HEPR: Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program
The Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP) focuses on understanding trophic interactions among: 1) colony-based foragers, 2) hot spot foragers, 3) pelagic forage species and 4) pelagic predators.
The North Pacific Research Board ( NPRB) awarded support for several study components including oceanographic moorings, fish, whales, seabirds, trophic interactions and local and traditional knowledge. In addition, the National Science Foundation is funding complementary Bering Sea research through the Bering Ecosystem Study (BEST).
The principal investigators from BSIERP and BEST will collaborate in this research; their first meeting occurred 17-19 September 2007. The BSIERP and BEST research programs will join several disciplines of marine science in an integrated study ranging from oceanography, fish, birds, and mammals to effects on human society. The integrated ecosystem research program will be immensely challenging both intellectually and organizationally. Program results will add understanding of the Bering Sea and provide information that underpins an ecosystem approach to management.
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