Overview

NOAA's Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) program supports Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM), a new era of ocean stewardship, by providing a next generation tool and helping transfer scientific knowledge to management particularly with respect to oceanographic, climatic, ecological and other environmental conditions. As of 2016, the program is implemented in 5 regions across the United States - Alaska, California Current, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Islands, and the Northeast.

IEAs are intended to provide ‘a synthesis and integration of information on relevant physical, chemical, ecological, and human processes in relation to specified management objectives' (Levin et al., 2008, 2009). IEAs therefore draw on both the natural and human dimensions sciences to determine the status of these coupled Social-Ecological Systems (SESs) and to evaluate management options. This requires coordination and cooperation among different state and federal agencies and drawing on the expertise of partners in native communities, academia, and non-governmental organizations. 

 

Audience

Ecosystem scientists and researchers, natural resource planners