North-Central California Coast and Ocean Climate-Smart Adaptation Project

The North-central California coast and ocean is a globally significant, extraordinarily diverse and productive marine and coastal ecosystem that is home to abundant wildlife, valuable fisheries, two national marine sanctuaries, two national parks, and a national wildlife refuge. It is a treasured resource of the San Francisco Bay Area's seven million residents that rely on this unique marine ecosystem for their livelihoods and recreation. Significant coastal areas, including Tomales Bay, Bolinas Lagoon, Estero Americano, and Estero de San Antonio, support a diversity of habitats, including eelgrass beds, intertidal sand and mud flats, and salt and freshwater marshes that provide numerous ecosystem services such as carbon storage, flood control and improved water quality (GFNMS 2008).

Marine resource managers realize the immediate threats of climate change to the resilience, health, and ecosystem services of the special coastal and ocean places they protect, yet the resources to develop appropriate management options to prepare for and respond to a changing environment are limited (Gregg et al. 2011). Adaptation planning techniques and processes are well developed, but there is a lack of application of these methods for marine systems (Gregg et al. 2011).

Please see this Project Description
See also: Climate Change Impacts: Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries. Report of a Joint Working Group of the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Advisory Councils

Project Outcomes (see below for access as these products are released):
1) Vulnerability Assessment for focal resources for the coast and ocean region from Ano Nuevo, San Mateo County to Alder Creek, Mendocino County.
2) Climate scenarios for the region
3) Prioritized list of adaptation strategies
4) Climate Action Plan for the coast and ocean region from Ano Nuevo, San Mateo County to Alder Creek, Mendocino County.