Ecosystem Based Management
Tools Project

The purpose of this project is to increase our understanding of the linkages between land use strategies and their effects on coastal-marine ecosystems is critical to the development of sound policies that can maintain the social, economic, and ecological values of coastal communities.

Project Scope:

This project will collaborate with the local community to apply three decision support tools (CommunityViz, NatureServe Vista, and N-SPECT) in an integrated manner. The decision support tools will be used to evaluate the current condition and sustainability of the ecosystem and socioeconomic indicators, evaluate trends based on current policies and economic forces, and develop alternative land use strategies to meet sustainability objectives for ecological, social, and economic values and indicators.  Specifically the tools will:

• Support development and analysis of land use scenarios and socioeconomic indicators.
• Provide the ability to depict ecological values, evaluate impacts from land use scenarios, and develop alternative land use scenarios.
• Be used to predict sedimentation and pollution changes from different land use scenarios and identify areas that are key contributors of these inputs.

Partners:

• Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve
• NatureServe
• NOAA Coastal Services Center
• Placeways, LLC
• Texas Coastal Watershed Program

Why here:

The Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) is within relatively undisturbed watersheds that support a healthy estuary with highly diverse habitats. Recreation, tourism, and estuarine-dependent commercial and recreational fisheries play a key role in the region’s economy and are important contributors to the high quality of life in the region. However, the area is currently experiencing rapid population growth due to its attractive and healthy environment. The population of Aransas County, which contains 75% of the NERR, has increased by 26% from 1990 to 2000. This growth rate has resulted in strong community interest and involvement in maintaining the resource-dependent quality of life, which makes the area an ideal location for a case study that links and applies decision support tools that will enable better land use and resource management decisions.