This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
To address concerns over the conversion and degradation of Great Lakes coastal ecosystems, researchers and conservation professionals have developed maps, data and tools to guide protection, restoration and policy decisions. Early basin-wide prioritizations include the Great Lakes Ecoregional Plan, Biodiversity Investment Areas, and the Great Lakes Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, which varied in scope with respect to conservation targets or features and the breadth of strategies intended to be informed. Some prioritizations focused on smaller areas within the Great Lakes – such as the Green Bay Landscape Conservation Design and the Western Lake Erie Coastal Conservation Vision – to address urgent or severe threats particular to those areas. Over time, prioritizations have evolved to incorporate climate change, address ecosystem services and benefits to people. Additional prioritization efforts are underway or being planned and will continue this growth to incorporate ecological process and ecosystem functions. To provide context and potentially inform current and future prioritization initiatives, we will present a synopsis of past and ongoing initiatives, comparing them with respect to their geographic and strategic scope, breadth of consideration of biodiversity, human well-being, and other parameters, and the extent to which they integrate terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We will also introduce a prioritization effort by The Nature Conservancy, intended to increase cross-boundary collaboration and impact of TNC’s nascent Great Lakes Coastal Resilience team, focused on the US coastal and nearshore areas.
