Kelp Early Life Histories & Restoration (WG4)
Goals
Our goal is to review, assess and adapt kelp restoration methodologies for local species, environmental, and cultural contexts in the transboundary waters of British Columbia and Washington State. Ultimately, we aim to understand the potential for kelp restoration in BC & WA and identify and overcome barriers to scalable restoration by working with regulators and policy-makers.
Specific Goals:
Restoration:
Review the restoration potential for kelp in BC and WA waters, with links to existing and developing policies.
Adapt kelp restoration methodologies to local species and environmental contexts.
Biobanking:
Develop a regional biobanking plan for kelp conservation and restoration.
Priority actions & deliverables
These objectives and deliverables were mapped out by the group in the first WG1 meeting. They are a work-in-progress and will continue to be refined.
1. Restoration Actions: Building on the Kelp Alliance Restoration Guidebook, assess, develop and apply action for regionally specific restoration that meet the needs of decision makers
Review and produce open-source documentation of kelp restoration methods/techniques to guide regional work
Discuss, compare & share kelp genetic methodologies that inform kelp restoration (e.g., pop gen, eDNA, genetic diversity)
Discuss, compare & share kelp cultivation and early life history methodologies that inform kelp restoration
Identify regions/sites and methodologies for priority restoration actions, including compensatory mitigation and a mitigation bank for when in-situ mitigation is not viable
Share & synthesize emerging research on the genetic structure of kelp populations in BC/WA to inform restoration and biobanking initiatives
Synthesize modeling and field data to inform connectivity and dispersal underlying kelp populations and associated communities
Identify barriers to scalable kelp restoration in transboundary waters by working with regulators and policy-makers in the US and Canada
Inform design/install/maintenance of compensatory mitigation and restoration sites and project success/compliance metrics
2. Biobanking actions
Identify regional distribution of biobanking initiatives and needs to support for species-level and population-level conservation
Assess and discuss biobanking methodologies - replication size, preservation
Create a plan to improve regional contributions to biobanking and kelp genetic data repositories
Assess R&D and funding needs for regional biobanking initiatives, including scaling-up initiatives using best available knowledge
Identify barriers to scalable and dispersed biobanking in transboundary waters by working with regulators and policy-makers in the US and Canada
Leadership
Hilary Hayford, Puget Sound Restoration Fund (USA)
Sherryl Bisgrove, Simon Fraser University (CAN)
Liam Coleman, Simon Fraser University (CAN)
Logan Zienert, North Island College (CAN)
Working Group Materials
Access WG4 materials here (link to shared drive)