Talk on Marine Reserves and Climate

Cape Perpetua marine reserve. /Photo courtesy of ODFW.

As part of the ongoing Research Seminars series, the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) will be hosting Jess Hopf, a research associate focusing on ecological modelling and population dynamics, to discuss her work on how marine reserves can help monitor ecosystem health as the climate continues to change. Her presentation will take place on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 3:30 p.m.

About the talk:

“In the last decade, multiple reserves have been established along the U.S. Pacific coast, and evaluations of those reserve systems are underway. Concurrently, the Pacific coast has experienced multiple extreme events, including heatwaves, hypoxic events, and pathogen outbreaks. These events are expected to worsen with climate change, raising two key questions for marine reserve monitoring and management: 1) what roles can reserves play in mitigating the effects of climate change? and 2) how do extreme events impact our ability to assess reserve success? In this talk, I’ll briefly discuss some long-term expectations of reserves and show how marine reserves can help stabilise fish biomass and fishery yields, but only if located in the right areas. Critical to current monitoring and management actions, I’ll focus on our current knowledge of short-term impacts and show how natural environmental variability and extreme events can negatively affect our ability to detect reserve effects, sometimes delaying our ability to see positive biomass build-up for decades. Come join us to take a trip from Oregon to Australia and learn more about how fish population models can save the marine world, maybe.”

These talks are delivered in a hybrid fashion. The event is free, and all are welcome to attend in person in the auditorium of the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building at the HMSC (2030 S.E. Marine Science Dr). You can also attend online. Use this link to attend remotely via Zoom.