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- OPEN ACCESS
- Grace E.P. Murphy,
- Jillian C. Dunic,
- Emily M. Adamczyk,
- Sarah J. Bittick,
- Isabelle M. Côté,
- John Cristiani,
- Emilie A. Geissinger,
- Robert S. Gregory,
- Heike K. Lotze,
- Mary I. O’Connor,
- Carlos A.S. Araújo,
- Emily M. Rubidge,
- Nadine D. Templeman, and
- Melisa C. Wong
Seagrass meadows are among the most productive and diverse marine ecosystems, providing essential structure, functions, and services. They are also among the most impacted by human activities and in urgent need of better management and protection. In Canada, eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows are found along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic coasts, and thus occur across a wide range of biogeographic conditions. Here, we synthesize knowledge of eelgrass ecosystems across Canada’s coasts, highlighting commonalities and differences in environmental conditions, plant, habitat, and community structure, as well as current trends and human impacts. Across regions, eelgrass life history, phenology, and general species assemblages are similar. However, distinct regional differences occur in environmental conditions, particularly with water temperature and nutrient availability. There is considerable variation in the types and strengths of human activities among regions. The impacts of coastal development are prevalent in all regions, while other impacts are of concern for specific regions, e.g., nutrient loading in the Atlantic and impacts from the logging industry in the Pacific. In addition, climate change represents a growing threat to eelgrass meadows. We review current management and conservation efforts and discuss the implications of observed differences from coast to coast to coast. - OPEN ACCESS
- Emily M. Rubidge,
- Carrie K. Robb,
- Patrick L. Thompson,
- Chris McDougall,
- Karin M. Bodtker,
- Katie S.P. Gale,
- Stephen Ban,
- Kil Hltaanuwaay Tayler Brown,
- Vicki Sahanatien,
- Sachiko Ouchi,
- Sarah K. Friesen,
- Natalie C. Ban,
- Karen L. Hunter,
- Angelica Pena,
- Amber Holdsworth, and
- Rebecca Martone
Marine protected area (MPAs) networks can buffer marine ecosystems from the impacts of climate change by allowing species to redistribute as conditions change and by reducing other stressors. There are, however, few examples where climate change has been considered in MPA network design. In this paper, we assess how climate change considerations were integrated into the design of a newly released MPA network in the Northern Shelf Bioregion in British Columbia, Canada, and then evaluate the resulting network against projected physical and biogeochemical changes and biological responses. We found that representation, replication, and size and spacing recommendations integrated into the design phase were met in most cases. Furthermore, despite varying degrees of projected changes in temperature, dissolved oxygen, and aragonite saturation across the MPA network, suitable habitat for demersal fish species is projected to remain in the network despite some redistribution among sites. We also found that mid-depth MPAs are particularly important for persistence, as fish are projected to move deeper to avoid warming in shallower areas. Our results highlight that a representative MPA network with adequate replication, that incorporates areas of varying climate change trajectory, should buffer against the impacts of climate change. - OPEN ACCESS
- Graham Epstein,
- Susanna D. Fuller,
- Sophia C. Johannessen,
- Emily M. Rubidge,
- Melissa Turner, and
- Julia K. Baum
Marine conserved areas (MCAs) can provide a range of ecological and socio-economic benefits, including climate change mitigation from the protection and enhancement of natural carbon storage. Canada's MCA network is expanding to encompass 30% of its Exclusive Economic Zone by 2030. At present, the network aims to integrate climate change mitigation by protecting coastal vegetated blue carbon ecosystems (saltmarsh, seagrass, kelp). Here, we argue that incorporating unvegetated seabed sediments could bring similar benefits. Seabed sediments can store and/or accumulate high densities of organic carbon, and due to their large spatial extent, contain carbon stores orders of magnitude larger than coastal vegetated habitats. We estimate that currently designated MCAs encompass only 10.8% of Canada's seabed sediment organic carbon stocks on the continental margin, and only 13.4% of areas with high carbon densities. Proposed MCAs would cover an additional 8.8% and 6.1% of total stocks and high carbon areas, respectively. We identify an additional set of high-priority seabed areas for future research and potential protection, ranking their importance based on carbon stocks, proxies for lability, and ecological/biological significance. The incorporation of seabed sediments into MCA networks could support climate change mitigation by preventing future releases of stored carbon.