Maynard, Jeffrey

Mapping coral reef vulnerability to climate change in Leeward Maui to aid in designing aresilient managed area network

2021

Marine Applied Research Center LLC

"Hawai'i's Governor Ige announced an ambitious plan in 2016 to effectively manage 30% of Hawai'i's nearshore waters by 2030. To meet this goal, Hawai'i's Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) has initiated a process to develop a statewide network of marine managed areas. The west coast of Hawai'i Island (West Hawai'i) and Leeward Maui are priority locations to start the design and implementation of this network. To ensure longterm ecosystem sustainability and resilience, the network's design must consider climate change effects. The expected outcome of this proposed project is that spatially continuous information on reef vulnerability to climate change will be accessible, understood, and used in the design of a resilient and sustainable managed area network in Leeward Maui. Project objectives/activities include: (1) assessing relative climate resilience for ~100-200 coral reef monitoring sites in Leeward Maui; (2) interpolating resilience assessment results; (3) assessing relative climate vulnerability for all coral reef habitat in Leeward Maui; (4) developing a plan with our manager partners to expand the vulnerability assessments completed for the coral reefs of West Hawai'i and Leeward Maui into a State-wide climate vulnerability assessment; and, (5) communicating project methods, results, and lessons learned to the Hawaii, US and international scientific and management community. This is a highly collaborative project co-led by the Marine Applied Research Center with The Nature Conservancy and Hawai'i DAR."

coral reef, climate change, coral reef resilience, coral reef climate vulnerability, Hawaii, Maui

NOS

OCM

FY2021; CRCP Project ID 31224; Project Title: FY19 - Domestic Coral Reef Conservation Grants; Principal Investigator: Liz Fairey; Grant NA19NOS4820128.

NA19NOS4820128