baie de Sept-Îles, which will soon receive more ballast water than any other port in North America, and three adjacent embayments, two relatively pristine (Baie de Moisie, and Baie Sainte-Marguerite) and another with significant shipping activity (Port Cartier).

T H I S C H O N e R E S E A R C H : • Evaluates how the dynamics of sunlight interact with photosynthetic organisms in a subarctic costal embayment (Baie de Sept-Îles), considering how both biological and environmental variables drive this dynamic process (PhD student, Carlos Araújo),

• Describes natural and human-induced stressors at high resolution and predicts seafloor community composition in Baie de Sept-Îles along gradients of human disturbance, identifies hotspots of cumulative impacts of human activities, and characterizes the status of coastal seafloor communities of Sept-Îles ecosystems at local and regional spatial scales (PhD student, Elliot Dreujou)

• Evaluates ecosystem health indicators at a local scale and develops a measure of cumulative impact (Postdoctoral researcher Filippo Ferrario)

• Assesses the impacts of ice scouring and excess nutrient inputs on seagrass and associated biological communities and the ecological processes or “functions” they support, such as breakdown of organic matter at the sediment-water interface, and develops an indicator of resilience in seagrass ecosystems (Postdoctoral researcher Ludovic Pascal) • Identifies the response of seafloor organisms to three types of stressors to evaluate their individual and potential synergistic effects after different exposure times (MSc student Charlotte Carrier-Belleau)

S E A G R A S S & S E AW E E D S T R E S S O R S Many marine ecosystems can withstand substantial environmental change, but too much change can cause sudden and potentially irreversible decline in ecosystem health. CHONe seagrass and seaweed stressor projects ask how much change is too much, and whether the answer varies among species, ecosystems, and type of change.

Given the prevalence of such phase shifts or “tipping points” that may exist in many systems, managers want to identify and avoid such change because of the much greater challenge in reversing a phase shift than in

preserving an intact ecosystem.

This CHONe research focuses on declining shallow-water seagrass meadows and seaweed beds in Canada, and understanding their functioning, vulnerability, and resiliency to multiple stressors. Experimental manipulation of temperature, nutrients, and sediment levels in laboratory experiments helps in understanding how marine plants respond to stress, and field studies aid in evaluating if patterns in nature match our laboratory results.

This CHONe research: (PhD students Sandra Emry, Jillian Dunic, Manon Picard):

• Evaluates the relationship between drivers of change and response of seaweeds/eelgrass meadows,

• Identifies and compares phase shifts across single drivers,

• Tests identify and compare phase shifts across multiple stressors,

• Compares responses across species.

O C E A N O X YG E N A N D TRAWLING EFFECTS ON ECOLOGICAL FUNCTION Oxygen concentrations and trawling activities may influence seabed diversity and abundance, as well as the capacity of seabed ecosystems (including microbes and invertebrates) to undertake critical functions such as the breakdown of organic matter and regeneration of nutrients essential for photosynthesizing phytoplankton that form the base of the marine food web. Although previous research documents impacts of reduced oxygen and bottom trawling, little information exists on how these human-induced perturbations interact.

The continental slope off Vancouver Island offers a unique opportunity to examine the cumulative effects of these drivers of change because past studies mapped oxygen concentrations and trawling activities in detail and indicate locations where these activities overlap and where either one or neither occurs. These maps provide an opportunity to examine separate and combined effects of these activities on seabed organisms spanning from microbes to small invertebrates to fish. This work include short-term experimental manipulations of oxygen to determine how these pressures affect “ecosystem engineers” such as flatfish, and how they function in recycling silica and other nutrients.

This CHONe research will evaluate cumulative impacts of trawling and hypoxia on Northwest Pacific deep-sea seafloor invertebrate and microbial functioning. More specifically:

• Understand how different levels of oxygen interact with trawling in how they singly and collectively influence organic matter decomposition and burial, nutrient regeneration, and oxygenation of sediments, and how these link to the diversity and function of seafloor invertebrates (PhD student Alessia Ciraolo) and microbes (PhD student Brett Jameson).

• Evaluate the response of increasingly severe low oxygen (hypoxia) events on seafloor communities to assess dysfunction and long-term impacts. (MSc student

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I N D I C AT O R S R E L AT E D TO LARGE SEAFLOOR ANIMALS Human-induced changes of the physical, chemical, and biological environment increasingly place pressure on ocean ecosystems. The high diversity of large animals that live on the seafloor make them good indicators of environmental status. Although many indices of benthic status have been developed based on biota elsewhere, few studies have evaluated such change in the Canadian context or for animals commonly sampled in fisheries research surveys. This CHONe research examines the influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on seafloor communities by relating maps of environmental stressors on those for seafloor biota in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and adapts exiting indicators of ecosystem condition for Canadian waters.

This CHONe research: • Evaluates the cumulative impacts of human and natural environmental drivers on seafloor communities of the Gulf of St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf (PhD student David Beauchesne)

• Evaluates indicators of biological status in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and analyzes the ecological niche of indicator species to identify indicator species of seafloor biota and evaluate their ecological niche based on multiple environmental variables and traits of organisms such as feeding type and mobility (MSc student Laurie Isabel)

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F O O D W E B R E S I L I E N C Y

Ecosystem function, resilience, biodiversity, and sustainability depend on transfers of energy and essential nutrients through

marine food webs.

Food web status offers a potentially useful tool to assess cumulative impacts of natural and human induced stressors, and evaluate the success of conservation actions. These transfers depend on the quantity of photosynthetic production and the quality or nutritive value of the organic matter that phytoplankton produce and pass up the food web through feeding interactions. In this regard, transfer of lipids in food items provides the greatest energy transfer to fishes and other vertebrates, and include essential fatty acids considered important drivers of health and stability in organisms, ecosystems, and even humans.

Our observational and experimental approaches are establishing relationships between multiple environmental stressors (e.g. warming and acidification), nutrients (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus), and presence of different types of lipids and food markers in key organisms in the water and on the seafloor.

Specifically, CHONe: • Assesses biological productivity (phytoplankton) across spatial gradients in nutrient availability and the physical environment (turbidity/light, acidification, temperature, salinity) (PhD student Vincent Marmillot)

• Analyzes composition of lipids and fatty acids in phytoplankton and zooplankton at the base of marine food webs (MSc student Jenna MacKinnon).

O C E A N N O I S E C R E AT E DB Y H U M A N A C T I V I T I E S Rapid development in acoustics in fisheries science and marine biology allows scientists to use underwater technology to listen to the noisy aquatic realm, and catalogue how fish and invertebrates respond to natural and human induced sound. Exposure of fish (and likely invertebrates) to intense but brief noise (such as pile driving or seismic air guns), can potentially cause tissue damage, temporary hearing loss, displacement, reduced survival, and even death. Less intense, but longer lasting sounds from sources such as vessel traffic can potentially impact much larger areas and more species. These chronic, sub-lethal effects may include masking communication between individuals such as whales, increase stress levels that alter growth and reproduction, change distributions, and reduce ability to locate prey or detect predators.

CHONe researchers collect soundscape information to analyse natural sounds as well as those created by human activities, including marine transportation and seismic exploration activity.

CHONe researchers deployed hydrophones (underwater microphones) and cameras along the coast of British Columbia to build a catalog of fish sounds and locations to monitor different species of fish. In addition to recording natural “soundscapes”, laboratory experiments on fish species from Canada’s east and west coasts help us understand behaviour and measure potential physiological effects. On the east coast, our work focuses on snow crab, Atlantic cod, and redfish. Our west coast research focuses on salmon, sablefish, and rockfish. Additional experiments examine planktonic species (phytoplankton and zooplankton) and larval stages of some seafloor invertebrate species (bivalves, barnacles, and tunicates) to assess impacts of noise on feeding, growth, and survival. Our research contributes to ongoing industry-funded research on potential effects of human induced noise and mitigating concerns of the oil and gas, fishing, and aquaculture industries.

Passive acoustics (“listening” with underwater microphones) can monitor presence, behavior, and (potentially) relative abundance of fish without causing harm or removing individuals.

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T H I S C H O N e R E S E A R C H : • Catalogs and monitors fish sounds in British Columbia and estimates fish abundance using passive acoustics (PhD student Xavier Mouy)

• Investigates noise levels within vs. adjacent to Rockfish Conservation Areas in British Columbia and investigates the effect of kelp forests as sound buffers (MSc student Katrina Nikolich)

• Determines the impact of vessel noise on the feeding behavior and growth of blue mussel larval stages, as well as effects on copepod, rotifer, and microalgae productivity (MSc student Ariane Aspirault)

• Determines the impact of different intensity of industrial noise (vessels and drilling) on the feeding behavior, growth, and settlement of larval bivalves, barnacles and tunicates (MSc student Gauthier Cervello).

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C H A L L E N G E SC H A N G I N G E C O S Y S T E M S

[CHONe II]

• MONITORING IMPORTANT HABITATS

• LAURENTIAN CHANNEL MARINE

PROTECTED AREA

• VEGETATED COASTAL CHANEL

M O N I T O R I N G I M P O R TA N T H A B I TAT S Some Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs, or regions identified by scientists and managers as particularly important) merit protection as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Fisheries and Oceans Canada Sensitive Benthic Areas (SBA) Policy, which aims to mitigate impacts of fishing, or avoid impacts (including indirect effects) likely to cause serious or irreversible harm to sensitive seabed habitat, communities, or species, may also consider EBSAs identified for their significance for species that occupy the seabed (also termed “benthic”) habitats.

The life histories of the sea squirt Boltenia ovifera and horse mussel Modiolus modiolus, two species that create reef habitats that support other species, elevate risk of serious or irreversible harm from seabed-contact fishing gear. Current knowledge gaps on the distributions of these species and the biota that associate with them limit conservation management decisions. Complex coastlines with adjacent islands and subtidal reefs in this, and other coastal EBSAs, represent challenging environments within which to assess seafloor species.

This project evaluates different seabed video survey tools and tests new imaging technologies. Field investigations use imaging systems lowered from a surface boat or used by divers to document the distributions and characteristics of sea squirt and horse mussel beds. Outputs from these analyses increase spatial management options by using seabed video surveys to identify, characterize, and monitor priority areas for coastal conservation efforts.

This CHONe research will: • Documents the spatial distribution of two indicator species, sea squirt and horse mussel, within the coastal Head Harbour/ West Isles/Passages EBSA (The late Callum Mireault, posthumous MSc)

• Evaluates new imagining techniques, image processing and editing software and techniques, and creates protocols for using coastal imaging systems

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L A U R E N T I A N C H A N N E LM A R I N E P R O T E C T E D A R E A The Government of Canada recently designated the Laurentian Channel Marine Protected Area (MPA), off the continental shelf of Newfoundland and Labrador, as Canada’s newest and largest MPA. Using remotely operated vehicles and cameras lowered from surface ships, CHONe research addresses key aspects of the conservation and research objectives associated with the MPA, particularly in helping to develop effective reference sites and strategies to enable Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to monitor the status of key ecosystem indicators. Conservation objectives for this MPA include the protection of deep-water corals (principally sea pens), as well as black dogfish, smooth skate, porbeagle shark, Northern wolffish and leatherback sea turtles.

This CHONe research: • Evaluates proposed conservation and research objectives for the Laurentian Channel MPA priority fishes

• Evaluates abundance and biodiversity of benthic invertebrates and their role in nutrient and materials cycling (PhD student Marta Miatta)

• Assesses the ecology of sea pens including age, growth, and skeletal composition, and environmental associations and potentially suitable habitat (MSc student Krista Greeley)

• Evaluates spatial structure, and species and environmental associations of large seafloor biota and assesses the effectiveness of the MPA for conserving these groups. (PhD student Sarah de Mendonca)

• Assesses size distribution and biodiversity of fish associated with regions of different density occurrence of sea pen and other deep-sea coral and sponges within and in adjacent waters of the Laurentian Channel MPA (PhD student MarionBoulard)

• Proposes cost-effective monitoring protocols and strategies, applicable to other large deep-water MPAs (all students on project)

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V E G E TAT E D C O A S TA L \E C O S Y S T E M S Coastal ecosystems are home to various complex vegetated habitats, including seagrass meadows, rockweed beds, and kelp forests. A functioning coastal ocean depends on these habitats, which provide important ecosystem services to humans, and also support offshore fish populations and ecosystems. Yet coastal habitats experience some of the greatest impacts of cumulative human activities, including pollution, harvesting, aquaculture, invasive species and climate change. Therefore, sustaining their functions and services, and their resilience to future change, requires the development of sound management and conservation strategies. This CHONe research informs the selection of potential Areas of Interest (AOIs) and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Canada’s coastal waters and quantifies the ecological benefits derived from coastal conservation areas and management initiatives. Because coastal ecosystems provide multiple ecosystem services to Canadians, ranging from recreation to the provision of raw materials, this research contributes to the protection and continued provision of those services for future generations.

This CHONe research: • Develops a set of ecological measures that best describes the ecosystem status of vegetated coastal ecosystems, with a focus on seagrass beds

• Assesses how these measures change across human impact gradients and existing management efforts

• Identifies useful indicators for planning and evaluating management and conservation strategies. (Postdoctoral researcher Grace Murphy)

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Many marine ecosystems experience intense human impacts, including increasing ocean temperatures, pollution, and effects of many other human activities. Unfortunately, complex changes in how a system responds complicate understanding of how these impacts may alter ecosystems. For example, a stressed ecosystem might not steadily decline, but rather reach some threshold where processes and species ‘collapse’ or change dramatically.

S O L U T I O N SH O W M U C H R I S K I S T O O M U C H ?[CHONe II]

• ENDEAVOUR RISK ASSESSMENT

• SEA GRASS PROTECTION

• SPONGE FUNCTION AND RESILIENCY

E N D E AV O U R R I S K A S S E S S M E N T The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area (MPA), established in 2002, recognizes its unique ecosystem and unusual species. In order to help Fisheries and Oceans Canada formulate a risk assessment approach in support of their MPA Management Plan, CHONe research examines the dominant bcosysiota.

This work focuses on “functional traits” in vent communities, which refers to the features of biota related to ecological processes. Most assessments of Marine Protected Area biodiversity focus on species identity and abundances.

Not all species contribute equally to ecosystem processes, so functional diversity indices are useful in describing variation in traits that influence how species contribute to

ecosystem processes.

By understanding how communities work, research can identify whole-community indicators of stress response. The idea is to validate the current approach and assess a “whole-community” method that may be useful for other MPA assessments.

This CHONe research: • Evaluates the efficacy of functional trait and community function tools to support current risk assessment approaches in Marine Protected Areas (PhD student Sheryl Murdock, PhD student Abbie Chapman)

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S E A G R A S S P R O T E C T I O N

Seagrass meadows host an impressive diversity of invertebrates, fishes, and birds, providing food and shelter for these organisms

and thus supporting a much wider marine ecosystem.

CHONe research documents biodiversity in British Columbian seagrass meadows, and evaluates the role of seagrass as a driver of key functions such as fish and seabird productivity spillover. Field surveys and field and lab experiments assess seagrass-associated faunal diversity, its relationship to ocean conditions associated with changing climate (temperature, salinity, turbidity and pH), and its dependence on landscape structure and fragmentation of seagrass through habitat loss. This research seeks primarily to understand how seagrass meadows support biodiversity in the context of the landscape – other seagrass meadows as a function of distance.

This CHONe research: • Documents the structure, function, and diversity of seagrass-associated food webs and effects of human impacts on eelgrass communities (PhD student Emily Adamczyk) • Evaluates how landscape structure and seagrass habitat fragmentation define movement among patches and biodiversity patterns (MSc student John Cristiani)

S P O N G E F U N C T I O NA N D R E S I L I E N C Y Effective ecosystem function relies on a diversity of species in a community, but increasingly scientists appreciate the essential roles of particular species as well as special characteristics

of the environment for functioning of the whole ecosystem.

Established, healthy, ecosystems rely on a diversity of species to function effectively. However, many ecosystems depend upon a small number of foundation species that support other species, and require particular environmental characteristics to survive. Quantifying the key components of the environment, the linkages between them, and the effects of external forces on these linkages helps understand ecosystem services and function, and can inform management strategies. The seafloor habitats of Hecate Strait/Queen Charlotte Sound, and neighboring fjords harbor thousand-year-old glass sponge reefs covering hundreds of kilometers of seafloor.

Because these reefs support diverse communities of fishes and invertebrates and are hotspots for nutrient cycling, DFO identified them as an Area of Interest that could eventually become one of Canada’s largest Marine Protected Areas.

This CHONe research: • Quantifies ecosystem functions of sponges, specifically their role in creating habitat for other species and filtering water, and identifies environmental conditions that maintain resilience and productivity of sponge reefs and their communities. (MSc student Lauren Law)

• Develops models to monitor ecosystem function, including identifying key data relevant to managers regarding sponge communities in all 3 of Canada’s oceans (MSc student Nathan Grant).

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A C O N N E C T E D O C E A NManagers often use Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to conserve biodiversity and manage populations subjected to strong human pressures. Networks of MPAs can add additional insurance and effectiveness, but design of networks requires consideration of social, economic, and ecological criteria.

A network of marine protected areas (MPAs) is `a collection of MPAs and other conserved areas that operate cooperatively to safeguard important ecological components of the ocean and

marine biodiversity as a whole.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada Video

Ecologically, most MPA network applications protect representative habitats and attempt to replicate protection of a given habitat type as a means of insurance. However, an MPA network should ensure that the sum effect of protection exceeds the individual parts, which is where connectivity – the connectedness of environments - becomes essential.

A network designed to help persistence of a species or habitat must ensure ample replacement of each patch or population from either local retention or recruitment from neighboring patches.

[CHONe II]

• MPAs AND CONNECTIVITY

• MPA OPTIMIZATION

• MPA LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY

• SHRIMP MODELLING

• GENETIC CONNECTIVITY MODELS

• OCEAN NURSERIES

S O L U T I O N SA C O N N E C T E D O C E A N

M PA s A N D C O N N E C T I V I T Y Despite its particular relevance as an ecological criterion for networks of MPAs (MPAn), surprisingly few networks consider population connectivity. Specifically, population connectivity can sometimes drive the decision making process, particularly for MPAs with limited self-recruitment or where the minimum number of individuals needed to maintain a species (viable population size) exceeds the number of protected individuals. In such instances, researchers can quantify the enhanced economic benefits of including connectivity in management decisions, but we lack such research. Furthermore, future connectivity patterns may well differ from those observed today, particularly under climate change scenarios; “temporal connectivity” remains a critical yet unstudied element of conservation planning.

Connectivity means ecosystem connectivity; habitat connectivity; connectivity among ecological processes; population connectivity- the exchange of materials, energy, species or

individuals among spatially distinct entities; genetic connectivity; temporal connectivity - connectivity through time.

CHONe research quantifies the relative importance of connectivity relative to other ecological selection criteria for MPAs and its added benefits (e.g. spillover), and identifies economic benefits and costs of incorporating connectivity into management decisions. Ultimately, we seek to identify scenarios where managers should prioritize connectivity considerations, including rules of thumb that link the spatial extent of planning to different life stages of an organism and their connectivities, which may differ for various species types. This project will also examine any trade-offs between protected habitats that represent key features (including connectivity) in the present versus the future, and the impact of different MPAN scenarios on current and future human uses.

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T H I S C H O N e R E S E A R C H : • Incorporates adult movement into MPA planning in Northern British Columbia and investigate changes in connectivity patterns over time. (MSc student Sarah Friesen)

• Incorporates connectivity changes over time (caused by climate change and expected range shifts in species) into MPA planning to explore how such consideration in conservation planning could help coastal communities. (PhD student Charlotte Whitney)

• Investigates current use of ecological connectivity in MPAs and compares simple metrics of connectivity in Nova Scotia kelp forests to evaluate trade-offs of considering social connectivity in MPA design to identify and quantify multiple levels of trade-offs in MPA network planning. (PhD student Arieanna Balbar)

• Evaluates the impacts of an invasive species on the effectiveness of a MPA. (MSc student Conrad Pratt)

• Determines the extent to which relative prioritizing of social, cultural, economic and ecological considerations in MPA network design affects their collective outcomes (social, economic, and ecological benefits). (PhD student Adrian Gerhartz)

• Examines MPA connectivity in highly migratory species. (Master of Marine Affairs student Catherine Schram)

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M PA s O P T I M I Z AT I O N Species movement and dispersal of immigrants that connect marine populations can help

restore depleted local populations and renew genetic diversity.

Although Canada’s Oceans Act prioritizes ‘linking Canada’s network of marine protected areas’, network design in Canada has yet to embrace connectivity. Our research will develop a framework to select MPAs as spatial networks with a two-step prioritising design ensuring (1) regional marine connectivity and (2) representivity of local habitats and species. This spatial framework will favor establishing MPA networks composed of (i) a few large MPAs, acting as a habitat hub for regional connectivity, (ii) surrounded by smaller “stepping stone” MPAs distributed within species dispersal ranges, thus ensuring persistence of multiple populations and communities. This research will use DFO fish survey data from Atlantic and Pacific coastal marine ecosystems.

This research will help in managing coastal ecosystem use across Canada by proposing short-term and long-term strategies to establish MPAs. Such networks of MPAs will help maintain healthy and productive aquatic ecosystems and sustainable fisheries for all Canadians. Noting increasing pressure on marine ecosystems in Atlantic Canada, we will develop a prioritisation framework to select location and size of MPAs with broader application to other marine coastal ecosystems in Canada and beyond.

This CHONe research will: • Evaluate the movements and interactions among three key species in the Atlantic Canadian ocean ecosystem to inform MPA network design: capelin – a keystone species, and two of their major predators – cod and seabirds. (PhD student Samantha Andrews)

• Improve understanding of the features and significance of geographic movement of food, nutrients, and larval stages across different ecosystem types in order to develop a framework for optimizing the design of MPA networks. (PhD student Tianna Peller)

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M PA s L A N D S C A P E E C O L O G Y Recent developments in acoustic survey techniques use sound to image, map, and understand seafloor ecosystems. In turn, this approach has advanced seabed mapping strategies to produce fine-scale thematic maps (e.g. generalized biophysical maps of the seafloor; habitat maps for individual species generated from species distribution modelling (SDM) methods) by incorporating seafloor biological/geological information from sampling the environments. This approach now yields the spatial information required to test concepts of landscape ecology for seafloor ecosystems.

Our research focuses on three MPAs in Atlantic Canada, including Eastport MPA (Newfoundland and Labrador), St Anns Bank MPA (Nova Scotia) and Laurentian Channel MPA (Newfoundland and Labrador). Our research quantifies seafloor landscape patterns at these sites to determine how these patterns influence seafloor biodiversity across spatial scales, and thus investigate how this information can influence and guide design and selection of long-term monitoring stations and management strategies at each site. Specifically,

This CHONe research: • Tests landscape ecology concepts over a range of spatial scales at these sites, by blending coarser resolution ship-based acoustic data in Laurentian Channel (Postdoctoral researcher Myriam Lacharite) with high-resolution acoustic data from Eastport (MSc student Beatrice Proudfoot) across a range of conservation area sizes and locations (shallow vs deep, nearshore vs offshore).

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S H R I M P M O D E L I N G The Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) shrimp fishery, one of the most important fisheries in Canada in landings and economic value, has changed considerably over the last five decades. Following the collapse of major pelagic and groundfish stocks in the late 1980s, the abundance of two invertebrates (northern shrimp – Pandalus borealis; snow crab – Chionoecetes opilio) increased dramatically until the mid-2000s, after which both species began to decline, partly in response to changing environmental conditions. DFO manages shrimp off Newfoundland and Labrador as different stocks, based on fishing areas that account for differences in regional productivity. However, shrimp live in waters that flow from north to south, and we know little about the extent of their drift and larval survival in relation to spawning location. CHONe research investigates potential drift among fishing areas by applying different assumptions about how larval stages behave to a regional ocean circulation model in order to evaluate larval retention, exchange, and dispersal within and among shrimp fishing areas. These models utilize different combinations of temperature, food availability and larval development rates, daily and development-related movement from surface to deeper waters based on previous research, and estimates of loss through mortality. Once we determine which models produce realistic levels of recruitment within and among stocks, we will use historical reconstruction of ocean currents based on our circulation model to investigate how annual variation in environmental conditions may have influenced shrimp dynamics over the last 30+ years.

This CHONe research: • Develops a realistic model of northern shrimp larval dispersal for Newfoundland and Labrador, and evaluates potential impacts of projected climate change on northern shrimp connectivity and habitats in the Newfoundland and Labrador region. (Postdoctoral researcher Nicolas Le Corre)

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G E N E T I C C O N N E C T I V I T Y M O D E L S Researchers have long recognized climatic variation (and temperature in particular), as an important driver of species distribution in the ocean. Mounting evidence from genetic studies that show similar climate association in some marine species suggests that many groups of organisms respond to climate in similar ways. However, strong correlations between latitude and temperature complicate efforts to evaluate the influence of environment on genomic structure. Our research compares genetic and genomic evidence for changes in the genetic composition of multiple species with changes in latitude and temperature for both native and introduced species (Atlantic cod, northern shrimp, sea scallop, American lobster, Atlantic herring, and invasive European green crab).

This CHONe research: • Incorporates data from population genetics and availability of suitable habitat to identify connectivity in North Atlantic populations of these species and predicts population specific responses to climate change. (Postdoctoral researchers Mark Wilcox, Nick Jeffrey, Ryan Stanley)

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C O A S TA L N U R S E R I E S Coastal nurseries such as eelgrass (Zostera marina) provide habitat for juvenile fishes that eventually contribute to adult populations harvested by capture fisheries. Intuitively, the abundance of young originating from individual nurseries should contribute proportionately to adult populations, but disconnects in time and space between adult fish and their young complicates efforts to confirm this relationship. In trying to estimate population size, coastal zone nursery surveys offer several advantages over surveys of adult fish, including: (1) forecasting recruitment several years before fish are large enough to fish commercially; (2) effective spatial coverage can be achieved more easily; (3) researchers can obtain “vital rates” (i.e., growth, survival, dispersal) at earlier life stages before fishing mortality biases these rates; and, (4) early warning of potential trouble in the population resulting from cumulative impacts from natural and human induced stressors.

Changes in habitat and environment can mediate the importance of these coastal nursery habitats to offshore fish production, inducing changes in population vital rates. These rates often change among habitats and temperature conditions, potentially affecting processes

that regulate population success, such as growth and survival.

This CHONe research: • Evaluates how predators influence juvenile cod habitat use and predator effects on juvenile cod mortality. (MSc student Evelyn MacRobert)

• Evaluates growth and survival of juvenile cod over the winter, particularly in light of rising winter temperatures in coastal nurseries. (PhD student Emilie Geissinger)

• Studies recruitment signals in Atlantic cod and tests potential impacts of coastal zone habitat loss (i.e., eelgrass) on production of adult fish. (MSc student Emma Cooke)

• Studies the effects of food quality on growth and survival of juvenile cod. (PhD student Salma Husaien)

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[CHONe II]

• INDICATORS OF SUCCESS

• ECOSYSTEM FRAMEWORK

S O L U T I O N SA C O N S E R VAT I O N S T R AT E G I E S

I N D I C AT O R S O F S U C C E S S Direct and indirect human activities increasingly impact marine ecosystems. Ocean managers in Canada and around the world create marine protected areas (MPAs), the equivalent of terrestrial parks in the oceans, to attempt to protect vulnerable yet valuable ecosystems. The effectiveness of MPAs varies, however, depending on many factors such as MPA size, location, type of protection, and level of enforcement. Other factors also influence effectiveness, such as how various stakeholders perceive the legitimacy and authority of the protected area.

This research helps develop and test indicators of MPAs performance. These indicators include the ecological status of MPAs (e.g. whether they help at-risk populations, protect vulnerable or significant habitat), how they affect socio-economic conditions, and what governance contexts surround MPA. To analyse legitimacy, CHONe research will assess governance indicators identified for three established MPAs and one identified as areas of interest. Comprehensive indicators will include measures of ecological and socio-economic and governance, applicable at different geographic levels, from a single MPA to entire nations.

Effectiveness refers to the degree to which management actions achieve the goals and objectives of protected areas

This CHONe research: • Develops MPA governance effectiveness indicators using two established MPAs and two identified AOIs, selected to include an array of sizes, ages, usage, geography and objectives. (PhD student Elizabeth Edmonton)

• Identifies measures of ecological and social effectiveness in Canada and associated indicators, and proposes an integrated management framework for implementing effective conservation strategies (PhD student Mairi Miller)

• Identifies existing and proposed indicators of social effectiveness from published studies on MPAs globally and ocean stakeholders in two nearshore MPAs in Eastern Canada (Basin Head, PEI, and Musquash Estuary, NB). (Master of Marine Affairs student Lauren Dehens)

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E C O S Y S T E M F R A M E W O R K Despite increasing natural and human induced pressures on Canada’s coastal zone, an integrated ecosystem management approach could potentially balance human activities with ecosystem resilience to support sustainable ocean use. This goal requires understanding how ecosystem services respond to both single and multiple stressors, and addresses the need to generate robust indicators sensitive enough to identify when ecosystems approach or reach irreversible tipping points at which an ecosystem may have permanently changed. CHONe will develop a general framework to inform sustainable ocean management and policy implementation in Canada by considering multiple scales in time and space when evaluating ecosystem resilience to multiple stressors.

Working in consultation with other CHONe researchers, this project will evaluate how well current assessments capture multiple stressor impacts on ecosystem resilience (or structure and

function), especially given the different scales of time and space at which stressors operate.

This project presents a unique opportunity to build on studies of multiple stressor impacts in Canada’s coastal zones, and our understanding of how they work, to inform management decisions.

This CHONe research: • Determines whether stressors in tandem produce different effects than individually, and identifies any trends among certain stressors, or stressor combinations by reviewing prior formal assessments used within different regions (Gulf of St Lawrence; Northern British Columbia) and links ecosystem resilience and multiple stressors for broad application in area-based to regional-scale assessments. (PhD student Melissa Orobko)

• Assesses how marine conservation managers in Canada currently incorporate cumulative effects into management plans and policies and evaluates the extent to which they consider socio-economic components. (Master of Marine Affairs student Gillian Curren)

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