Protecting ecosystem biodiversity and recovering at-risk species is one of eight key objectives established in law for the Puget Sound Partnership’s 2020 Action Agenda. Puget Sound is a rich and complex biological system. This system supports thousands of species, some of which have yet to be discovered or fully classified. Natural ecosystems help provide clean water, air, natural flood control, habitats for wildlife and many other valuable benefits. Maintaining the abundance and diversity in natural habitats and species is essential for a healthy environment as well as a robust, vital economy. Tourism, outdoor recreation, timber and fisheries industries and others all depend on the well-being of Puget Sound ’s natural resources.

What's the problem?

Unfortunately, Puget Sound has experienced declines in many species—from the iconic chinook salmon and the high-profile predatory orca to lesser known prey species such as Pacific herring. Other populations in decline include many species of marine birds, forage fish and rockfish. Eelgrass beds, which provide corridors for migrating salmon and nursery habitat for many juvenile species of fish and crab, are also shrinking in certain areas in the Sound. Many of these declines reverberate through the food web, and can disrupt the overall dynamics of the ecosystem.   As of 2006, more than 40 species in the Puget Sound basin are on the list of threatened or endangered species at the state and federal level, or are candidates for listing. Threats to species health comes in a variety of forms:

Recovery efforts have focused mainly on the more charismatic or economically important species such as orcas and salmon. These efforts, while valuable, often don’t address the importance of a species’ role in the food web. Nor do these efforts always address how resource management practices affect the food web dynamics.  For instance, it is important to understand the role of plankton and forage fish in the marine food web that in turn support a vast array of higher-level feeders including marine birds, salmon and orcas. Keeping the food web healthy is essential in maintaining a robust diversity of species
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What's being done?

Every day, efforts to protect ecosystem biodiversity and recover species at risk occur throughout the Puget Sound basin. These efforts involve state, local and federal agencies, tribes, non-profit organizations, citizen groups, businesses and many others. The following are some highlights of work underway:

  • The Biodiviersity Council’s 30 Year Statewide Conservation Strategy will be completed by December 2007. This plan will identify priority areas and recommended actions to restore the state’s pre-settlement state of biodiversity, as described in the Status and Threats Report.
Learn more about work being done to protect individual species:

>> Learn more about Washington State efforts to protect species and biodiversity in the 2007-2009 Puget Sound Conservation and Recovery Plan.
 >> Learn more/find resources

 >> To learn more about the Puget Sound Partnership’s work on biodiversity and species, contact Sarah Brace, 360.725.5464.

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