Transcript Lecture #23, Wrap Up, December 8 - Catalyst

Ocean/Envir 260
Lecture #23:
Wrap Up
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Philosophy
• Have to experience to love
• If love, get involved
• Goal: thoughtful
involvement
– History
– Complexity of issues
– Moral complexity
Students at Duwamish restoration
event, 2008
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Priority conservation
areas
•
•
•
•
Rural sprawl
Salmon refugia
Prairie/oak habitats
Priority forests
– Snoqualmie wildlife corridor
– Hood Canal
• Puget Sound shoreline
• River floodplains
• Riparian areas
Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
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Rural Sprawl
• Vs. urban sprawl:
– Much more rural area
– Higher ecological value
– Higher growth rate
• ~5-acre developments
– Legally allowed, even
encouraged
Clearing for new rural development
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Rural sprawl
• Results:
– Habitat fragmentation
– Eliminate highest
stream health
• Willamette: Retain
natural vegetation,
cluster impacts
The highest levels of stream health are only
possible at very low levels of development;
Horner et al (2003)
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Salmon refuge basins
• Functions:
– Strongholds, when
conditions are poor
– Sources for population
expansion, when
conditions are good
• Coho salmon very
sensitive to development
Ratio of coho salmon to cutthroat trout,
vs indices of development; Horner (2003)
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Salmon refuge basins
• Can’t save all
– Must be strategic
• Distribute across major
watersheds
• Olympic Peninsula, Hood
Canal protected
– National Park
– Forest recommendation
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Hood Canal forests
• Water quality
– Slow circulation, flushing
– Nitrogen delivery (alder)
• Crucial habitat
– Amphibians (especially
Olympics)
– Birds (especially Kitsap)
– Salmon
Looking down on Lake Cushman,
above S. Hood Canal
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Snoqualmie wildlife
corridor
• “Choke point” between
North, South Cascades
– Climate change increases
importance
• “Checkerboard”
ownership
– Effort underway to
purchase priority lands
– I-90 wildlife bridges also
address fragmentation
Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
Area between Alpine Lakes Wilderness
and Mt Rainer NP and wilderness areas
© 2010 University of Washington
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South Puget Sound
prairies
• Unique in otherwise
forested landscape
– Gophers, birds, butterflies…
• Glacial “outwash” soils
• Maintained by Native
American brushfires
• Only 3% remains
Ft Lewis prairie, camas in bloom
Mima Mounds, S of Olympia
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Overall priorities
• Where land meets water:
– Puget Sound shoreline
– Floodplains
– Riparian areas
• But not all are
regional
priorities
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Nearshore ecology
• Nearshore definition
– Riparian areas through
“euphotic” zone
• Food web
– Aquatic plants: food,
physical structure
– Detritus
• Vital nursery
– Larvae
– Juveniles
Illustration of nearshore environments and
upstream areas that affect them, courtesy of
King County Water and Land Resources
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Nearshore ecology
• Greatest diversity
of all?
– Habitat types
– Habitat zones
• Above, below
tides
• Diversity of
intertidal
Pages 26 and 27, Sound Science
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Nearshore ecology
• Most sensitive to human
impacts
• Narrow band, given fjord
structure
0m
– Proportionately more
significant than in shallow
estuaries
– Vulnerability to sea level
rise
Puget Sound bathymetry
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
200m
Relationships, forests
and rivers
• Biological: Floodplains
– Most complex, dynamic
habitats, together with
marine shoreline
– Floods create, destroy
habitats
• Side channels, eddys,
oxbows, other off-channel
habitats, wetlands…
Middle Skagit River floodplain
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Relationships, forests
and rivers
• Biological: Riparian
– Crucial habitat for wide
range of species
• Water for land animals
• Land for aquatic animals
• Diverse habitats
– Disturbance from floods
– Frequency under water
– Saturation of soils
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Adaptive Strategies
• Multi-benefit actions:
– Water conservation
• Address reductions in supply
• Enhance in-stream uses
– Riparian restoration
•
•
•
•
Habitat benefits
Shade, microclimate
Reduce flood hazards
Increase resilience,
connectedness
Lake Whatcom, the source of water supply
for the City of Bellingham. Many households
served by the City have no water meters.
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Adaptive Strategies
• Floodplain management
– Keep development out
– Levees: remove, set back
• Reduces flood risks
• Improves habitat values
• Low-impact development
– Reduces stormwater impacts
– Recharges groundwater
• Cooler, higher summer flows
FEMA floodplain map, portion of
middle Skagit River; projected flows
do not yet include climate change
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Economics
• Key to causes of degradation
– Water withdrawals
– Roads, cars
– Impacts of new development
• Key to good stewardship
– Farms, forests, rural lands
• Key to climate solutions
– Competitive “green” energy
– CO2 removal
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Solve two problems
together
• New revenues and tax reform/cuts
Potential Annual Revenue in Puget Sound Region
(in millions)
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
$500+
$250
$120
Water Withdrawal
Fee
Gas Sales Tax
Environmental
Impact Fee
$100
$50
Impervious
Surface Charge
Pollution Charges
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Advantages of region
• Beauty
• Comparatively functional
ecosystem
• Environmental ethic
• Affluence
• Growth Management Act
• Federal, state, private forests
• Legal underpinning: tribal treaties
• Net export of ecological footprint
Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
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Ecological footprint
• Puget Sound impacts:
– Land and water
• Impacts largely elsewhere:
–
–
–
–
Greenhouse gases
Other energy-related
Food
Goods and services
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington
Conclusion
• If not us, who?
If not now, when?
--Attributed to both
John, Robert Kennedy
• With all of our advantages,
if not here, where?
• Setting global example
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Ocean/ENVIR 260 Autumn 2010
Lecture 23
© 2010 University of Washington