Figure 3 - uploaded by Carlo Rondinini
Content may be subject to copyright.
Context in source publication
Similar publications
anakkale and İstanbul Straits are known as the Turkish Straits and they are two of the most significant international marine habitats located in the northwestern Türkiye. There are many fluvial and lacustrine components in the watersheds of both these straits. As many aquatic habitats, they are expose to a significant pollution stress. This study w...
Trip cost indirectly reflects the perceived value (PV) related to a tourist destination, which can be influenced by knowledge, motivation, and behavior. This research investigated the relationship between PV and pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Moreover, the influence of environmental knowledge and motives on PEB was ascertained. Hikkaduwa Nationa...
Many pharmaceutical chemical residues (PCR) have shown great potential to pollute the environment, especially in marine habitats. The conjecture stems from direct participation of human beings. Toxicological studies carried with drugs showed the possibility of appearance of physiological sexual alterations already observed in certain species of fis...
Cyanobacteria are oxygenic photosynthetic organisms which are found across many ecosystems, including freshwater and marine habitats. They are also found on natural and artificial surfaces. In this study, we cultured and characterise a novel cyanobacterium from the surfaces of foam microplastics of tropical coastal waters. We study the chemical eco...
This article establishes the significance of marine molluscs of India, existing and potential threats are discussed, and molluscan distribution in Indian states based on current information is examined. About 3370 molluscan species are known from marine habitats of India and the highest number of species from the east coast of India. Marine mollusc...
Citations
... Although it is possible to measure seafloor disturbance using a combination of sensitivity ranges with levels of exposure to pressures (Halpern et al., 2008;OSPAR, 2017m;Tillin and Tyler-Walters, 2014), it is difficult with the data available to define the boundaries for benthic habitat recovery and therefore to determine 'good' status. This lack of boundary definition presents challenges for quantifying the magnitude of habitat damage, although modelling approaches could be used to estimate the levels of pressure effects or the proportion of habitat area to be protected (Jennings et al., 2012;Rondinini, 2011;Rovellini and Shaffer, 2020). There are also still methodological gaps around how to extrapolate the fine scale measure of the state-pressure relationship (Condition of benthic habitat-defining communities (BH2)) to wider biological and biogeographical scales (Extent of physical damage to predominant special habitats (BH3)). ...
The Northeast Atlantic, a highly productive maritime area, has been exposed to a wide range of direct human pressures, such as fishing, shipping, coastal development, pollution, and non-indigenous species (NIS) introductions, in addition to anthropogenically-driven global climate change. Nonetheless, this regional sea supports a high diversity of species and habitats, whose functioning provides a variety of ecosystem services, essential for human welfare. In 2017, OSPAR, the Northeast Atlantic Regional Seas Commission, delivered an assessment of marine biodiversity for the Northeast Atlantic. This assessment examined biodiversity indicators separately to identify changes in Northeast Atlantic biodiversity, but stopped short of determining the status of biodiversity for many species and habitats. Here, we expand on this work and for the first time, a semi-quantitative approach is applied to evaluate holistically the state of Northeast Atlantic marine biodiversity across marine food webs, from plankton to top predators, via fish, pelagic and benthic habitats, including xeno-biodiversity (i.e. NIS). Our analysis reveals widespread degradation in marine ecosystems and biodiversity, particularly for marine birds and coastal bottlenose dolphins, as well as for benthic habitats and fish in some regions. The poor biodiversity status of these ecosystem components is likely the result of cumulative effects of human activities, such as habitat destruction or disturbance, overexploitation, eutrophication, the introduction of NIS, and climate change. Bright spots are also revealed, such as recent signs of recovery in some fish and marine bird communities and recovery in harbour and grey seal populations and the condition of coastal benthic communities in some regions. The status of many indicators across all ecosystem components, but particularly for the novel pelagic habitats, food webs and NIS indicators, however, remains uncertain due to gaps in data, unclear pressure-state relationships, and the non-linear influence of some pressures on biodiversity indicators. Improving monitoring and data access and increasing understanding of pressure-state relationships, including those that are non-linear, is therefore a priority for enabling future assessments, as is consistent and stable resourcing for expert involvement.
... 3. Heuristic principles: Heuristic approaches use approximations that rely on a number of assumptions, and are suitable for use when more rigorous methods are not available or feasible given available data or capacity (Rondinini 2010). Heuristic methods can accommodate a variety of specific goals (e.g., conservation of biodiversity patterns, processes, ecosystem services) and make use of biodiversity data of variable quality and quantity, so they are the most flexible methods for setting targets (Rondinini 2010). ...
... 3. Heuristic principles: Heuristic approaches use approximations that rely on a number of assumptions, and are suitable for use when more rigorous methods are not available or feasible given available data or capacity (Rondinini 2010). Heuristic methods can accommodate a variety of specific goals (e.g., conservation of biodiversity patterns, processes, ecosystem services) and make use of biodiversity data of variable quality and quantity, so they are the most flexible methods for setting targets (Rondinini 2010). Some examples include rules of thumb, transformation of ordinal scales into quantitative thresholds, and educated guesses (Rondinini 2011), which require planners to interpret qualitative knowledge of specific conservation features. ...
This document presents the coastal and offshore design strategies developed for the Scotian Shelf bioregional MPA network. Design strategies are detailed statements for each conservation priority and associated operational objective that specify the area or feature to be conserved and how much of that area or feature (i.e., the target) should be captured in the bioregional MPA network. Due to significant differences in the types of ecological data that are available in the coastal and offshore components of the bioregion, different methods were used to develop coastal and offshore design strategies. Coastal and offshore conservation priorities were organized into two categories: coarse-filter features and fine-filter features. Coarse-filter
conservation priorities are larger features (e.g., geomorphological features such as offshore banks) that generally have lower targets (e.g., 10–20%) while fine-filter conservation priorities are smaller features (e.g., significant concentrations of large gorgonian corals) that warrant higher targets (e.g., 80–100%). The design strategies presented in this paper will be used to develop a draft MPA network design for the Scotian Shelf Bioregion.
... SAR-based targets suffer many caveats and pitfalls as shown in various studies (Desmet and Cowling, 2004; Metcalfe et al., 2012; Rondinini, 2011b). Here, we proposed a way to circumvent the problem of sampling paucity and irregular spacing between habitats using interpolated data. ...
The eastern English Channel is a significant economic area that supports a number of human-based activities, such as tourism and recreational activities, international ports and shipping, and the extraction of both living and mineral resources. In addition, the region supports a number of important marine biological features and large habitat diversity. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are increasingly used as a management tool to foster a sustainable exploitation of marine resources in an ecosystem based management framework. All European countries have a legal obligation to develop MPA networks in their national waters. However, there has to date been only limited attempts to coordinate the design and positioning of such networks at an international level and the use of a systematic conservation planning approach is now recommended. This process aims to propose a coherent MPA network, even in a trans-boundary context as in the eastern English Channel (EEC). The studies conducted in this thesis contribute to the scientific knowledge needed to support both anthropogenic activities and conservation objectives in the eastern English Channel.The representation of the whole biodiversity of the eastern English Channel is important in a context of an integrated conservation approach. With this objective, to complete the existing benthic typologies, a pelagic typology was produced and validated with various pelagic species distribution data to ensure that the total biodiversity of the eastern English Channel would be considered.Marxan and Zonation, two widely used conservation planning software packages that provide decision support for the design of reserve systems were compared in the MPA network design process in the EEC. It was found that Marxan was most suitable for subsequent analyses in this thesis because it found reasonably efficient and clear solutions to the problem of selecting a system of spatially cohesive sites that met a suite of biodiversity targets, and the results were easily interpretable.Then, as it is an essential step in a conservation planning approach, a gap analysis was realized at the scale of the EEC. The currently proposed network met conservation targets proposed in this thesis and was found to cover 33% of the EEC. However, a correct assessment of management gaps was not possible as a major part of these MPA do not have management rules yet.Finally, the influence of the human activity data on the MPA design process was studied using landings and fishing effort data. Other information on maritime traffic, aggregate extraction or offshore windmills zones, and on-going MPA projects were also added to consider the whole set of uses and regulations that generate spatial constraints in the eastern English Channel.
The Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) Project 'Ecological Network Guidance' sets out the guidelines which the regional stakeholder groups used to identify MCZs and to ensure they contribute to the creation of an ecologically coherent network of MPAs. The guidance is divided into the seven network design principles and further considerations for stakeholder groups to follow. It includes a list of the habitats and species that MCZs should be identified for, how many sites are required, how large and how far apart they should be.
Canada has committed to establishing a well-connected system of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that protect at least 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020. To advance that goal in the Pacific region, the Government of Canada, Government of British Columbia (BC), and 16 member First Nations are collaborating on marine planning in the Northern Shelf Bioregion (NSB). A set of goals, objectives, principles, and design guidelines informed the development of conservation priorities, which are the ecological and cultural features to be prioritized for protection within the MPA network, and design strategies, which describe how to spatially incorporate ecological conservation priorities into the network. This paper focuses exclusively on Goal 1 of the Canada – BC MPA Network Strategy (2014), which specifies the protection and maintenance of marine biodiversity, ecological representation and special natural features. We developed ecological design strategies for the MPA network in the NSB. These include spatial ecological conservation targets specifying how much of each ecological conservation priority (or feature) an MPA network aims to protect, and approaches for determining the size, shape, and protection levels of MPAs, as well as the connectivity, representation, and replication of ecological conservation priorities. Specifically we: (1) set the context for developing ecological design strategies for the MPA network in the NSB by reviewing the components of MPA network planning processes in BC, best practices from these and other planning processes, and guidance from the scientific literature; (2) developed a method for setting coarse-filter and finefilter ecological conservation targets and a flow diagram to determine which ecological conservation priority features and associated ecological conservation targets are appropriate for inclusion in site-selection analyses in the next phase of planning; (3) provided recommendations on design strategies for size, spacing, and replication by adapting best practices and guidance from the literature to the NSB; and (4) developed an iterative approach for adjusting ecological conservation targets in site-selection analyses based on protection levels that are linked to MPA effectiveness research. Together with the conservation priorities, the design strategies will inform site selection analyses conducted during the design scenarios phase of MPA network planning to identify priority areas for conservation and options for possible MPA network configurations in the NSB.
The species–area relationship (SAR) is increasingly being used to set conservation targets for habitat types when designing protected area networks. This approach is transparent and scientifically defensible, but there has been little research on how it is affected by data quality and quantity.
English Channel.
We used a macrobenthic dataset containing 1314 sampling points and assigned each point to its associated habitat type. We then used the SAR-based approach and tested whether this was influenced by changes in (i) the number of sampling points used to generate estimates of total species richness for each habitat type; (ii) the nonparametric estimator used to calculate species richness; and (iii) the level of habitat classification employed. We then compared our results with targets from a similar national-level study that is currently being used to identify Marine Conservation Zones in the UK.
We found that targets were affected by all of the tested factors. Sample size had the greatest impact, with specific habitat targets increasing by up to 45% when sample size increased from 50 to 300. We also found that results based on the Bootstrap estimator of species richness, which is the most widely used for setting targets, were more influenced by sample size than the other tested estimators. Finally, we found that targets were higher when using broader habitat classification levels or a larger study region. However, this could also be a sample size effect because these larger habitat areas generally contained more sampling points.
Habitat targets based on the SAR can be strongly influenced by sample size, choice of richness estimator and the level of habitat classification. Whilst setting habitat targets using best-available data should play a key role in conservation planning, further research is needed to develop methods that better account for sampling effort.
