Ecosystem Integration & Assessment

Successful ecosystem management requires studying the system as a whole.  While there is a lot of information, it is not always accessible, in formats that can be used, or in the desired area of interest. 

Complicating the matter is that we don’t only have to streamline data from multiple U.S. entities; our efforts have to be inclusive of our neighbors in Mexico.  

Equally challenging to the science mission is determining the socioeconomic value of ecosystem services provided by the
coastal and marine environments of the Gulf of Mexico.
Managers are cognizant of the fact that decisions can’t be
made in a vacuum-they have the great challenge of trying to balance economic vitality and sustainability of coastal residents.