COD-REMAP – Climate and ocean dynamics informing resource management and adaptation policy
The abundance and distribution of fish species are intrinsically linked to changing ocean conditions such as water temperatures and nutrient regimes. They are also profoundly affected by human activities, most prominently fisheries. This project will generate quantitative reconstructions of ocean dynamics vis-à-vis fish abundances in the Northwest Atlantic ecosystem during the last 2,000 years, covering the pre-Colonial and post-European settlement world. Records of changing ocean environmental conditions derived from sedimentary, coral and mollusk records will be combined with records of variations in fish abundance, size, and community structure from microfossils, archaeological and historical data. These data sets will be compared with coupled climate biogeochemistry-ecosystem-fishing hindcast models. Results will provide reference points on a shifting baseline for climate change adaptation policy and ecosystem management.
