A Conceptual Model of Natural and Anthropogenic Drivers and Their Influence on the Prince William Sound, Alaska, Ecosystem
| Autor: | Harwell Ma, John H. Gentile, McRoy Cp, Cummins Kw, Ray Hilborn, Parrish J, Highsmith Rc, Weingartner T |
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| Rok vydání: | 2008 |
| Předmět: |
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category Ecology Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis Ecological Modeling Estuary Pelagic zone Fjord Pollution Natural (archaeology) Article ecological risks Ecosystem model conceptual ecosystem model relative risks Exxon Valdez oil spill Environmental science Ecosystem Great Alaska Earthquake Sound (geography) Trophic level Prince William Sound environmental stressors |
| Zdroj: | Human and Ecological Risk Assessment |
| ISSN: | 1080-7039 |
| Popis: | Prince William Sound (PWS) is a semi-enclosed fjord estuary on the coast of Alaska adjoining the northern Gulf of Alaska (GOA). PWS is highly productive and diverse, with primary productivity strongly coupled to nutrient dynamics driven by variability in the climate and oceanography of the GOA and North Pacific Ocean. The pelagic and nearshore primary productivity supports a complex and diverse trophic structure, including large populations of forage and large fish that support many species of marine birds and mammals. High intra-annual, inter-annual, and interdecadal variability in climatic and oceanographic processes as drives high variability in the biological populations. A risk-based conceptual ecosystem model (CEM) is presented describing the natural processes, anthropogenic drivers, and resultant stressors that affect PWS, including stressors caused by the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 and the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. A trophodynamic model incorporating PWS valued ecosystem components is integrated into the CEM. By representing the relative strengths of driver/stressors/effects, the CEM graphically demonstrates the fundamental dynamics of the PWS ecosystem, the natural forces that control the ecological condition of the Sound, and the relative contribution of natural processes and human activities to the health of the ecosystem. The CEM illustrates the dominance of natural processes in shaping the structure and functioning of the GOA and PWS ecosystems. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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