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Assessment of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program II. Ecology (1992) / Chapter Skim
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4. Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 99-104

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From page 99...
... There have been insufficient process-oriented programs for many regions of the OCS, studies that would yield information on ecological processes, population dynamics of resource species, and interactions between physical and chemical processes and biological communities. Such information is needed to support assessments of the sensitivity and vulnerability of biological communities to OCS-related activities, and it wiD also provide a basis for developing strategies for reducing impacts and mitigating them.
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From page 100...
... More attention needs to be given to the other potential impacts of OCS development and production, including those associated with the combined discharge of drilling fluids, produced waters, spin dispersants, and other chronic discharges, in addition to ship and aircraft traffic, onshore development, pipeline construction, and removal of facilities as wed as the overall cumulative effects of significant ~ndustri~i7~tion related to OCS oil and gas activities in an area and how impacts could be reduced. Regional programs within the ESP vary Tom one region to another in the scientific quality of completed studies, the integration of data from different disciplines, and the acquisition of critical information.
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From page 101...
... MMS, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (NOAA/OCSEAP) , supported the development of analytical chemical techniques for deterlri~ng concentrations of hydrocarbons and biochemical techniques for exa~runing sublethal effects of hydrocarbon contaminants, metabolites, and reaction products.
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From page 102...
... For birds, MMS shoed establish a subset of potentially vulnerable colonies and should run a statistically based program to monitor numbers and reproductive biology of selected species during leasing, exploration, and production. Detailed long-term monitoring studies should also be done for selected species of marine mammals.
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From page 103...
... for the design of benthic mon~tonng programs can be applied to other aspects of the OCS program, specifically in the selection of processes that can be studied, statistical design of sampling programs, and identification of appropriate temporal and spatial scales for sampling specific characteristics.
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Key Terms

  • ocs oil
  • gas activities
  • study plans
  • regional study
  • potential impacts

  • continental shelf
  • biological communities
  • biological resources
  • predicted effects
  • monitoring programs

  • nearshore habitats
  • scientific bases
  • field programs
  • chemical processes
  • shelf environmental

  • monitoring studies
  • spilled oil
  • selected species
  • ecosystem processes
  • outer continental

  • control recovery
  • marine mammals
  • hypotheses underlying
  • future esp
  • critical data

  • otherwise unverifiable
  • living resources
  • resource inventories
  • closely fulfill
  • pipeline construction


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