Monitoring population changes in aquatic ecosystems: a Marine Renewable Energy example

John Horne
Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
University of Washington, WA, USA

Thursday, October 26, 2017 4:00 PM
Fishery Sciences Building, Room 102
no open advising this week; e-mail marbiol@uw.edu to schedule an appointment

Abstract: Establishing procedures to identify, characterize, and forecast biological change is an ongoing challenge for both regulators and developers of marine renewable energy (MRE) projects and environmental monitoring in general. Currently, there are no standard procedures, technologies, sample variables, analytic techniques, or reporting requirements for wave or tidal environmental monitoring plans in North America or Europe. There is a need to assess baseline conditions and to monitor operations to detect when indicator values exceed regulatory thresholds. I will present an approach that integrates survey design; quantifies thresholds of change; defines, detects, models, and forecasts change in monitored variables; and uses software for real-time, operational monitoring of a domain. For the MRE industry, a standard monitoring approach will expedite project licensing, improve detection of environmental impacts, and enable comparison of conditions among MRE sites. The approach is applicable to any monitoring program that uses biological or physical indicator data.

Bio: John Horne’s research efforts investigate how distributions and interactions of aquatic animals influence ecosystem function and resource management. Current projects range from the Southern Ocean, to the Oregon coast, Gulf of Alaska, and the Chukchi Sea. Exposure to the Marine Renewable Energy community stimulated work on developing tools and techniques for environmental monitoring.