Resources

Gulf of Maine Library Collection

Identification of Species for Priority Habitats

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Gulf of Maine Project

Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment

In 1990, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (Council) was established as an effort to address transboundary issues related to Gulf resources. The Council is organized by the governors of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, and the Premiers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, under the international Agreement on the Conservation of the Marine Environment of the Gulf of Maine. The Council and its Working Group, representing a partnership of several federal, state, and local agencies and private organizations, in 1991 adopted a Gulf Action Plan, outlining priorities on which to focus collective efforts.

The Action Plan's mission is "to maintain and enhance environmental quality in the Gulf of Maine and to allow for sustainable use by existing and future generations." The Plan identifies seven high priority objectives, among which are protection, restoration, and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat within the Gulf region. This includes the development of a systematic approach for identifying, classifying and protecting regionally significant habitats. As a participant in the Plan's implementation, the Gulf of Maine Project of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is coordinating an international, multi-state, and non-governmental organizational effort to design and implement such an approach.

HABITAT IDENTIFICATION APPROACH

During October 1992, the Gulf of Maine Project, in association with the Gulf of Maine Council, convened a workshop in St. Andrews, New Brunswick to begin implementation of the Habitat Protection goals in the Action Plan. Participants included marine, wildlife, and other natural resource agencies from the states and provinces, as well as federal agencies and non-governmental organizations. One of the goals of the workshop was to initiate a coordinated, comprehensive, systematic approach for identifying priority fish and wildlife habitats in the Gulf of Maine region.

At the workshop, the Gulf of Maine Project proposed using a step-wise approach to the task (Fig. 1), in which responsible agencies from each state or province, federal agencies, and representative non-governmental organizations would work together to develop criteria for ranking species, and then apply these criteria to develop a list of priority fish, wildlife and plants for the region. Since habitats are the places where species live, the nomination and ranking of important species is an effective means of identifying such regionally significant habitats.

HABITAT PANEL

Subsequent to the habitat workshop, the Gulf of Maine Council's Working Group nominated individuals in the representative agencies and non-governmental organizations to serve on a Habitat Panel to implement priority habitat identification. Expertise, data, and opinions from agencies and organizations familiar with marine, freshwater, and terrestrial life of the Gulf of Maine and its watershed would be vital for constructing the species list. Moreover, the criteria for rating species would reflect the mandates and interests of these agencies and groups. It was recommended that a representative from the wildlife/freshwater fish and the marine resource agencies of each federal, state and provincial entity and up to two non-governmental organizations per state or province be appointed as a participant on the Habitat Panel. Members are listed in Fig. 2.

SPECIES RANKING CRITERIA

At the heart of the species ranking process were criteria that could be applied to any group of species. These criteria were developed incrementally, including input from representatives of concerned agencies and groups and their colleagues, with opportunities to revise positions during several iterations. The iterative process was devised as a way of gaining consensus on the relative value of resources.

The first step identified criteria (see table) that represent the social, economic, and environmental reasons behind the preferences or mandates of the public, private interests, and governmental agencies. Next, these criteria were assigned weights. Candidate species were then nominated, and were scored by participants according to the criteria. A species' total score was determined by both the number of applicable criteria and the weight assigned to each of these criteria. This sequence allowed a great deal of input, while at the same time limited the effects of unconscious biases of agency or group representatives. The rationally-derived criteria melded the diverse interests of agencies and organizations, and their disparate views on priority species, into a list with a regional perspective.

SPECIES LIST

The resulting ranked species list (see table) was acceptedly the Committee as the product of a consensus approach to species identification. The species themselves, and their rankings, are not the ultimate focus of this effort, but were chosen as a means to select regionally significant habitats, the task specified by the Council. The list is inclusive of all categories of species in the region, with a focus on coastal species that rely on the Gulf. A great variety of species and taxonomic categories emerged as of interest to participants, and all will be important in locating priority habitats.

WHERE WE GO FROM HERE

The species list will next be used as a focus for identifying habitats. For each area, scores for each species can be added, accounting for both the numbers of species using the area and the weighted accorded each species. Protecting habitats for the top-ranked species will also tend to protect habitats for lower-ranked species in the same area.

With the active support of agencies and organizations on the Committee, habitat models will be developed from information about each species' distribution, habitat characteristics, and needs and tolerances during various life history stages. Ecological data such as upland, wetland, or water cover types, bathymetry, soil/substrate, salinity/hydrology, and other types of data will be used to locate and display habitats, using a GIS. Known species distribution data will be used to test and verify predicted habitats.

Once the habitats have been identified, the protection status of these habitats and threats to them will be determined. Working with the wide variety of habitat protection measures available in each jurisdiction, watershed management plans will be developed that identify long term management and restoration needs, and projects will be implemented to protect and restore priority habitats throughout the Gulf of Maine.

SPECIES RANKING CRITERIA

A. Importance to environmental, scientific, commercial or other special interest groups (species sought out or portrayed for consumptive or non-consumptive purposes). Total of up to 16 points.

B. Species listed as endangered, threatened (U.S. designation), vulnerable (designation of Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), or special concern (designation of some states). Total of up to 10 points.

C. Limits/controls on take/harvest of species (state/provincial or federal regulation on numbers/season; listed species (B, above) automatically qualify here also). Total of up to 5 points.

D. Significant decline of population is anticipated (based on trends or expected events). Total of up to 11 points.

E. Strictly tied to specific habitat, locality, or association of cover types, for at least one critical part of its life cycle ("bio-indicator"). Total of up to 9 points.

F. Species dependent on marine or estuarine system for at least part of life cycle. Total of up to 8 points.

G. Abundance has been significantly reduced throughout species' range. Total of up to 9 points.

H. Important predator, prey, or primary producer in terms of energy transfer or controlling populations of other species within the Gulf of Maine. Total of up to 16 points.

I. Species plays a major role in succession or maintenance of community by physically or chemically modifying habitat. Total of up to 11 points.

J. Species occurs in Gulf of Maine year round. Total of 5 points.