The San Luis Obispo Science and Ecosystem Alliance (SLOSEA) was established in Morro Bay, California in 2006. Its mission is to improve environmental management of the area’s resources by enhancing communication and collaboration among relevant agencies and coordinating their activities on land, in the estuary and nearshore ocean.
Morro Bay is a rare and important ecosystem on the central California coast as few watersheds in this region empty into a coastal embayment. The array of habitats found among the estuary, watershed and coastal ocean support over 250 wildlife species, including 16 that are threatened or endangered.
While considered to be relatively healthy, pollution, habitat degradation, climate change and other issues are threatening the area’s water quality, wildlife populations and local economy.
Working closely with the Morro Bay National Estuary Program and the Marine Interests Group of San Luis Obispo, SLOSEA formed a multi-stakeholder group that works to harmonize research efforts and resource management decisions, and improve the ecosystem by enhancing biological, socio-economic and institutional conditions.
Over the last several years, SLOSEA has generated a more thorough understanding of ecosystem dynamics and used science to inform questions of interest to resource management agencies and other stakeholders.
Mission
The San Luis Obispo Science and Ecosystem Alliance (SLOSEA) in Morro Bay on the central California coast was established in 2006 to harmonize the activities of local stakeholder groups, scientists, environmental organizations, and federal and state agencies to enhance understanding of ecosystem functioning and improve management of the area’s resources. SLOSEA’s collective vision is “for a healthy, resilient coastal ecosystem that provides for thriving and interacting populations of plant, animal and human communities.”
Objectives
In the beginning, SLOSEA’s broad objectives were:
Through shared deliberation, SLOSEA participants developed seven initiative areas with their own objectives, including:
These six initiatives are all incorporated under the umbrella initiative, science and management linkages, which strives to interpret and combine the results generated within the other initiatives into “Management Action Memos” that are disseminated to policy-makers and management agencies for their use in decision-making processes.
(NOTE: This information is current as of January 2010. Since that time, the initiatives have been reorganized - some have been combined or changed names, others have ended and new ones have emerged. See www.slosea.org for an updated list and description of SLOSEA initiatives.)
Lead Organizations
SLOSEA is led by individuals from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. In addition, the Morro Bay National Estuary Program and the Marine Interests Group of San Luis Obispo County are central players in the effort.
The Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP)
The Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) is a local non-profit organization established in 1995 as a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Estuary Program, which is run through the Office of Water. The MBNEP’s integrated watershed management activities are primarily focused on basic research, monitoring, restoration and protection of key species and habitats in the estuary and surrounding watershed, education and outreach, and making connections among resource managers.
The Marine Interests Group of San Luis Obispo County (MIG)
The Marine Interests Group of San Luis Obispo County (MIG) was formed in 2003 as a multi-stakeholder consensus group supported by the World Wildlife Fund and assembled to discuss the possibility of expanding the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary into coastal waters along the San Luis Obispo County coast. The MIG ultimately decided against the expansion of the sanctuary, but has continued to convene on matters of local marine interest, including the enhancement and maintenance of nearshore resources and their use and enjoyment by community members and visitors.
Key Parties
SLOSEA is also comprised of representatives of the following organizations:
SLOSEA is comprised of three primary groups: the Leadership Team, the Advisory Committee and the Science Team.
SLOSEA partners also participate and are members of the community that take part in SLOSEA discussions and activities and/or are hired as consultants for SLOSEA’s initiatives.
Prior to the initiation of the San Luis Obispo Science and Ecosystem Alliance’s ecosystem-based management effort in Morro Bay on the central California coast, scientific research, resource management activities and local stakeholder engagement efforts were conducted by agencies and organizations operating independently of one another with minimal coordination between them.
Two local entities, the Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) and the Marine Interests Groups of San Luis Obispo County (MIG), were well established local non-profit groups that were doing elements of ecosystem-based management -- engaging stakeholders, monitoring resources, pursuing conservation and working towards sustainable use of Morro Bay’s resources; however, each focused on a different segment of the Morro Bay ecosystem.
Additionally, key ecosystem players (e.g., California Department of Parks and Recreation and Department of Fish and Game) were not formally represented in their activities. Such fragmentation and isolation among organizations limited understanding of interactions between habitats, resources and the provision of ecosystem services, and mechanisms for linking local science with resource management decision-making processes were nonexistent.
Recognizing the need to integrate the activities, resources and knowledge of the MBNEP and MIG with the scientific capacity of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) and government agencies with authority over land and resources in and around Morro Bay, a scientist from Cal Poly joined forces with the director of the MBNEP and professional facilitator of the MIG.
Together, they formed the San Luis Obispo Science and Ecosystem Alliance (SLOSEA) in 2006 and began engaging a variety of ecosystem actors in working toward holistically addressing the area’s social, ecological and institutional issues.
The Ecosystem
The Morro Bay estuary on the central California coast is a 2,300 acre semi-enclosed body of water that empties into Estero Bay. Because estuaries are uncommon along the coast of California, Morro Bay is a unique and valuable ecosystem. Of the 250 species of wildlife that reside here, 16 are threatened or endangered. The surrounding watershed is a 48,000 acre drainage basin comprised of oak woodlands, grasslands, coastal chaparral, coastal dunes, coastal sage, riparian corridors and two main tributaries, the Los Osos and Chorro Creeks. The shoreline areas of Morro Bay consist of some of the largest coastal dunes in the state along with areas of sandy beach and rocky intertidal habitats.
Approximately one third of the watershed is publicly owned. The remaining two thirds are privately owned with approximately 68 percent of the land in some form of agricultural production. Limited amounts of urbanization are found in the residential and commercial areas of Los Osos and Morro Bay, the watershed’s two urban towns that have an approximate combined population of 25,000 people.
Over the last few decades, the nature of businesses along the waterfront and their relative contribution to the local economy has changed. As the only all-weather port between Monterey and Santa Barbara, approximately 200 miles of coastline, the Morro Bay/Port San Luis area is a regional harbor facility that was historically dominated by commercial and party boat fishing industries. Today, recreational and commercial fishing operations comprise only a small fraction of the local economy. Tourism now plays a more significant role. The beneficial human uses supported by the system are all dependent upon healthy ecological conditions.
Threats
Sedimentation and pollution (point and non-point source) from upland areas, habitat loss, invasive species, declining fisheries and stringent regulations, and climate change are threatening the area’s resources, provisioning of ecosystem services, and the quality of life and livelihoods of the local community.
SLOSEA has employed a variety of strategies and tools:
The system is being continuously monitored through voluntary monitoring efforts, research being conducted by local scientists, and a network of water quality monitoring stations in the estuary and coastal waters. As data from these sources accumulate, a better understanding of the system emerges and new questions are raised. When the project team meets, participants are able to discuss new questions and deliberate on strategies for addressing them. Possible solutions are then pursued as experiments. As results of these experiments and other research projects are presented and integrated, and the understanding of the state of the ecosystem and how its components interact, fluctuate and respond to management activities grows, activities and the prioritization of issues are re-evaluated and modified as needed.
SLOSEA has made significant progress in each of its initiative areas, conducted valuable ecosystem-based science that has yielded a more comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem, and advanced the practice of ecosystem-based management. Some of its major accomplishments as of January 2010 include:
The following factors have facilitated SLOSEA’s progress:
The following issues have challenged SLOSEA’s efforts:
Several key lessons have been learned by SLOSEA’s EBM program participants regarding EBM implementation:
San Luis Obispo Science and Ecosystem Alliance (SLOSEA): http://www.slosea.org/
Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP): http://www.mbnep.org/
SLOSEA webpage on the California Polytechnic State University Center for Coastal Marine Sciences: http://www.marine.calpoly.edu/researchprograms/slosea.php