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Project Explorer

Louisiana Watershed Management

coastal management, data synthesis, Decision support tool, Ecosystem models, natural disasters
This project will develop a cost-benefit framework for watershed management that will inform and reduce uncertainties during project selection of the Louisiana Watershed Initiative.

Manatee Warm-Water Habitat Networks

data synthesis, Decision support tool, Ecosystem models, endangered species, habitat quality
This project will prioritize efforts to restore, enhance, and create warm-water habitats in order to provide a network of thermal shelters for manatees along Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Marine Mammals and Acoustics

conservation planning, Decision support tool, Ecosystem models, endangered species, long-term monitoring, population connectivity
This project characterizes seasonal, annual, and decadal trends in marine mammal species in the Gulf of Mexico and assess the role of ocean conditions and human activities in driving these trends.

Marsh Birds and Fire

coastal management, conservation planning, Decision support tool, endangered species, habitat quality, natural disasters, population connectivity
This project investigates how three bird species of concern (black rail, yellow rail, and mottled duck) respond to different prescribed fire management regimes within high marsh ecosystems across the Gulf of Mexico.

Marsh Creation Planning

conservation planning, data synthesis, Decision support tool, Ecosystem models, long-term monitoring
The project team will collaboratively scope and design research to inform decisions about the design of marsh creation projects.

Marsh Food Webs

coastal management, conservation planning, data synthesis, Decision support tool, Ecosystem models, ecosystem restoration, food webs, water quality
This project is investigating how river diversions influence the living communities, food web structure, and function of created versus natural marshes to inform the development of marsh restoration strategies.

Migratory Birds

coastal management, conservation planning, food webs, habitat quality
This project investigated migratory bird use of stopover habitats to inform bird habitat protection and restoration decisions in the Gulf of Mexico region.

Mobile Bay Tool

coastal management, Decision support tool, long-term monitoring, natural disasters, water quality
This project improved and expanded an observing network and website that provides accurate real-time weather and water quality data to Alabama environmental managers and the public.

Multiple Stressors on Dolphins

Decision support tool, endangered species, pollution/contaminant management
This project will establish a collaborative working group to scope and design an evaluation framework for the assessment and restoration of Gulf of Mexico marine mammals in the face of multiple stressors.

Observing Systems and Ecosystem Management

conservation planning, data synthesis, Decision support tool, physical oceanography, water quality
This project assessed Gulf of Mexico observation networks from an ecosystem management perspective, based on an approach that has been successfully used to assess the capacity of ocean observing networks to effectively monitor ocean circulation.

Optimizing Coastal Bird Stewardship

conservation planning, Decision support tool, socioeconomic analysis
The project team will develop science-based guidance on environmental stewardship techniques for the Gulf of Mexico, which will help resource managers reduce threats from human disturbance to coastal-breeding bird populations.

Oyster Contaminants

commercially important species, ecosystem restoration, oyster restoration, pollution/contaminant management
This project tested whether trace elements associated with oil can be detected in oyster shells and serve as an indicator of oil exposure, thus providing resource managers with a way to detect past oil exposure on oyster reefs.

Oyster Planning Tool

data synthesis, Decision support tool, fishery management, oyster restoration, socioeconomic analysis
This project designed, tested, and applied a decision support tool to assist resource managers and oyster farmers in optimizing oyster resources in the State of Mississippi.

Oysters, Blue Crabs, Seatrout

climate change, commercially important species, data synthesis, fishery management, habitat quality, long-term monitoring, water quality
This project explores how oyster, blue crab, and spotted seatrout populations respond to human and environmental changes with the goal of improving the management of these economically and culturally important species.

Planning Next-Generation Fishery Forecasting Needs

data synthesis, Decision support tool, fishery management
The project team will develop a roadmap for improving fishery forecasting by accounting for future environmental and management impacts to Gulf of Mexico fisheries.

Recreational Fishery Habitat Conservation

commercially important species, conservation planning, Decision support tool, habitat quality
The project team seeks to better inform county and state governments’ decisions in Charlotte Harbor, Florida, by creating decision-making support tools that prioritize locations for restoration and protection of juvenile snook and tarpon habitat.

Red Snapper Management Tool

commercially important species, Decision support tool, Ecosystem models, fishery management
This project worked with fishery managers to develop a decision-support tool to assess the effectiveness of different long-term management strategies and short-term management regulations for the red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

Red Tide and Reef Fish Modeling

commercially important species, Ecosystem models, fishery management, food webs, physical oceanography, water quality
The project team will expand on a model of the West Florida Shelf to account for red tide mortality when assessing Gulf of Mexico reef fish and will develop red tide maps, which will help inform future recommendations on acceptable biological catch, or number of fish that can be harvested each year, for reef fish species that will undergo stock assessments between 2024-2028.

Reef Fish Depredation

data synthesis, Decision support tool, Ecosystem models, fishery management
The project team plans to describe the extent of depredation, or the removal of captured fish by non-target species before the fish can be retrieved by a fishing vessel, in the Gulf of Mexico to improve reef fish stock assessments.

Reef Fish Survey

commercially important species, data synthesis, Decision support tool, Ecosystem models, fishery management
This project combines habitat and water quality information with three integrated reef fish surveys to improve stock assessments of important fisheries by producing the most comprehensive database available for Gulf reef-fish abundance, size, and community composition.

Rehabilitation of Waterbird Nesting Islands

conservation planning, Decision support tool, ecosystem restoration
The project team will develop a prioritization tool that incorporates biogeophysical constraints on waterbird nesting and economic considerations to help managers prioritize a network of colony islands in Texas.

Rice’s Whales

conservation planning, endangered species, food webs, habitat quality
This project developed a comprehensive ecological understanding of Rice's whales, including the physical, oceanographic, and biological features defining critical habitat and their ecological role in Gulf of Mexico marine food webs.

Sargassum

commercially important species, Ecosystem models, fishery management, habitat quality
This project evaluated the importance of sargassum as a nursery habitat for fish in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Seagrass Conservation on Florida’s Nature Coast

coastal management, conservation planning, ecosystem restoration, socioeconomic analysis
The project team will collect geographic, biological, logistical, and socioeconomic data to pair with stakeholder guidance through a co-production model to address data gaps and inform how and where to manage propeller scarring in aquatic preserves of Florida’s Nature Coast.

Seagrass Resilience at the Chandeleur Islands

coastal management, habitat quality
The project team will collect spatial and temporal data at population and landscape levels to determine disturbance impacts and build on existing numerical models to better assess resilience capacity for seagrass habitats adjacent to the Chandeleur Islands off coastal Louisiana.