Coral reef ecosystems in Hawaii have suffered high rates of mortality following the recent mass bleaching event. In order to prevent phase shifts to degraded reefs, strategies to increase reef resilience following disturbance such as bleaching must be developed. Herbivore management has been identified as a priority management action to increase reef resilience, and the goals of this project were to 1) synthesize climate and herbivore management spatial data layers and 2) utilize Marxan to identify prioritized areas for herbivore management in west Hawaii and Maui Nui.1. The project team synthesized relevant climate and herbivore management spatial data layers from seven sources, and incorporated feedback from four experts with respect to feature and cost input configuration.2. The project team conducted a preliminary Marxan analysis incorporating all currently available data layers representing intermediate progress as remaining feature and cost layers are being finalized.The next steps of the project will be accomplished in cooperation with the Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative (PICCC), with funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the project titled “Coral Reef Climate Response through Collaborative Marine Spatial Planning: Stakeholder Engagement”▪ Finalize Marxan analysis to develop a series of heatmaps representing areas prioritized for management of herbivores▪ Integrate Marxan outputs into SeaSketch as a platform for stakeholder feedback▪ Develop and complete stakeholder workshops in two priority areas (West Hawaii and Maui) to revise Marxan outputs based on local knowledge▪ Prepare a final report with finalized maps of potential areas for herbivore management and revisions from stakeholder workshops
