Service Description: Esturaries defined by the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) planning effort. Areas were outlined by commitees comprised of experts from the MLPA Initiative, Science Advisory Team, and biologists from the Calfornia Department of Fish and Game. These estuaries were defined for the northern study region (Point Arena to Oregon) and for the southern study region (Point Conception to Mexico). All other areas are from The Nature Conservancy Ecoregional Assessment data. Most of that content is derived from the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) published by U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Original description follows:
The mission of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on earth by protecting the land and waters they need to survive. Recognizing that a focus on the marine realm is critical to achieving our mission, TNC has launched a Marine Initiative to link land and sea conservation. With the support of the Marine Initiative, science and planning staff of The Nature Conservancy of California prepared this assessment of the most important areas for conservation of marine biodiversity in the Northern California Marine Ecoregion - one of four major divisions of the California Current System - that extends from Oregon south to Point Conception and covers 11 million hectares. An ecoregional assessment provides a framework to set priorities and guide conservation actions. The data and decision support tools required to develop a marine conservation assessment can guide both conservation and ecosystem-based management efforts.
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Description: The objective of an ecoregional assessment is to identify a portfolio of conservation areas that together contain multiple and viable examples of important ecological systems, communities, and species across their environmental gradients that represent the biodiversity of the region. To do this, we identified conservation targets, or elements of biodiversity (ecological systems, habitats, species) that were the focus of the assessment. Estuaries form at the mouths of rivers and streams where freshwater and saltwater meet; the salinity in estuaries and lagoons varies seasonally and over longer timeframes when the river mouths get closed by sand spits or other barriers. Lagoons are coastal water bodies that are cut off from the sea and generally have low freshwater inputs. Estuaries also differ in their geomorphic origin (coastal plain estuaries, river mouth estuaries, canyon mouth estuaries, and tectonic estuaries). Estuaries and lagoons are very productive coastal ecosystems that play a key role as nursery habitat for many invertebrates and fish. Anadramous species such as salmonids, sturgeons, and lampreys must pass through estuaries on their migration pathways; estuaries are important juvenile rearing habitat for salmonids. Open water habitat support large densities of waterfowl; many coastal estuaries in the NMCE are important stops on the Pacific Flyway.
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