![[logo] US EPA](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081111180530im_/http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Effects of Climate Change On Ecosystem Services Provided By Hawaiian Coral Reefs
EPA Grant Number: R832224Title: Effects of Climate Change On Ecosystem Services Provided By Hawaiian Coral Reefs
Investigators: Jokiel, Paul L. , Buddemeir, Robert , Cesar, Herman , Fuatin, Daphne
Institution: University of Hawaii at Honolulu , Cesar Environmental Economics Consulting , University of Kansas
EPA Project Officer: Jones, Brandon
Project Period: February 1, 2005 through January 30, 2008
Project Amount: $747,220
RFA: Effects of Climate Change on Ecosystem Services Provided by Coral Reefs and Tidal Marshes (2004)
Research Category: Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Global Climate Change , Aquatic Ecosystems
Description:
Objective:A robust, modular model of reef and ecosystem services responses to both the long-term mean and the short-term extreme event components of climate change will be developed from the wealth of ecological and physiological data available for the corals and reef communities of Hawaii. Its output will be the input for the socioeconomic models, which will translate the climate change scenarios into a comprehensive picture of possible futures of the ecosystem services and socioeconomic sectors, activities and costs for the region. The model (as well as the environmental data used and a comprehensive inventory of Hawaiian corals) will be available for both on-line use and download from a website (www.kgs.ku.edu/Hexacoral 
), providing for community involvement through hands-on testing and feedback.
The project will integrate and extend existing models to develop a comprehensive, scenario-based analysis of the range of possible effects of global climate change on ecosystem services provided by the coral reefs of the Hawaiian archipelago, and on the economic valuation of predicted changes. It will build on an extensive base of coral, reef, environmental and economic data and analyses already assembled for the region, using targeted surveys and experiments to characterize five diverse case-study sites that will sample the region. Cross-scale (reef to Global Circulation Model (GCM ) cell dimensions) and cross-domain (biological, environmental, economic) analyses will be carried out and integrated using domain-based typologies to classify sites and services, and to scale and integrate the impacts on services and values. A Geographic Information System (GIS) will be used extensively for visualization, analysis, integration and communication of results.
Expected Results:In addition to systematic identification and valuation of potential changes in ecosystem services, broken down by service, environmental type, and socioeconomic sector, the project will emphasize the unique suitability of Hawaii and its indigenous culture for advancing methods of valuing both "unused" resources (the Northwest Hawaiian Islands) and the cultural and spiritual, as well as aesthetic, services provided by coral reefs. In addition to elucidating the interactions among climate change stressors and their relative effects on multiple ecosystem services, the project will develop and disseminate a suite of new and broadly useful technical, methodological, and conceptual tools, broadly applicable to other systems.
Supplemental Keywords:marine, typology, contingent valuation, cost-benefit, EPA Region 9, geographic information systems (GIS)
,
Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Air, Scientific Discipline, RFA, climate change, Aquatic Ecosystems & Estuarine Research, Ecological Risk Assessment, Air Pollution Effects, Atmosphere, Aquatic Ecosystem, Chemistry, Monitoring/Modeling, Environmental Monitoring, coral reef communities, meteorology, climate model, UV radiation, Global Climate Change, ecosystem indicators, coastal ecosystems, Hawaii, climatic influence, climate models, aquatic ecosystems, atmospheric chemistry, climate variability, environmental measurement, environmental stress, global change, ecosystem stress, ecological models, climate, global climate models