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    NOAA, DISL, LSU and USM researchers working the SEAMAP NGI project found that variation in zooplankton show what was once thought to be one large marine ecosystem is actually three.

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    The Nature Conservancy is using protocols developed by researchers supported by NGI to rebuild 100 miles of shoreline/1000 acres of habitat in Alabama using shells of locally harvested oysters.

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    Important regional commercial stocks such as Gulf shrimp and gag grouper are being researched to assess larval movement and to determine impacts from diversion projects and other habitat change.

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    NGI funded research is addressing improved forecasting related to navigation, making the Gulf shorelines and rivers safer for commerce and the boating public.

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Regional Impact >> Regional Needs Alignment

Regional Needs Alignment

NGI is developing or planning applications that address regional management needs.

Strategy

NGI uses management needs to drive the development of applications from data, knowledge, and tools. Researchers identify specific regional needs, develop applications, and establish a transition process or framework for projects and partners. Applications from research include capabilities for ecological forecasting, integrated ecosystem assessments, and ecosystems-based coastal and marine spatial planning. NGI research will address needs that challenge the development of applications for ecosystem-based management with these actions:

  • For integrated applications that address complex issues, NGI will incorporate ecosystem dynamics, processes, and services that connect natural and human systems.
  • For continual refinement of applications development, NGI will incorporate improved science data and understanding and incorporate stakeholder feedback.

Outcomes

During the next ten years, NGI research projects will contribute to these outcomes:

  • Applications that enable regional ecological and social forecasting, assessment, and planning that address specific regional management and information needs
  • Transition frameworks that enable stakeholders to test and refine applications for management use
  • Applications that improve the ability to communicate the effects of and response to natural and human impacts on regional ecosystems and on ecosystem services and society

Objectives

During the next five to ten years, NGI research projects will include objectives that provide evidence of progress in addressing needs for applications development:

  1. Incorporate updates based on new science data to application products such as management strategy evaluation frameworks or web-based dynamic documents and tools.
  2. Develop applications that include: - Integrated ecosystem assessments; - Coastal and marine spatial plans; - Watershed management plans; - Regional forecasting systems with nested high-resolution grids that use global ocean or basin-scale data to provide open ocean lateral boundary conditions; - Visual analytic tools to include high-resolution static and dynamic mapping systems; and- Tools to evaluate effects of:
    • climate variability and change (drought, floods, sea-level rise, temperature);
    • population, industry, and economic changes;
    • hydrologic, land, and Gulf management practices;
    • catastrophes and hazards (natural and man-made); and
    • habitat degradation and restoration.
  3. Develop tools for weather predictions.
  4. Involve stakeholders in the transition process or framework to validate prototype models, tools, plans, and assessments.