Land and ocean ecosystems are strongly connected and mutually interactive. As climate changes and other anthropogenic stressors intensify, the complex pathways that link these systems will strengthen or weaken in ways that are currently beyond reliable prediction. In this review we offer a framework of land-ocean couplings and their role in shaping marine ecosystems in Coastal Temperate Rainforest (CTR) ecoregions, where high freshwater and materials flux result in particularly strong land-ocean connections. Using the largest contiguous expanse of CTR on Earth, the Northeast Pacific CTR (NPCTR), as a case study we integrate current understanding of the spatial and temporal scales of interacting physical, geochemical, and biological processes across the land-ocean continuum, and examine how these processes structure marine ecosystems from nearshore to offshore domains. We look ahead to the potential effects of climate and other anthropogenic changes on the coupled land-ocean meta-ecosystem. Finally, we review key data gaps and provide research recommendations for an integrated, transdisciplinary approach that we hope will guide future evaluation of ongoing impacts in marine ecosystems of the NPCTR and other CTRs globally. In the light of extreme events, including heatwaves, fire and flooding that are occurring almost annually, this agenda is not only necessary but urgent.

Primary Presenter: Brian Hunt, University of British Columbia (b.hunt@oceans.ubc.ca)

Authors:

Brian Hunt, University of British Columbia  (b.hunt@oceans.ubc.ca)

Simone Alin, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  (simone.r.alin@noaa.gov)

Allison Bidlack, University of Alaska Fairbanks  (albidlack@alaska.edu)

Heida Diefenderfer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory  (heida.diefenderfer@pnnl.gov)

Jennifer Jackson, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada  (Jennifer.Jackson@dfo-mpo.gc.ca)

Colleen Kellogg, Hakai Institute  (colleen.kellogg@hakai.org)

Peter Kiffney, Northwest Fisheries Science Center  (peter.kiffney@noaa.gov)

Kyra St. Pierre, University of British Columbia  (k.stpierre@oceans.ubc.ca)

Eddy Carmack, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada  (Eddy.Carmack@dfo-mpo.gc.ca)

William Floyd, British Columbia Ministry of Forests & Vancouver Island University  (William.floyd@gov.bc.ca)

Eran Hood, University of Alaska Southeast  (ewhood@alaska.edu)

Alexander Horner-Divine, University of Washington  (arhd@uw.edu)

Colin Levings, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada  (cklevings@shaw.ca)

Christian Vargas, Universidad de Concepcion  (crvargas@udec.cl)