Elevation Points for Eight Study Areas in Coastal Oregon and Washington, 2012

Publication Date

2015-05-01

Start Date

2012-05-01

End Date

2012-11-30

Thorne, K. 2015. Elevation Points for Eight Study Areas in Coastal Oregon and Washington, 2012. U.S. Geological Survey Data Release, 10.5066/F7SJ1HNC

Type: catalogItemUrl

At the state level, Washington and Oregon have highlighted coastal ecosystems as important areas susceptible to climate change and have prioritized research to assist in adaptation planning for resource management and ecosystem services. The information emerging from our CERCC network will provide local managers and decision makers with the information they need to address endangered and threatened species management, wetland conservation, anadromous fish and migratory bird management and habitat conservation and recovery plans while making informed decisions on habitat resiliency and land acquisition planning that effectively considers the effects of climate change. Our CERCC network is a research model that can be potentially transferred to other coastal regions throughout the US. The overarching goal of our research was to use site-specific data to develop local and regionally-applicable climate change models that inform management of tidal wetlands along the Pacific Northwest coast. Our overarching questions were: (1) how do tidal marsh site characteristics vary across estuaries, and (2) does tidal marsh susceptibility to SLR vary along a latitudinal gradient and between estuaries? We addressed these questions with three specific objectives: (1) measure topographical and ecological characteristics (e.g., elevation, tidal range, vegetation composition) for tidal marsh and intertidal mudflats, (2) model SLR vulnerability of these habitats, and (3) examine spatial variability of these projected changes along the latitudinal gradient of the Washington and Oregon coasts. The research was conducted at nine tidal marshes in coastal estuaries spanning the Washington and Oregon coastlines from Padilla Bay in northern Washington to Bandon located at the mouth of the Coquille River in southern Oregon (Figure 3). These sites are managed by local NGOs (non-governmental organization), Native American tribes and federal or state agencies. The sites were located in Padilla National Estuarine Research Reserve (hereafter Padilla), Port Susan Bay Preserve (hereafter Port Susan), Skokomish Estuary within lands of the Skokomish Indian Tribe (hereafter Skokomish), Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in southern Puget Sound (hereafter Nisqually), Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge (hereafter Grays Harbor), Tartlatt Slough within Willapa Bay National Wildlife Refuge (hereafter Willapa), Siletz National Wildlife Refuge (hereafter Siletz), Bull Island within South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in Coos Bay (hereafter Bull Island), and Bandon National Wildlife Refuge on the Coquille Estuary (hereafter Bandon). Each study site comprised a portion of the tidal marsh and adjacent nearshore ecosystem. Although the entire Washington and Oregon coasts have a temperate climate, the sites spanned a broad range of hydrologic and oceanographic conditions. Overall tidal range decreased from northern Washington to southern Oregon.

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• National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers
• Northwest CASC

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