Crisis sentinel indicators: Averting a potential meltdown in the Coral Triangle

The Coral Triangle (CT) includes some or all of the land and seas of six countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste (CT6). It covers only 1.1% of the world's area, but is the global hotspot for marine biodiversity and a rich spawning area for tuna. One-third of the CT6 population and millions more from outside the region are dependent on these resources. However, a range of human pressures threaten the biological health and diversity in the CT, affecting the food security and livelihoods of these people. A set of Crisis Sentinel Indicators (CSI) has been proposed to discuss the current state of affairs of the Coral Triangle based on the three dimensions of sustainability: Ecological, Socioeconomic, and Governance indicators. Furthermore, a Pressure-State-Response (PSR) analysis was performed for each CT6 country, using the three dimensions of sustainability, to capture and discuss the local state of affairs.     

Mapping seascapes of international environmental arrangements in the Coral Triangle

The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI), adopted recently in response to the degradation of coastal and marine environments in the Southeast Asia-Pacific’s Coral Triangle, emphasises the need for using existing international and regional fora to promote implementation. Large-scale marine initiatives, including the CTI, very often must contend with a remarkably complex institutional system. This raises the question of whether and how such complexity can be conducive to marine resources management. To answer this question, this paper aims to better understand the governance context in which the CTI was established (i.e., map governance fragmentation/complexity), and explore how such a context may support the implementation of the CTI goals (i.e., examine normative interplay). To conduct this examination, it uses an objective method that allows users to view and explore institutional arrangements through a network approach. By documenting the system of existing institutions in the Coral Triangle, the study shows that the Coral Triangle governance system is illustrative of those of international environmental governance. It involves multiple policy domains, and features different institutional arrangements and variability in terms of geographical scope and main subject matter. Such a system is complex and fragmented, marked by jurisdiction and functional overlaps. The paper suggests interplay management, such as inter-institutional learning and enhancing institutional synergy, as a promising process to promote inter-institutional coordination.     

Extracting ideology from policy: Analysing the social construction of conservation priorities in the Coral Triangle region

This study presents an analysis of marine resource management activities designed to ameliorate concerns over fish stocks, food and livelihood insecurity in the coastal Asia Pacific region, with a specific focus on the area encompassed by the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF). Firstly, the study explores how the CTI-CFF framing of food insecurity as symptomatic of economic deficiencies at the household level reflects the broader neoliberal conservation agenda driving the CTI-CFF and serves to legitimate the latter as the natural authority for intervention. Secondly, the paper uses an example of local level fishery management to demonstrate how the logic of neoliberalism translates to regulations which fail to recognise social and political complexities confronting fishers, thereby exacerbating the precarity of food and livelihood security in these communities. Thirdly, the paper contrasts the Western scientific emphasis on maintaining food security through managing coral reef fisheries with evidence from Indonesia and the Philippines which demonstrates the much larger contribution from pelagic fisheries and aquaculture to food security. The paper concludes with a call for research and aid-funded interventions on fishery management, livelihoods and food security to better reflect the needs of coastal people in the Asia-Pacific region, rather than the values commonly espoused by Western scientists and conservationists.     

Spatial and ecologic distribution of neglected microinvertebrate communities across endangered ecosystems: meiofauna in Bali (Indonesia)

Biodiversity estimations, particularly in vulnerable tropical regions, are essential to understanding ecosystem structure, function and conservation. While threats to marine and terrestrial ecosystems have fueled increased interest in biodiversity research, information on meiofauna, a key trophic and ecologic community of microscopic organisms that lives within sediments, is still lacking. Here we report the results of a faunistic investigation conducted in Bali, Indonesia. The results reveal that the biodiversity of marine meiofauna in Bali is very high. Meiofauna from coral reefs, sand flats and seagrass beds differed significantly in abundance and diversity. Nonetheless, overall community compositions show that meiofauna communities are affected by environmental variables. The high meiofaunal diversity observed in Bali, a low diversity region of the Coral Triangle, indicates the importance of further meiofaunal research across this region and across a broader diversity of habitats. The data presented provide an important baseline for future studies on biodiversity conservation in the face of environmental changes due to anthropogenic impacts and/or natural events.     

印太交汇区海洋生物多样性中心形成演化机制研究进展与展望

印太交汇区是当前全球海洋生物多样性的中心,中心的形成演化是地质历史、气候、海洋环境和生命过程协同作用的结果.本文从印太交汇区海洋生物多样性分布格局、形成演化、成因假说与环境驱动机制等角度,概述了相关研究进展,并梳理了研究存在的问题.迄今对印太交汇区多样性中心形成的关键过程和机制的认识仍相当有限.基于近岸浅海研究判定的全...     

印太交汇区海洋鱼类多样性格局与演化研究进展

印太交汇区不仅是热带物理海洋海气能量汇聚中心、地质板块活跃中心以及生物多样性中心,而且也是用于开展地球系统物质能量交换与全球气候变化以及海洋生物多样性起源研究的理想靶区,因此一直受到世界科学家们的广泛关注.作为全球34个生物多样性热点区域之一,印太交汇区的珊瑚礁三角区孕育了全球76％的造礁珊瑚、75％的红树林、50％的...     

南海深海生物多样性国际研究态势与热点分析

南海是西太平洋边缘海,有陆架、陆坡、岛礁、深海平原、海山、冷泉等多种生境,近10年来南海逐渐成为世界深海研究的热点。南海是中国海洋生物多样性最高的区域,与作为海洋生物多样性中心的印太珊瑚大三角区具有一定的环境与生物连通性,对南海的深海生物探测研究可丰富对西太平洋及印太交汇区生物多样性及地理分布格局的认知。目前有关南海的生物多样性研究主要集中在北部陆架浅海及岛礁,对于深海生物多样性认知明显不足。本研究梳理了全球深海生物多样性的主要国际战略布局,并对南海深海生物多样性SCIE论文发表情况进行了综合分析,探讨了南海深海生物多样性研究态势,对未来南海深海生物多样性调查与研究提出了研究展望和建议。     

印太交汇区海洋软体动物生物多样性研究进展

印太交汇区珊瑚礁大三角是全球海洋生物多样性最高的区域,孕育了印度-西太平洋海域接近60％的软体动物种类,同时也有很高比例的特有物种.该海域是全球软体动物生物多样性研究的热点区域.已有不同国家的学者相继对印太交汇区软体动物的多样性、分类与系统演化等方面开展了研究,并取得了一系列重要的成果.基于此,本文从软体动物的生物多样...     

Marine conservation challenges in an era of economic crisis and geopolitical instability: The case of the Mediterranean Sea

In the Mediterranean Sea, socio-economic drivers may accelerate the process of exclusive economic zone (EEZ) declarations. Despite the challenges, the EEZ declarations may provide important opportunities for leveraging change to national policy towards the development of large-scale conservation of marine ecosystems and biodiversity in this zone. Using the Mediterranean Sea as a case study, we aim to highlight a set of best practices that will maximize the potential for the development of large-scale marine conservation initiatives. These include a range of approaches, such as using surrogates to fill the many biodiversity data gaps in the region, further the development of consistent and open access databases, and the utilization of technological developments to improve monitoring, research and surveillance of less accessible and under-explored marine areas. The integration of Mediterranean-wide and local conservation efforts, the facilitation of transboundary collaboration, and the establishment of regional funds for conservation will further enhance opportunities for marine conservation in this region.     

Governing large-scale marine commons: Contextual challenges in the Coral Triangle

Environment and development agendas are increasingly being characterised by regional-scale initiatives. This trend is in part motivated by recognition of the need to account for global drivers of change (e.g., climate change, migration, and globalisation), the aspirations of achieving large-scale ecological goals (such as maintaining ecosystem processes), and reconciling potentially conflicting priorities in multi-use planning. However, regional-scale governance is challenging and there is little theoretical guidance or empirical evidence to suggest how it can be achieved. This paper uses the Institutional Analysis and Development framework to highlight the diverse contextual factors that challenge governance of a large-scale marine common, using an example of the Coral Triangle Initiative. The analysis points to the need for a critical, reflexive approach to the Coral Triangle Initiative if it is to effectively navigate diverse contexts and reconcile multiple objectives in the region. Recognising the heterogeneous, multi-scale and interlinked nature of large-scale marine systems is critical. Coping with contextual complexity will require innovative approaches that strive to be inclusive of varied perspectives and actors, enable and support effective collective-choice arrangements at lower levels of organisation, and organise and link diverse institutional arrangements at multiple scales. Large-scale marine governance will also involve a great deal of experimentation and regular adjustments to governance arrangements to account for the dynamic nature of regional commons.     

The effect of contrasting threat mitigation objectives on spatial conservation priorities

The primary role of marine protected areas (MPAs) is marine conservation, however policy and practice around MPAs have not reflected this. The focus on cost-effectiveness by spatial conservation prioritization has led to a bias towards placing MPAs in areas that are least threatened. This study investigates how conservation priorities differ between two management strategies of either targeting or avoiding high threat areas for protection, using the case of the Sulu Sulawesi Seas in the Coral Triangle. For both strategies, the target of protecting 20% of habitat could not be achieved solely by protecting low threat areas. A high proportion of the region had large differences in conservation outcomes between the two strategies; majority of these areas were highly prioritized in the threat avoidance strategy but had low or zero importance in the threat selection strategy. Selecting for highly threatened areas required less habitat area to be protected to achieve the same conservation target and resulted in a more equitable distribution of priority sites per country and sub-region. This demonstrates the importance of deciding on the objectives of conservation and management policies up-front. The results suggest that, contrary to the common practice of avoiding threats in spatial planning, a threat selection strategy should be part of the management toolbox, particularly in transboundary planning for regions with high overall threat levels, where it may be important to achieve shared conservation targets equitably.     

How terrestrial management concepts have led to unrealistic expectations of marine protected areas

Terrestrial reserves and national parks have taken many forms and they continue to be directed toward variable and often imprecisely defined outcomes. A prominent contemporary focus is to pursue the continuance of biodiversity. To this aim the concept of protecting comprehensive, effectively managed and representative areas from overt development, such as urban sprawl and agriculture, has been globally adopted. Within Australia ‘effectively managed’, has been replaced by ‘adequate’, a poorly defined term which is interpreted optimistically and combined with ‘comprehensive’ and ‘representative’ to create the CAR principle. This principle was first developed within the Australian forestry sector to guide management in addressing a very specific threat to a clearly identified component of biodiversity in limited and well defined areas; the preservation of declining stands of some tree species within limited old growth forests. Even though the CAR principle is central to Australia's process of developing a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) its relevance to marine systems has not been demonstrated. Its efficacy for the conservation of marine environments is questioned. The uncritical transposition of terrestrial management paradigms, including the CAR principle, to the marine realm has misled marine management. It is argued that disproportionate commitment to terrestrial principles, including CAR, and unjustified advocacy for MPAs generally have biased public perception and management efforts to the detriment of effective marine conservation and sustainable use of marine resources.     

海洋动物适应性演化与多样性研究进展

海洋生物多样性是海洋生态系统的重要组成部分,了解海洋生物多样性的形成演化过程不仅是生命科学的本质问题,而且对海洋生物资源的保护和开发利用具有重要的指导意义.目前海洋生物多样性的形成演化机制尚不明确,而性状多样性的起源和适应性演化为回答海洋生物多样性的内源性机制提供了重要突破口.本文从演化发育生物学的角度综述了海洋动物适...     

Climate change,scenarios and marine biodiversity conservation

This paper explores the utility of qualitative scenario approaches to examine the potential impacts of climate change on marine biodiversity conservation on the east coast of Australia. This region is large and diverse, with considerable variation in marine biodiversity and, concomitantly, considerable diversity in the likely impacts from climate change. The results reinforce a number of key points. Engaging with stakeholders in scenario planning provides not only a focus to discuss the future in a disciplined way, but also provides ongoing reference points for contemporary decision making and planning. The paper illustrates how qualitative scenario planning provides opportunities to address the challenges of marine biodiversity conservation in a changing environment.     

海洋生物多样性保护空间规划分区体系构建及其在泉州湾的应用

基于海岸带综合管理的理念,通过海域生态环境敏感性评价与海域生物多样性保护重要性评价,综合利用地理相关分析法、空间叠置法等定性和定量分区相结合的方法进行海洋生物多样性保护空间规划分区划界,提出了海洋生物多样性保护空间规划分区体系,将规划区域划分为生物多样性重点保护区、生物多样性养护区和生物多样性保护重点监督区.以福建泉州湾为案例,应用海洋生物多样性保护空间规划分区体系,得出泉州湾生物多样性保护极重要地区是泉州湾河口湿地省级自然保护区,泉州湾生物多样性保护比较重要地区是晋江河口、洛阳江河口、晋江南岸地区及清源山.泉州湾海洋生物多样性保护空间规划分区方案共划定26个分区,包括生物多样性重点保护区3个,生物多样性养护区14个,生物多样性保护重点监督区9个.泉州湾的应用结果表明,本研究提出的海洋生物多样性保护空间规划分区体系具有一定的可行性和可操作性,可为泉州湾生物多样性保护管理提供重要科学依据.     

Adaptive management,international co-operation and planning for marine conservation hotspots in a changing climate

The aim of this study is to predict changes in the distribution and extent of habitat forming species defined as “Priority Marine Habitats” (PMHs) in the North-East (NE) Atlantic under future scenarios of climate-induced environmental change. A Species Distribution Modelling method was used for each PMH to map the potential distribution of “most suitable” habitat. The area and percentage cover was calculated within each country׳s Exclusive Economic Zone for the baseline (2009) and the projected (2100) years. In addition, a conservation management score was calculated based on the number of PMHs that co-occur in assessment units. Overall, this study reveals the potential for movement and/or change in the extent of some PMHs across the NE Atlantic under an increased ocean temperature scenario (4 °C) by 2100. There are regional differences in the predicted changes and some countries will experience greater/different changes than others. The movement of biodiversity hotspots (where one or more PMHs occur in the same broad area) provides both opportunities and risks for conservation management that are discussed. Co-operation between neighbouring countries and marine regions will require substantial enhancement in order to provide a robust adaptive management strategy going forward.     

From microscope to management: The critical value of plankton taxonomy to marine policy and biodiversity conservation

Taxonomic information provides a crucial understanding of the most basic component of biodiversity – which organisms are present in a region or ecosystem. Taxonomy, however, is a discipline in decline, at times perceived as ‘obsolete’ due to technical advances in science, and with fewer trained taxonomists and analysts emerging each year to replace the previous generation as it retires. Simultaneously, increasing focus is turned towards sustainable management of the marine environment using an ecosystem approach, and towards conserving biodiversity, key species, and habitats. Sensitive indicators derived from taxonomic data are instrumental to the successful delivery of these efforts. At the base of the marine food web and closely linked to their immediate environment, plankton are increasingly needed as indicators to support marine policy, inform conservation efforts for higher trophic organisms, and protect human health. Detailed taxonomic data, containing information on the presence/absence and abundance of individual plankton species, are required to underpin the development of sensitive species- and community-level indicators which are necessary to understand subtle changes in marine ecosystems and inform management and conservation efforts. Here the critical importance of plankton taxonomic data is illustrated, and therefore plankton taxonomic expertise, in informing marine policy and conservation and outline challenges, and potential solutions, facing this discipline.     

Can the United States have its fish and eat it too?

As domestic affluence increases, nations advocate for conservation policies to protect domestic biodiversity that often curtail natural resource production activities such as fishing. If concomitant consumption patterns remain unchanged, environmentally conscious nations with high consumption rates such as the U.S. may only be distancing themselves from the negative environmental impacts associated with consuming resources and commodities produced elsewhere. This unintended displacement of ecosystem impacts, or leakage, associated with conservation policies has not been studied extensively in marine fisheries. This paper examines this topic, drawing on case studies to illustrate the ways in which unilateral marine conservation actions can shift ecosystem impacts elsewhere, as has been documented in land use interventions. The authors argue that the U.S. should recognize these distant ecological consequences and move toward greater self-sufficiency to protect its seafood security and minimize leakage as well as undertake efforts to reduce ecosystem impacts of foreign fisheries on which it relies. Six solutions are suggested for broadening the marine conservation and seafood consumption discussion to address leakage induced by U.S. policy.     

Strategies to reverse the decline in valuable and diverse coral reefs,mangroves and fisheries: The bottom of the J-Curve in Southeast Asia?

Southeast Asia, an economically ‘emerging’ region, contains the world's most outstanding and diverse tropical marine resources. The conservation of this biodiversity is essential both for global ecological health and the economic future of the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. However, these resources are now severely threatened and will continue to be degraded from increasing and varied forms of destruction. Although Marine Protected Areas and other strategies have already been developed in the region, the effectiveness of marine resources management remains inconsistent. An analysis of economic, social, education and biological data suggests that this deficiency is linked to the level of economic development, as well as the level of scientific and resource management education and the total amount of marine resources in the country. These conclusions are used to suggest more appropriate strategies for better management of the marine resources in Southeast Asia.     

以海岸带综合管理为工具开展海洋生物多样性保护管理

生物多样性保护是当前全球面临的最重要问题之一,本文分析了我国海洋生物多样性面临的主要威胁,并对生物多样性丧失的原因进行了分析。在以上研究的基础上,基于海岸带综合管理（ICZM）的理念,提出了海洋生物多样性保护管理中急需解决的问题,主要包括海洋生物多样性保护管理的指导思想、管理机构机制、管理边界、海洋生物多样性评价技术、海洋生物多样性保护规划技术和基于GIS的管理决策支持系统等。