Search results

This book applies the ecosystem services framework to coastal environments, showing how it could facilitate an adaptive management strategy. The contributors describe a decision support system (DSS) based on the 3 Ps pluralism, pragmatism and precaution that leads to a more flexible, learn by doing approach to the stewardship of coastal environments. The book lays out a Balance Sheets Approach to formatting, interrogating and presenting data and findings. The opening chapter defines coastal zones, their characteristics and natural resources, and describes their complex and dynamic nature. The chapter shows that large-scale trends and pressures have led to a global loss of 50% of marshes, leading to significant declines in biodiversity and habitat. Part I presents a conceptual framework, describes natural science techniques for coastal and shelf modeling, and describes valuation of ecosystem services. Part II outlines practical ecosystem indicators for coastal and marine ecosystem services, reviews literature on valuation of coastal and marine ecosystem services, explores scenarios, outlines marine and coastal ecosystem services data and offers tools for incorporating data into decision-making. Part III offers case studies including one linking the ecosystem services of Marine Protected Areas to benefits in human wellbeing; and another on valuing blue carbon captured by oceans and coastal ecosystems. Also included are a study of managed realignments and the English coastline, and their value estimate transferability; and studies of the impact of jellyfish blooms on recreation in the UK and on fisheries in Italy.

AbstractThis research note describes an integrated regional model of the interactions between water resources and society. It examines the relations between rural and urban sectors of society and the effect on resource use of changes in supply and demand due to climate change, population movements, and other natural and social processes. This modeling effort is part of a larger project conducted at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research to study the regional evolution of water resources in three different geographical areas. This larger project is in turn linked to the research focus on global water resources within the international Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme.

Chapter 1. Morphology and Taxonomy -- Chapter 2. Population Structure and Speciation -- Chapter 3. Life History -- Chapter 4. Spawning Areas -- Chapter 5. Larval Transport -- Chapter 6. Glass Eel Recruitment -- Chapter 7. Spawning Migration -- Chapter 8. Behavior -- Chapter 9. Nervous Systems and Sense -- Chapter 10. Digestion and Absorption -- Chapter 11. Osmoregulation -- Chapter 12. Reproduction -- Chapter 13. Metamorphosis and Silvering -- Chapter 14. Artificial Maturation -- Chapter 15. Larval Rearing -- Chapter 16. Breeding -- Chapter 17. Disease -- Chapter 18. Fisheries -- Chapter 19. Resources -- Chapter 20. Trading -- Chapter 21. Distribution -- Chapter 22. River Improvement -- Chapter 23. Conservation. .

Ecotones are interface zones between different ecosystems. Their ecological role and significance with regard to ecological management and conservation has become increasingly appreciated. For the management of freshwater resources, for example, an improved understanding of the role of land/inland water interfaces, will be essential for reducing negative human impacts by engineering, nutrient loading, siltation, etc. The management of ecotones, on the other hand, offers the possibility to control aquatic system processes via stock control of fish populations. Fish apparently are both excellent indicators of ecotone quality as well as determiners of its structure and function

Using a new fossil-calibrated mitogenome-based approach, we identified macroevolutionary shifts in mitochondrial gene order among the freshwater mussels (Unionoidea). We show that the early Mesozoic divergence of the two Unionoidea clades, Margaritiferidae and Unionidae, was accompanied by a synchronous split in the gene arrangement in the female mitogenome (i.e., gene orders MF1 and UF1). Our results suggest that this macroevolutionary jump was completed within a relatively short time interval (95% HPD 201–226 Ma) that coincided with the Triassic–Jurassic mass extinction. Both gene orders have persisted within these clades for ~200 Ma. The monophyly of the so-called "problematic" Gonideinae taxa was supported by all the inferred phylogenies in this study using, for the first time, the M- and F-type mitogenomes either singly or combined. Within Gonideinae, two additional splits in the gene order (UF1 to UF2, UF2 to UF3) occurred in the Mesozoic and have persisted for ~150 and ~100 Ma, respectively. Finally, the mitogenomic results suggest ancient connections between freshwater basins of East Asia and Europe near the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, probably via a continuous paleo-river system or along the Tethys coastal line, which are well supported by at least three independent but almost synchronous divergence events. ; The authors wish to thank the Editor and the three anonymous reviewers for helpful remarks and suggestions that improved the quality of the manuscript. This research was developed under ConBiomics: the missing approach for the Conservation of freshwater Bivalves Project No NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030286, cofinanced by COMPETE 2020, Portugal 2020 and the European Union through the ERDF, and by FCT through national funds (UID/Multi/04423/2019). FCT also supported MLL (SFRH/BD/115728/2016). The Russian Ministry of Education and Science (project no. 6.2343.2017/4.6), the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations (project no. 0409-2015-0143), the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences (scientific ...

Does the public sector need the private sector's help to address the freshwater crisis? That's the thesis of Stanford law and environmental social sciences professor Barton "Buzz" Thompson's provocative new book. We sat down with him to hear more.

International rivers create complex relationships between their riparian states, which can contribute to economic, political, and social losses. Treaties provide a means for states to coordinate their actions in managing international river disputes to minimize these losses. However, there is little knowledge about treaty content and the factors influencing treaty design. We test whether a relationship exists between the challenges of negotiating, complying, and distributing the gains in bilateral, multilateral, and basin-wide negotiation contexts and the depth of cooperation along with the degree of institutionalization. While the great challenges confronting multilateral or basin-wide negotiations can produce treaties that focus on joint gains and shallow cooperation to secure the signature of riparians, we find that they can also provide opportunities for deeper, more behavior-altering, cooperation. To manage the difficulties of maintaining multilateral cooperation, we find a higher degree of institutionalization. We also find that bilateral negotiations provide states with opportunities for deeper cooperation, but a lower degree of institutionalization. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.