Chapter 4. Support effective decision-making through science-based adaptive management and decision support tools

Action Area 4: Improve understanding of interactions between stressors and managed species and their communities

Management Needs Priority Science Actions
A. Develop conceptual and numeric models to enhance current understanding and inform nutrient management questions. A. Implement studies to better understand the ecosystem response before, during, and after major changes in the amount and type of effluent from large point sources in the Delta including water treatment facilities.
B. Quantify the effects of climate change on species, Delta ecology, and potential impacts on water and natural resource management. B. Identify areas that act as refugia for species of concern during extreme conditions, particularly drought and flood, to inform management decisions and priorities during extreme climate events.
C. Determine how water operations and restoration actions will affect native fishes to adaptively guide management decisions and restoration design. C. Understand mechanisms for observed relationships between flows and aquatic species.
D. Identify and forecast which water quality containment sources and processes are most important to understand and quantify. D. Evaluate the effects of toxicity (eg., containment mixtures, mercury, pharmaceutical products, HABs) on aquatic species survival including possible effects on predication.