Harnessing cross-border resources to confront climate change

Abstract

The US and Mexico share a common history in many areas, including language and culture. They face ecological changes due to the increased frequency and severity of droughts and rising energy demands; trends that entail economic costs for both nations and major implications for human wellbeing. We describe an ongoing effort by the Environment Working Group (EWG), created by The University of California's UC-Mexico initiative in 2015, to promote binational research, teaching, and outreach collaborations on the implications of climate change for Mexico and California. We synthesize current knowledge about the most pressing issues related to climate change in the US-Mexico border region and provide examples of cross-border discoveries and research initiatives, highlighting the need to move forward in six broad rubrics. This and similar binational cooperation efforts can lead to improved living standards, generate a collaborative mindset among participating universities, and create an international network to address urgent sustainability challenges affecting both countries.

Geographic variation in responses of kelp forest communities of the California Current to recent climatic changes

“…Results indicate that coastal communities that are dependent on kelp forest ecosystems will be more heavily impacted in the southern portion of the GOA and California Current large marine ecosystems under future climate scenarios, highlighting the urgency of implementing adaptation strategies to sustain livelihoods and ensure food security. Continued adaptation efforts, including monitoring and broad regional integration of research (Aburto‐Oropeza et al, 2018), are key to enabling effective strategies for addressing the ongoing and escalating future impacts of climate change and variability on ecosystems and people in coastal regions.…”

Extreme Marine Heatwaves Alter Kelp Forest Community Near Its Equatorward Distribution Limit

“…Southern kelp forests of the CCS are a shared marine resource between the south of California and the north of Baja California (Ramírez-Valdez et al, 2017). Advancing the understanding of the ecological impacts of MHWs (Hobday and Pecl, 2014) in this transboundary region to promote adequate management strategies will require a binational effort (Aburto-Oropeza et al, 2018). Thus, the protection of these valuable ecosystems needs immediate actions and close collaboration between southern California and Baja California ).…”

Hydrodynamic Connectivity of Habitats of Deep-Water Corals in Corsair Canyon, Northwest Atlantic: A Case for Cross-Boundary Conservation

“…Our results strongly suggest that crossboundary coordination is essential in the conservation of aggregations of deep-water corals in the northwest Atlantic, for ensuring larval exchange and connectivity. The importance in transboundary considerations and cooperation in spatial planning and conservation is being advocated particularly for the marine realm, where few physical barriers to the movement of individuals and populations exist (Arafeh-Dalmau et al, 2017;Aburto-Oropeza et al, 2018). For example, Arafeh-Dalmau et al (2017) illustrated the feasibility of a transboundary networks of MPAs in the Ensenadian ecoregion, linking the more poorly sampled marine habitats of Baja California, Mexico with the well-established network of marine reserves in California, USA.…”