Northeast Ecosystem Dynamics and Assessment: Our Research

Using open science principles, we integrate information on biological, climate, oceanographic, and human-related activities to evaluate the effects on ecosystem structure and function.

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Our Major Research Areas

Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management

Managing resources to reflect the relationships among all ecosystem components, including human and nonhuman species and the environments in which they live.

Learn about Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management

Impacts of Climate Change on Fisheries

There are various components that contribute to climate change and variability in the U.S. Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem.

Learn more about how climate change affects fisheries

Multispecies and Ecosystem Modeling

Development of multispecies and ecosystem models has an extensive history at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in consultation with regional management councils.

Learn about how we develop and use modeling in ecosystem research

Habitat Modeling

Species on the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf have been shifting over time, possibly as a result of a combination of factors. These shifts are visible in movies of the distribution of key species.

Learn how we use habitat modeling to track species distribution

Primary Productivity and Food Webs

How many organisms can live and grow in a given area depends on the amount of photosynthesis by plants at the base of the food web.

Learn about our research in primary productivity and food webs

Our Primary Products

We produce several products including ecosystem reports, snapshots of the current state of the ecosystem, management strategy evaluations, and risks analyses that are used to inform fisheries management, as well as publications in the scientific literature.

Integrated Ecosystem Assessments
Providing a framework that brings social and ecological science and management advice to managers in a manner that is useful under current governance structures while supporting the adoption of Ecosystem-Based Management.
State of the Ecosystem Reports
Synthesizing available information relevant to fishery management in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.
Ecosystem Status Reports
Linking information across indicators to give an integrated overview of ecosystem status relevant to ecosystem management decisions.
Current Conditions
Providing a semiannual review of the physical and biological status of the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf Ecosystem
Ecosystem Context for Stock Assessments
Providing contextual ecosystem information for stocks found on the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf.