Puget Sound topic outlines

The following draft outlines were prepared by the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound editorial board and are meant to guide the areas of focus for this website. This is a living document and may be revised as necessary.

The Biology section combines outlines and suggestions from Joe Gaydos, Timothy Quinn and Charles Simenstad of the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound editorial board. Additional advice on that section’s structure comes from Jennifer Ruesink and Meghan Dethier. Other sections are based on outlines or research by editorial board members Joel Baker (Chemistry), Parker MacCready (Physical Environment), Patrick Christie (Social and Economic Sciences), Mary Ruckelshaus (Ecosystem-based Management) and Amy Snover (Climate Change). Edited by Jeff Rice for the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound.

Biology

Topic Editors

Topic Outline

  1. Species
    1. Species checklists for the Puget Sound/Salish Sea watersheds
    2. Status and trends, with an emphasis on species of concern
    3. Species accounts/descriptions
  2. Habitats
    1. Marine/Estuarine (includes nearshore)
    2. Freshwater/Terrestrial (includes shorelines)
  3. Ecophysiology of Puget Sound
    1. Oceanographic basins
    2. Watersheds and large deltas
    3. Shorelines
  4. Processes
    1. Threats (drivers and pressures)
      1. Habitat loss
      2. Climate change
      3. Indicators
      4. Noise
      5. Toxics in biota
    2. Species interactions (inter and intra)
      1. Food web
      2. Competition
      3. Disease
    3. Recruitment dynamics (the process of ushering in the next generation of species)
      1. Breeding
      2. Lifecycle
      3. Species energy dynamics
  5. Special topics (profiles, critical reviews and features)

Chemistry

Topic Editor

Topic Outline

  1. Elemental cycling in the Puget Sound estuary
    1. Elemental mass balances
    2. Redox chemistry
    3. Organic matter cycling
  2. Water quality (current spatial trends, temporal trends, drivers of change)
    1. Common pollutants
      1. Metals
      2. Nutrients + chlorophyll
      3. Priority organic pollutants
    2. Bacterial contamination
    3. Dissolved oxygen
  3. Ecotoxicology in Puget Sound
    1. Benthic fish tumors
    2. Coho prespawn mortality
    3. Pesticide impacts
    4. Stormwater impacts
  4. Emerging water quality issues
    1. Ocean acidification
    2. Emerging contaminants
    3. Plastics
  5. Recent advances in tools
    1. Analytical chemistry
    2. Ecotoxicological methods
    3. Modeling of chemical transport
    4. In situ tools (such as buoys and gliders, etc.)
  6. Case studies
    1. Eagle Harbor
      1. Lessons learned
      2. Historical retrospective
    2. Foss cleanup (opportunity for a student project related to data mining, etc.)
    3. Human health risk assessment:  Consumption of Puget Sound fish and shellfish

Physical Environment

Topic Editor

Topic Outline

  1. Geological Setting
    1. Names of the different basins and sills
    2. Tectonic and glacial history
    3. Post-glacial sedimentation leading to the current structure of basins and sills
    4. Current sedimentary systems, highlighting the Skagit, Nisqually, and Elwha
    5. Sea level rise
  2. Tides
    1. Observed patterns of tides in the Salish Sea
    2. Interesting facts: Why do “King Tides” happen when they do?  Why is lower low water at night in the winter?  Why are diurnal tides so important around here?
    3. Astronomical forcing and the major tidal constituents
    4. Physics of long waves
    5. Vocabulary: phase, amplitude, wave speed, wavelength, tidal ellipses
    6. Global Patterns of tides
    7. How tidal currents relate to tidal height
    8. Strength of the tidal currents in different basins
    9. Tidal eddies: highlight Three Tree Point
    10. Tide rips: what you can see from the ferry and what it means about water motion below
    11. Dispersion due to tidal eddies: FlowWeaver interactive tool
  3. Turbulence
    1. What it is and why it matters
    2. The bottom boundary layer
    3. Observations of turbulence: Three Tree Point and others
  4. Rivers
    1. Characteristics of different watersheds
    2. Annual transport of different rivers
    3. Does the Fraser River influence the Sound?
  5. Ocean effects
    1. Sea level and tides
    2. Ekman transport and upwelling
    3. Properties of the source waters coming up Juan de Fuca Canyon (link to Subtidal Currents section) T, s, DO, Nitrate, pH.
    4. Flow reversals in JdF due to Columbia River water!
  6. Stratification
    1. How salinity and temperature effect density, creating layers of different water
    2. Observed stratification in the different basins
    3. How the competition between ocean and river waters creates stratification
    4. How much does summertime heating matter?
    5. How does turbulence break down stratification?  When does wind-driven mixing matter?
    6. Internal waves: have you ever seen a wave that is 50 m tall and moving at 1 m s-1?  They are underneath your boat right now!
    7. Consequences of stratification are HUGE: vertical segregation of biogeochemical processes leads to high productivity near the surface and hypoxia in the deep waters.
  7. Subtidal currents
    1. “Subtidal” means tidally-averaged
    2. Observed pattern: the Exchange Flow
    3. How strong is the exchange flow in different PS basins?  Why is it 3-layers sometimes?
    4. Physics of the exchange flow and how it leads to stratification
    5. Physics at highly energetic places: Admiralty Inlet, Tacoma Narrows, and Deception Pass
    6. The Kundsen Relation: how we can tell that the exchange flow is so big compared to river flow
    7. How residence time is controlled by the exchange flow, and residence times for different basins
  8. Atmosphere
    1. Typical patterns of wind, heat flux and precipitation
    2. Interactive data explorer for atmospheric fields
  9. Climate
    1. What are the Upwelling Index, ENSO, PDO and NPGO and what can we say about their effects in our region?
    2. Global warming
    3. Sea level rise
    4. Ocean Acidification
  10. Special topics and places
    1. The Duwamish River Estuary
    2. Nisqually restoration
    3. Hood Canal
    4. Skagit River Delta
    5. Elwha River

Social and Economic Sciences

Topic Editor

Topic Outline

  1. Management effectiveness of protection and restoration efforts
    1. Who is involved and what are they attempting to do?
    2. What is getting done?
  2. Science communication within the region
  3. Human uses of Puget Sound
    1. Ports and transportation
    2. Recreation
      1. Marine
      2. Watershed
    3. Commercial uses
      1. Fishing
      2. Shellfish
      3. Tourism
  4. Economics
  5. Healthy Human Population
  6. History
  7. Human Quality of Life
  8. Tribes

Ecosystem-based Management

Taken from the Puget Sound Science Update, which is now published as the Puget Sound Science Review.

Topic Editor

Topic Outline

  1. Understanding Future and Desired System States
    1. Section 1. Introduction
    2. Section 2. The Future of Puget Sound: Where are We Going?
    3. Section 3. An Approach to Selecting Ecosystem Indicators for Puget Sound
    4. Section 4. Evaluation of Potential Indicators for Puget Sound
    5. Section 5. Results of the Indicator Evaluations
    6. Section 6. Defining Ecosystem Reference Levels: A Case in Puget Sound
    7. Section 7. Glossary
  2. Incorporating Human Well-being
    1. Section 1. Introduction
    2. Section 2. Human Well-being and Ecosystem-based Management
    3. Section 3. The Nature of Human Well-being
    4. Section 4. The Determinants of Human Well-being
    5. Section 5. Linking Biophysical and HWB Indicators
  3. Ecosystem Protection and Restoration Strategies
    1. Section 1. Introduction
    2. Section 2. Overarching, Large-Scale Protection and Restoration Strategies
    3. Section 3. Protection and Restoration Strategies for Watersheds and Tributaries
    4. Section 4. Marine and Estuarine Protection and Restoration Strategies
    5. Section 5. Fisheries and Wildlife Protection and Restoration Strategies
    6. Section 6. Evaluation of Protection and Restoration Effectiveness
    7. Section 7. Appendices

Climate Change Impacts on Puget Sound

This is a draft list of topics for the Puget Sound Climate Change Impacts Synthesis. Note: Topics noted with “(NEW)” are topics that were not covered in the 2005 synthesis.

Topic Editor

Topic Outline

  1. Temperature
    1. Observed trends – Western US
    2. Observed trends – PS region
    3. Projected changes
    4. (NEW) Extreme heat – observed
    5. (NEW) Extreme heat – projected
  2. Precipitation
    1. Observed trends
    2. Projected changes
    3. (NEW) Extreme precipitation – observed
    4. (NEW) Extreme precipitation – projected
    5. (NEW) Extreme precipitation – atmospheric rivers
    6. (NEW) Storms/storminess
  3. Snowpack and Streamflow
    1. Observed
    2. Projected
    3. Flooding
    4. (NEW) Low flow
    5. (NEW) Glaciers
  4. Sea level rise
    1. Observed
    2. Projected
    3. Storm surge
  5. Circulation
    1. Observed
    2. Projected
  6. Upwelling
    1. Observed
    2. Projected
  7. Ocean acidification
    1. (NEW) Observed
    2. (NEW) Projected
  8. Water temperature
    1. Freshwater
      1. Observed
      2. Projected
    2. Sea surface temperature and pressure
      1. Observed
      2. Projected
  9. Water quality - marine
    1. Dissolved Oxygen
  10. Marine Ecosystem Structure/Function
    1. (NEW) Sedimentation
    2. Nearshore habitat
    3. Salt Marsh
    4. Eeelgrass
    5. Salmon
    6. Food web changes
    7. Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) & Nutrients
  11. Fire
    1. (NEW) Observed
    2. (NEW) Projected

Geography

Topic Outline

  1. Maps and geospatial data
    1. Counties
    2. Watersheds
    3. Regions