Offshore marine conservation policies in the North East Atlantic: Emerging tensions and opportunities

An inherent tension exists between legal approaches to nature conservation and fisheries management in the European Union, as the former remains the remit of Member States while the latter is under the exclusive legislative jurisdiction of the European Community (EC). This tension is of particular importance when addressing the conservation of habitats or species that are under threat from fishing activities. This article examines recent developments in offshore marine conservation in the North-East Atlantic in light of the legislative developments and political frameworks that are currently evolving. By analysing the emergency closure of the Darwin Mounds area of cold-water corals and the UK pair-trawl ban, it becomes evident that the precautionary principle is a key factor in the tension between fisheries management and marine nature conservation, and is not always taken into account.     

A macroscale analysis of coastal steepening around the coast of England and Wales

Coastal steepening potentially presents an array of management issues in the form of financial implications of sea defence degradation, increased risk posed to the hinterland as wave attenuation is reduced, 'coastal squeeze' and statutory requirements in the light of the Habitats Directive. The extent to which coastal steepening has occurred throughout England and Wales has been investigated through use of a GIS and dataset based on historical Ordnance Survey map information. Data were collected along 1084 selected profile lines, positioned so as to be geomorphologically representative of the coast. Features recorded from each map year included the positions of mean high water (MHW) and mean low water (MLW), the relative movements of which infer changing intertidal gradients. The results presented in this paper are on a subject and scale not previously published. It is revealed that 61% of the coastline studied has experienced a tendency towards steepening. Of the remainder, 33% has flattened, and 6% has experienced no rotational movement. This tendency towards steepening has been the dominant movement on each of the west, south, and east coasts.     

基于水位控制的黄河三角洲退化滨海湿地恢复及其短期效应

针对黄河三角洲滨海湿地严重退化盐碱化问题,于2015年5月设计实施了微地形改造营造和水位控制相结合的生态恢复方案,并评估了恢复工程的初步效果。结果表明:生态工程实施3个月后,恢复区植被、水域和裸地面积发生显著变化,植被比例从18.8%上升到30.5%,水域比例从7.4%上升到53.2%,裸地面积从73.8%降低到16.3%,湿地的改善为鸟类提供了多样化的生境。底栖动物从无到有开始拓殖,至2015年9月已发现大型底栖动物14种。自2015年9月至2016年3月,共有35种鸟类,包括13种重点保护鸟类在该区域栖息觅食。相对于简单围封补充淡水的传统恢复方式,本研究设计的生态恢复方案效果更为显著,在该区的生态恢复和重建中具有一定的推广价值。     

Remote sensing for mapping natural habitats and their conservation status – New opportunities and challenges

Safeguarding the diversity of natural and semi-natural habitats in Europe is one of the aims set out by the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) and one of the targets of the European 2020 Biodiversity Strategy, and is to be accomplished by maintaining a favourable conservation status. To reach this aim a high-level understanding of the distribution and conditions of these habitats is needed. Remote sensing can considerably contribute to habitat mapping and their observation over time. Several European projects and a large number of scientific studies have addressed the issue of mapping and monitoring natural habitats via remote sensing and the deriving of indicators on their conservation status. The multitude of utilized remote sensing sensors and applied methods used in these studies, however, impede a common understanding of what is achievable with current state-of-the-art technologies. The aim of this paper is to provide a synthesis on what is currently feasible in terms of detection and monitoring of natural and semi-natural habitats with remote sensing. To focus this endeavour, we concentrate on those studies aimed at direct mapping of individual habitat types or discriminating between different types of habitats occurring in relatively large, spatially contiguous units. By this we uncover the potential of remote sensing to better understand the distribution of habitats and the assessment of their conservation status in Europe.     

New approaches to integrated quality assessment of lakeshores

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires the ecological assessment of water bodies. Since the littoral zones and the lakeshores are part of lakes as water bodies as defined by the WFD, a new scheme for ecological quality assessment of lakeshores should be established. It is proposed that this scheme should go beyond the formal requirements of the WFD, as it includes aspects of nature conservancy, landscape protection, and regional planning and development. Some of these aspects are subject to other EU legislation (e.g. Habitats Directive) and some are subject to national legislation. Ten general Quality Elements (QEs) are proposed, which can be refined and reified through several levels of detail, depending on the specific aims of a study. A list of eleven topics, which should be discussed in the establishment of the lakeshore quality assessment scheme, is given. The more complex ones are the implementation of other EU legislation, the definition of lakeshore types and reference conditions, the stipulation of best aggregation procedures, and a better understanding of the significance of hydrological and morphological impacts on the biota.     

海岸带生境破坏影响因素及整治修复策略研究

海岸带是海陆交汇的地带,也是海洋资源富集区和海洋经济发展的重要基础。海岸带生态系统具有十分重要的经济和生态服务功能,是生态系统平衡的脆弱地带,但目前由于气候变化、生物入侵、海洋污染和人为开发活动等因素,其生境出现退化。文章简述了我国海岸带生境破坏的主要因素,总结国内外海岸带研究与管理,并给出了海岸带整治修复的技术策略,为整治修复工程项目的更好开展提供依据参考,从而促进海岸带的可持续利用,推动沿海地区海洋经济发展和海洋生态文明建设。     

Approaches to classifying benthic habitat quality

Implementing ecosystem-based management requires methods of assessing the quality of habitats to deliver the high-level objective of achieving healthy ecosystems. ‘Habitat’ has been interpreted in different ways and this has confused the debate over which attributes constitute ‘quality’. Three definitions of quality for habitats are advanced: ‘species’, ‘reference’ and ‘functional’ . Operational measures associated with these are evaluated in terms of their utility to deliver policy objectives. It is concluded that functional definitions/measures of quality are most appropriate to deliver ecosystem-based management although measures of species and reference quality may support assessment of the functional quality of habitats.     

Habitats and taphonomy of Europa

Jupiter's moon Europa possesses an icy shell kilometers thick that may overlie a briny ocean. The inferred presence of water, tidal and volcanic energy, and nutrients suggests that Europa is potentially inhabited by some kind of life; indeed Europa is a primary target in the search for life in the Solar System although no evidence yet exists for any kind of life. The thickness of the icy crust would impose limits on life, but at least 15 broad kinds of habitats seem possible for Europa. They include several on the sea floor, at least 3 in the water column, and many in the ice itself. All of these habitats are in, or could be transported to, the icy shell where they could be exposed by geologic activity or impacts so they might be explored from the surface or orbit by future planetary missions. Taphonomic processes that transport, preserve, and expose habitats include buoyant ice removing bottom habitats and sediment to the underside of the ice, water currents depositing components of water column habitats on the ice bottom, cryovolcanoes depositing water on the surface, tidal pumping bringing water column and ice habitats to the near-surface ice, and subice freezing and diapiric action incorporating water column and bottom ice habitats into the lower parts of the icy shell. The preserved habitats could be exposed at or near the surface of Europa chiefly in newly-formed ice, tilted or rotated ice blocks, ridge debris, surface deposits, fault scarps, the sides of domes and pits, and impact craters and ejecta. Future exploration of Europa for life must consider careful targeting of sites where habitats are most likely preserved or exist close to the surface.     

湿性常绿阔叶林区次生环境鸟类群落动态研究

本文分析了云南哀牢山中山湿性常绿阔叶林区次生环境中鸟类群落的年动态。各类次生环境中,鸟类群落多样性和稳定性之间并非成简单的正相关。比气候顶极群落结构简单的林缘、林窗次生植被中的鸟类群落具有较高的物种多样性,但其群落稳定性较差;在植被简单的沼泽化草甸环境鸟类群落物种的多样性低,却表现其群落结构的稳定性。鸟类群落的稳定性与其生境的稳定性相关。在林缘、林窗鸟种类和密度变化显著,鸟类传播植物种子促进林缘、林窗地带自然更新和植被复化,能加速次生植被恢复到顶极群落的进程。     

Do marine protected areas deliver flows of ecosystem services to support human welfare?

This paper examines the potential relationships between the ecosystem services provided by the coastal and marine environment and the designation of marine protected areas. The hypothesis is that relationships exist between the provision of ecosystem services and the features protected by marine protected areas. It is considered that protection will maintain these features in good ecological condition and in some cases will restore ecological functioning with positive effects on the delivery of ecosystem services, as pressures upon the protected features are reduced. As the number of marine protected area designations grows, system-wide effects to communities from improvements in delivery of a range of ecosystem services may be realised. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the jurisdictional marine protected area policies proposed by the English, Welsh and Scottish Governments. It presents structured assessment matrices developed from the literature and expert opinion, of ecosystem service provision by marine protected habitats and species and applies the findings to a range of existing UK marine protected areas to demonstrate its relevance. The approach and case study findings are discussed within the wider context of marine ecosystem services and marine protected area management.