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Pérez G, O'Leary BC, Allegri E, Casal G, Cornet CC, de Juan S, Failler P, Fredriksen S, Fonseca C, Furlan E, Gil A, Hawkins JP, Maréchal JP, McCarthy T, Roberts CM, Trégarot E, van der Geest M, Simide R. A conceptual framework to help choose appropriate blue nature-based solutions. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 352:119936. [PMID: 38218164 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2024]
Abstract
Biodiversity loss and climate change have severely impacted ecosystems and livelihoods worldwide, compromising access to food and water, increasing disaster risk, and affecting human health globally. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) have gained interest in addressing these global societal challenges. Although much effort has been directed to NbS in urban and terrestrial environments, the implementation of NbS in marine and coastal environments (blue NbS) lags. The lack of a framework to guide decision-makers and practitioners through the initial planning stages appears to be one of the main obstacles to the slow implementation of blue NbS. To address this, we propose an integrated conceptual framework, built from expert knowledge, to inform the selection of the most appropriate blue NbS based on desired intervention objectives and social-ecological context. Our conceptual framework follows a four incremental steps structure: Step 1 aims to identify the societal challenge(s) to address; Step 2 highlights ecosystem services and the underlying biodiversity and ecological functions that could contribute to confronting the societal challenge(s); Step 3 identify the specific environmental context the intervention needs to be set within (e.g. the spatial scale the intervention will operate within, the ecosystem's vulnerability to stressors, and its ecological condition); and Step 4 provides a selection of potential blue NbS interventions that would help address the targeted societal challenge(s) considering the context defined through Step 3. Designed to maintain, enhance, recover, rehabilitate, or create ecosystem services by supporting biodiversity, the blue NbS intervention portfolio includes marine protection (i.e., fully, highly, lightly, and minimally protected areas), restorative activities (i.e., active, passive, and partial restoration; rehabilitation of ecological function and ecosystem creation), and other management measures (i.e., implementation and enforcement of regulation). Ultimately, our conceptual framework guides decision-makers toward a versatile portfolio of interventions that cater to the specific needs of each ecosystem rather than imposing a rigid, one-size-fits-all model. In the future, this framework needs to integrate socio-economic considerations more comprehensively and be kept up-to-date by including the latest scientific information.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bethan C O'Leary
- Department of Ecology & Conservation, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE, United Kingdom; Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, York, YO10 5NG, United Kingdom
| | - Elena Allegri
- Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici and Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, CMCC@Ca'Foscari - Edificio Porta dell'Innovazione, 2nd Floor - Via della Libertà, 12, 30175, Venice, Italy; Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca' Foscari Venice, I-30170, Venice, Italy
| | - Gema Casal
- National Centre for Geocomputation, Maynooth University, Co. Kildare, Maynooth, Ireland
| | - Cindy C Cornet
- Centre for Blue Governance, Portsmouth Business School, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3DE, United Kingdom
| | - Silvia de Juan
- The Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, IMEDEA (UIB-CSIC), C/Miquel Marques 21, Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain
| | - Pierre Failler
- Centre for Blue Governance, Portsmouth Business School, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3DE, United Kingdom
| | - Stein Fredriksen
- Institute of Marine Research, Nye Flødevigveien 20, 4817, His, Norway; University of Oslo, Department of Biosciences, PO Box 1066 Blindern, 0316, Oslo, Norway
| | - Catarina Fonseca
- cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Azorean Biodiversity Group, CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of the Azores, 9500-321, Ponta Delgada, Portugal; MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Elisa Furlan
- Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici and Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, CMCC@Ca'Foscari - Edificio Porta dell'Innovazione, 2nd Floor - Via della Libertà, 12, 30175, Venice, Italy; Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca' Foscari Venice, I-30170, Venice, Italy
| | - Artur Gil
- cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Azorean Biodiversity Group, CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of the Azores, 9500-321, Ponta Delgada, Portugal; IVAR - Research Institute for Volcanology and Risk Assessment, University of the Azores, 9500-321, Ponta Delgada, Portugal
| | - Julie P Hawkins
- Department of Ecology & Conservation, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE, United Kingdom
| | | | - Tim McCarthy
- National Centre for Geocomputation, Maynooth University, Co. Kildare, Maynooth, Ireland
| | - Callum M Roberts
- Department of Ecology & Conservation, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE, United Kingdom
| | - Ewan Trégarot
- Centre for Blue Governance, Portsmouth Business School, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3DE, United Kingdom
| | - Matthijs van der Geest
- Wageningen Marine Research, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 57, 1780 AB, Den Helder, the Netherlands
| | - Rémy Simide
- Oceanographic Institute Paul Ricard, Embiez Island, France.
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Bennett NJ, Dodge M, Akre TS, Canty SWJ, Chiaravalloti R, Dayer AA, Deichmann JL, Gill D, McField M, McNamara J, Murphy SE, Nowakowski AJ, Songer M. Social science for conservation in working landscapes and seascapes. FRONTIERS IN CONSERVATION SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fcosc.2022.954930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Biodiversity is in precipitous decline globally across both terrestrial and marine environments. Therefore, conservation actions are needed everywhere on Earth, including in the biodiversity rich landscapes and seascapes where people live and work that cover much of the planet. Integrative landscape and seascape approaches to conservation fill this niche. Making evidence-informed conservation decisions within these populated and working landscapes and seascapes requires an in-depth and nuanced understanding of the human dimensions through application of the conservation social sciences. Yet, there has been no comprehensive exploration of potential conservation social science contributions to working landscape and seascape initiatives. We use the Smithsonian Working Land and Seascapes initiative – an established program with a network of 14 sites around the world – as a case study to examine what human dimensions topics are key to improving our understanding and how this knowledge can inform conservation in working landscapes and seascapes. This exploratory study identifies 38 topics and linked questions related to how insights from place-based and problem-focused social science might inform the planning, doing, and learning phases of conservation decision-making and adaptive management. Results also show how conservation social science might yield synthetic and theoretical insights that are more broadly applicable. We contend that incorporating insights regarding the human dimensions into integrated conservation initiatives across working landscapes and seascapes will produce more effective, equitable, appropriate and robust conservation actions. Thus, we encourage governments and organizations working on conservation initiatives in working landscapes and seascapes to increase engagement with and funding of conservation social science.
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de Azevedo Mazzuco AC, Fraga Bernardino A. Reef larval recruitment in response to seascape dynamics in the SW Atlantic. Sci Rep 2022; 12:7750. [PMID: 35546605 PMCID: PMC9095688 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-11809-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in satellite observation have improved our capacity to track changes in the ocean with numerous ecological and conservation applications, which are yet under-explored for coastal ecology. In this study, we assessed the spatio-temporal dynamics in invertebrate larval recruitment and the Seascape Pelagic Habitat Classification, a satellite remote-sensing product developed by the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) and delivered by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to monitor biodiversity globally. Our ultimate goal was to identify and predict changes in coastal benthic assemblages at tropical reefs in the SW Atlantic based on integrated pelagic conditions, testing the use of MBON Seascape categorization. Our results revealed that the pelagic Seascapes correlated with monthly and seasonal variations in recruitment rates and assemblage composition. Recruitment was strongly influenced by subtropical Seascapes and was reduced by the presence of warm waters with high-nutrient contents and phytoplankton blooms, which are likely to affect reef communities in the long term. Recruitment modeling indicates that Seascapes may be more efficient than sea surface temperature in predicting benthic larval dynamics. Based on historical Seascape patterns, we identified seven events that may have impacted benthic recruitment in this region during the last decades. These findings provide new insights into the application of novel satellite remote-sensing Seascape categorizations in benthic ecology and evidence how reef larval supply in the SW Atlantic could be impacted by recent and future ocean changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Carolina de Azevedo Mazzuco
- Benthic Ecology Group, Department of Oceanography and Ecology, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, Vitória, ES, 29075-910, Brazil.
| | - Angelo Fraga Bernardino
- Benthic Ecology Group, Department of Oceanography and Ecology, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, Vitória, ES, 29075-910, Brazil.
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