Towards an urban marine ecology: characterizing the drivers, patterns and processes of marine ecosystems in coastal cities

Abstract Modern approaches to Ecosystem-Based Management and sustainable use of marine resources must account for the myriad of pressures (interspecies, human and environmental) affecting marine ecosystems. The network of feeding interactions between co-existing species and populations (food webs) are an important aspect of all marine ecosystems and biodiversity. Here we describe and discuss a process to evaluate the selection of operational food-web indicators for use in evaluating marine ecosystem status. This process brought together experts in food-web ecology, marine ecology, and resource management, to identify available indicators that can be used to inform marine management. Standard evaluation criteria (availability and quality of data, conceptual basis, communicability, relevancy to management) were implemented to identify practical food-web indicators ready for operational use and indicators that hold promise for future use in policy and management. The major attributes of the final suite of operational food-web indicators were structure and functioning. Indicators that represent resilience of the marine ecosystem were less developed. Over 60 potential food-web indicators were evaluated and the final selection of operational food-web indicators includes: the primary production required to sustain a fishery, the productivity of seabirds (or charismatic megafauna), zooplankton indicators, primary productivity, integrated trophic indicators, and the biomass of trophic guilds. More efforts should be made to develop thresholds-based reference points for achieving Good Environmental Status. There is also a need for international collaborations to develop indicators that will facilitate management in marine ecosystems used by multiple countries.

Download Full-text

Ecoacoustic indices in marine ecosystems: a review on recent developments, challenges, and future directions

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsab193 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Murilo Minello ◽

Leandro Calado ◽

Fabio C Xavier

Keyword(s):

Cost Effective ◽

Marine Ecosystems ◽

Marine Ecology ◽

Rocky Shores ◽

Marine Environments ◽

Future Directions ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Standardized Protocol ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Terrestrial Environments

Abstract Soundscape ecology has gained prominence in the monitoring of marine ecosystems due to its non-invasive characteristics and spatiotemporal efficiency. However, the development of ecoacoustic indices is a recent field that needs to address many challenges to fulfill its great potential, especially in the context of marine ecology. Here, we reviewed the most recent studies that used ecoacoustic indices in marine ecosystems. The literature search was conducted in the Scopus (Elsevier) database and used the chain referral sampling in the list of references of each publication. In total, we identified 27 publications that used ecoacoustic indices in marine environments such as coral reefs, rocky shores, coastal regions, and offshore regions. A total of four major limitations were identified and addressed, including: the challenge to find adequate acoustic bioindicators; the lack of a universal index or standardized protocol; the issue that most acoustic indices applied to marine environments have been developed to be used in terrestrial environments; and the lack of studies that have tested ecoacoustic indices under different environmental conditions. Once these challenges are addressed, the analysis of marine sound based on the interpretation of ecoacoustic indices has a great potential to become one of the most cost-effective tools for monitoring environments.

Download Full-text

Development of coastal cities and agglomerations: pressure and impacts on coastal and marine ecosystems

Coastal Cities and their Sustainable Future ◽

10.2495/cc150061 ◽

2015 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. de Andres ◽

J. M. Barragan

Keyword(s):

Marine Ecosystems ◽

Coastal Cities

Download Full-text

Technical Methodologies for The Assessment of the Impacts of Reclamation Projects on Marine Ecology

10.21203/rs.3.rs-343113/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yurong Ouyang ◽

Lin Wu ◽

Juanjuan Dai ◽

Yaojian Wu ◽

Ling Cai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Coastal Wetland ◽

Marine Ecosystems ◽

Ecological Assessment ◽

Marine Ecology ◽

Ecological Security ◽

Wetland Ecosystems ◽

Security Pattern ◽

And Control ◽

The Impact

Abstract The present article introduces the concept of ecological assessment of reclamation projects. In addition, considering the impact of reclamation projects on marine ecosystems, we built a framework that takes into account structure, function, and ecosystem services for the assessment of the impact of reclamation projects on marine ecology. Moreover, this study explored different technical methods for ecological assessment of reclamation projects, with an emphasis on those that evaluate the impacts of reclamation on the structure of marine ecosystems. The present research provides technical support for the recognition and diagnosis of marine ecology problems that are the result of reclamation projects, introduces a guideline for the development of ecological restoration projects, assists in protecting coastal wetland ecosystems, promotes the scientific and reasonable management and control of reclamation, and helps maintaining the regional marine ecological security pattern.

Download Full-text