About the Project

By examining spatial and temporal temperature and sedimentation patterns in Coos Bay estuary, this team built on a previous collaborative project to provide users with a dynamic picture of estuary habitat and potential impacts of climate change and land use changes, like removal of tide gates or dredging. The project team expanded an earlier version of a hydrodynamic model by adding relevant biological and ecological metrics, including a dynamic water temperature variable. Additional time periods were also added to the model, including three full years which demonstrate seasonal cycles and the arrival of a large marine heatwave to the estuary in 2014 and 2016. With these expansions, the project has reached more partners and provided video content for the visitor centers at SSNERR and the Charleston Marine Life Center.

About this Resource

Project Lead David Sutherland (University of Oregon) gives a 5-minute introduction to "Buried or Fried? Understanding Sedimentation and Temperature Effects on Native Species in the South Slough Reserve and Coos Estuary, Oregon," a collaborative research project funded in 2020 by the NERRS Science Collaborative.