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NOAA Research on Hypoxia: Providing Key Information and Tools to Manage Low Oxygen Impacts to Coastal Ecosystems
Issue
Hypoxia in aquatic systems is a condition of low dissolved oxygen concentration that can cause stress or even death to resident organisms. Impacts can be severe, causing habitat loss and extensive “Dead Zones” that affect commercially and recreationally important fish and shellfish. While hypoxia can occur naturally, it is often a symptom of environments stressed by human impact such as from excess nutrient enrichment. Over half of the U.S. estuaries now experience natural or human-induced hypoxic conditions at some time each year and evidence suggests that the frequency and duration of hypoxic events have increased over the last few decades.
The importance and national scale of hypoxia and nutrient pollution in U.S. waters is evidenced by the passage of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA) in 1998 and its reauthorization in 2004. The HABHRCA legislation and recent national reports describe the need and identify priorities for research related to hypoxia and the related issue of nutrient pollution (i.e. eutrophication). Through HABHRCA, NOAA is mandated and authorized to conduct research on this critical National problem. Implementation of HABHRCA is supported by the Administration in the President's Ocean Action Plan.
Approach
NOAA is supporting research to improve understanding of this widespread problem and develop forecasting capabilities to predict hypoxia impacts on ecosystem condition in locations experiencing severe hypoxia and related nutrient pollution. The ultimate objective is to provide results and tools which will enable coastal resource managers to make informed, proactive, and scientifically-based decisions to mitigate or prevent the impact of hypoxia on aquatic resources and economies. In order to assess management alternatives, it is necessary to determine the causes of hypoxia, develop the capability to predict its occurrence in response to anthropogenic stress, and evaluate the subsequent ecological, economic, and social impacts.
NOAA has supported multi-year, interdisciplinary research projects on the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone since 1990. The so-called “Dead Zone” has become a focal point for scientific and policy attention because of its enormous size and potential impact to the Gulf's large commercial fishery, and the management implications related to its extensive watershed (>40% of the continental U.S.). Employing a combination of field, monitoring and modeling studies within an ecosystem management framework, NOAA research efforts have, and are continuing to, provide key information and tools that coastal and watershed managers require to mitigate the size and impact of the annual hypoxic zone in the region. NOAA's efforts over the years have been closely coordinated with other Federal agencies and states through the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force.
Accomplishments
NOAA's long-term research investments on hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, totaling
over $20 million, have led to numerous advancements, several of which are listed below:
- NOAA, on behalf of the Task Force, led the development of six technical reports in the late 1990s that synthesized the state-of-knowledge regarding causes and consequences of the Gulf's hypoxic zone. This was summarized in the 2000 CENR report – An Integrated Assessment of Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico – which led to the first ever Action Plan in 2001 for mitigating and reducing hypoxia in the region.
- NOAA monitoring and observation programs have annually documented the areal extent of the hypoxic zone since 1990 and represent a unique long-term dataset that is critical for ecological forecasting applications. These programs provided the data that was used to develop the key goal of the Action Plan – reduction of the hypoxic zone to 5,000 km2 - and continue to provide an annual assessment of progress toward that goal.
- NOAA researchers, in conjunction with academic scientists, have developed and are refining a suite of ecological models to predict the size of the hypoxic zone and to evaluate the influence of nutrient loading and other factors. Forecasts are critical to evaluate alternative management strategies to reduce the size of the hypoxic zone in an ecosystem-scale perspective and in the adaptive management approach embodied in the Action Plan.
Looking to the Future
The recent reauthorization of HABHRCA calls for a second interagency National assessment of hypoxia and a strengthened NOAA research program. NOAA will continue to play a strong role on the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force in its efforts to reassess the Action Plan, especially activities related to the science of hypoxia.
NOAA is continuing to address hypoxia Nationally through its Coastal Hypoxia Research Program, a competitive program that has recently awarded six grants totaling $6.8M to address hypoxia in Narragansett Bay, the Albemarle Estuary, Puget Sound, the Delaware Coastal Bays, and additional Atlantic Coast estuaries. These studies will focus on retrospective analyses, development of predictive models, understanding estuary susceptibility to nutrient loading and assessing the impact of hypoxia on living resources. Other NOAA scientists and university researchers are also making valuable contributions at local and regional scales toward understanding the causes of this problem and its impact on habitat and fisheries in the Great Lakes and marine coastal areas.
Related Links
CENR Gulf of Mexico Integrated Assessment
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Action Plan
NOAA Extramural Hypoxia Programs
NOAA International Field Years on Lake Erie Program
For More Information, Contact:
Robert Magnien, Ph.D
Director
NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research
Phone: 301-713-3338 x 159
E-mail: Rob.Magnien@noaa.gov