Suchergebnisse

The continuing degradation of marine ecosystems is widely highlighted as having a significant impact on services they provide for human well-being. To this end, especially during the last decade, numerous national, regional and international aspirations, targets and commitments have been made in order to reverse the detrimental trend affecting the ocean health, which is expected to accelerate in the immediate future. Restoration actions are becoming a common strategy to speed-up the recovery pathway of degraded ecosystems. This recognition also depends on the fact that, in some cases, in addition to traditional conservation strategies (e.g. Marine Protected Areas and Maritime Spatial Planning), "active" restoration may be the only politically feasible approach able to increase the flow of marine ecosystem services to stakeholders, ensuring, at the same time, the mitigation of threats to coastal environments in a reasonable time lag. Given the time-bound target aimed to effectively protect/restore on third of global ecosystems in the upcoming decade, concrete considerations about the potential for scaling-up the restoration interventions across coastal ecosystems are required to prioritise and improve the strategies aimed to cope the urgent conservation issues faced by marine ecosystems at global scale. Here, capitalizing on the most upgraded information on restoration efforts worldwide carried out over nearly five decades, a synthetic (but not exhaustive) analysis of progresses is showed, which could helps to better address the upscaling issue of marine conservation strategies in the immediate future. Keywords: marine ecosystem restoration, sustainable development, coastal habitats. ; A degradação contínua dos ecossistemas marinhos é amplamente destacada como tendo um impacto significativo nos serviços que fornecem para o bem-estar humano. Para esse fim, especialmente durante a última década, numerosas aspirações, metas e compromissos nacionais, regionais e internacionais foram assumidos no sentido de reverter a tendência prejudicial que afeta a saúde dos oceanos, que se espera uma aceleração em um futuro imediato. Ações de restauração estão se tornando uma estratégia comum para acelerar a recuperação de ecossistemas degradados. Esse reconhecimento também depende do fato de que, em alguns casos, além das estratégias tradicionais de conservação (por exemplo: Áreas Marinhas Protegidas e Ordenamento do Territorial Marítimo), a restauração "ativa" pode ser a única abordagem politicamente viável capaz de aumentar o fluxo de serviços do ecossistema marinho aos envolvidos, garantindo, ao mesmo tempo, a mitigação das ameaças aos ambientes costeiros num lapso de tempo razoável. Dada a meta com limite de tempo destinada a proteger/restaurar efetivamente um terço dos ecossistemas globais na próxima década, considerações concretas sobre o potencial de ampliação das intervenções de restauração em ecossistemas costeiros são necessárias para priorizar e melhorar as estratégias destinadas a lidar com a urgência de questões de conservação enfrentadas pelos ecossistemas marinhos em escala global. Aqui, capitalizando as informações mais atualizadas sobre os esforços de restauração em todo o mundo realizados ao longo de quase cinco décadas, uma análise sintética (mas não exaustiva) dos progressos é mostrada, o que pode ajudar a resolver melhor a questão do aumento das estratégias de conservação marinha no futuro imediato. Palavras-chave: restauração do ecossistema marinho, desenvolvimento sustentável, habitats costeiros.

Marine Ecosystem Restoration (MER) - Challenges and New Horizons.-- 12 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, supplementary information https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00519/full#supplementary-material.-- The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author ; Increasing anthropogenic pressures are causing long-lasting regime shifts from high-diversity ecosystems to low-diversity ones. In the Mediterranean Sea, large expanses of rocky subtidal habitats characterized by high diversity have been completely degraded to the barren state due to the high grazing pressure exerted by sea urchins, which could persist for a long time. In several areas of the world, removal of sea urchins has been found to have a positive effect on the recovery of overexploited subtidal rocky habitats. This study assessed, for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, the effects of extensive sea urchin culling on the recovery of subtidal reefs from the barren state. We tested this approach within a Marine Protected Area where a combination of oligotrophic conditions, general depletion of fish stocks, dramatically high sea urchin densities, and the large expanses of barren grounds caused by date mussel fishery have hampered the natural recovery of shallow rocky reefs. Culling intervention (through hammering) was carried out in spring 2015, covering an area of 1.2 hectares at about 5 m depth. The effects of sea urchin removal were monitored at regular intervals for a time span of 3 years and were compared with two control sites adjacent to the culling area. We documented a progressive reduction in the extent of barren grounds in the fully protected area after the intervention. Also, very low re-colonization of sea urchins was observed during the experiment, so that no additional extensive culling was necessary. Our findings suggested sea urchin culling as a promising practice, also considering the limited costs of the intervention. However, since the reduction in extent of barren grounds was largely driven by turf-forming algae, caution is needed in the interpretation of the outcomes in terms of restoration, and results are discussed considering the factors involved in the observed shift and the synergies to be carried out for a full recovery of the system ; This research was funded by the project Marine Ecosystem Restoration in Changing European Seas (MERCES) of the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research (Grant Agreement No. 689518, http://www.merces-project.eu) and the EU Interreg MED AMAre project (http://msp-platform.eu/projects/amare-actions-marine-protected-areas) ; Peer reviewed

As a response to increasing human pressures on marine ecosystems, the legislation aimed at improving the conservation and management of marine coastal areas in European and Contiguous Seas (ECS) underwent crucial advances. ECS, however, still remain largely affected by increasing threats leading to biodiversity loss. Here, by using emblematic case studies and expert knowledge, we review current conservation tools, comparing their application in different areas to assess their effectiveness, potential for synergies, and contradictions. Despite regional differences in their application, the existing legislative frameworks have the potential to regulate human activities and to protect marine biodiversity. However, four challenges remain to be addressed to fully achieve environmental policy goals: (1) Lack of shared vision representing a limitation in transboundary collaboration. Although all EU countries are committed to fulfil EU Directives and other binding international legislative acts, a remarkable heterogeneity exists among countries in the compliance with the common legislation on conservation and in their degree of implementation. (2) Lack of systematic procedures for the selection of protected marine sites. Regional and national approaches in designating Natura 2000 sites and nationally designated marine protected areas (MPAs) reflect varying conservation targets and importance of conservation issues in political agendas. (3) Lack of coherent ecological networks. Natura 2000 sites and other MPAs are still far from reaching the status of effective networks in all considered case studies. (4) Hotspot of conflicts with private economic interests prevailing over conservation aims. Recommendations are given to overcome the fragmented approach still characterizing the conservation and management of coastal marine environments. [.]

As a response to increasing human pressures on marine ecosystems, the legislation aimed at improving the conservation and management of marine coastal areas in European and Contiguous Seas (ECS) underwent crucial advances. ECS, however, still remain largely affected by increasing threats leading to biodiversity loss. Here, by using emblematic case studies and expert knowledge, we review current conservation tools, comparing their application in different areas to assess their effectiveness, potential for synergies, and contradictions. Despite regional differences in their application, the existing legislative frameworks have the potential to regulate human activities and to protect marine biodiversity. However, four challenges remain to be addressed to fully achieve environmental policy goals: (1) Lack of shared vision representing a limitation in transboundary collaboration. Although all EU countries are committed to fulfil EU Directives and other binding international legislative acts, a remarkable heterogeneity exists among countries in the compliance with the common legislation on conservation and in their degree of implementation. (2) Lack of systematic procedures for the selection of protected marine sites. Regional and national approaches in designating Natura 2000 sites and nationally designated marine protected areas (MPAs) reflect varying conservation targets and importance of conservation issues in political agendas. (3) Lack of coherent ecological networks. Natura 2000 sites and other MPAs are still far from reaching the status of effective networks in all considered case studies. (4) Hotspot of conflicts with private economic interests prevailing over conservation aims. Recommendations are given to overcome the fragmented approach still characterizing the conservation and management of coastal marine environments. [.]

As a response to increasing human pressures on marine ecosystems, the legislation aimed at improving the conservation and management of marine coastal areas in European and Contiguous Seas (ECS) underwent crucial advances. ECS, however, still remain largely affected by increasing threats leading to biodiversity loss. Here, by using emblematic case studies and expert knowledge, we review current conservation tools, comparing their application in different areas to assess their effectiveness, potential for synergies, and contradictions. Despite regional differences in their application, the existing legislative frameworks have the potential to regulate human activities and to protect marine biodiversity. However, four challenges remain to be addressed to fully achieve environmental policy goals: (1) Lack of shared vision representing a limitation in transboundary collaboration. Although all EU countries are committed to fulfil EU Directives and other binding international legislative acts, a remarkable heterogeneity exists among countries in the compliance with the common legislation on conservation and in their degree of implementation. (2) Lack of systematic procedures for the selection of protected marine sites. Regional and national approaches in designating Natura 2000 sites and nationally designated marine protected areas (MPAs) reflect varying conservation targets and importance of conservation issues in political agendas. (3) Lack of coherent ecological networks. Natura 2000 sites and other MPAs are still far from reaching the status of effective networks in all considered case studies. (4) Hotspot of conflicts with private economic interests prevailing over conservation aims. Recommendations are given to overcome the fragmented approach still characterizing the conservation and management of coastal marine environments. [.]

As a response to increasing human pressures on marine ecosystems, the legislation aimed at improving the conservation and management of marine coastal areas in European and Contiguous Seas (ECS) underwent crucial advances. ECS, however, still remain largely affected by increasing threats leading to biodiversity loss. Here, by using emblematic case studies and expert knowledge, we review current conservation tools, comparing their application in different areas to assess their effectiveness, potential for synergies, and contradictions. Despite regional differences in their application, the existing legislative frameworks have the potential to regulate human activities and to protect marine biodiversity. However, four challenges remain to be addressed to fully achieve environmental policy goals: (1) Lack of shared vision representing a limitation in transboundary collaboration. Although all EU countries are committed to fulfil EU Directives and other binding international legislative acts, a remarkable heterogeneity exists among countries in the compliance with the common legislation on conservation and in their degree of implementation. (2) Lack of systematic procedures for the selection of protected marine sites. Regional and national approaches in designating Natura 2000 sites and nationally designated marine protected areas (MPAs) reflect varying conservation targets and importance of conservation issues in political agendas. (3) Lack of coherent ecological networks. Natura 2000 sites and other MPAs are still far from reaching the status of effective networks in all considered case studies. (4) Hotspot of conflicts with private economic interests prevailing over conservation aims. Recommendations are given to overcome the fragmented approach still characterizing the conservation and management of coastal marine environments. [.]

14 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, supplementary material https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.626843/full#supplementary-material ; Restoration is considered an effective strategy to accelerate the recovery of biological communities at local scale. However, the effects of restoration actions in the marine ecosystems are still unpredictable. We performed a global analysis of published literature to identify the factors increasing the probability of restoration success in coastal and marine systems. Our results confirm that the majority of active restoration initiatives are still concentrated in the northern hemisphere and that most of information gathered from restoration efforts derives from a relatively small subset of species. The analysis also indicates that many studies are still experimental in nature, covering small spatial and temporal scales. Despite the limits of assessing restoration effectiveness in absence of a standardized definition of success, the context (degree of human impact, ecosystem type, habitat) of where the restoration activity is undertaken is of greater relevance to a successful outcome than how (method) the restoration is carried out. Contrary to expectations, we found that restoration is not necessarily more successful closer to protected areas (PA) and in areas of moderate human impact. This result can be motivated by the limits in assessing the success of interventions and by the tendency of selecting areas in more obvious need of restoration, where the potential of actively restoring a degraded site is more evident. Restoration sites prioritization considering human uses and conservation status present in the region is of vital importance to obtain the intended outcomes and galvanize further actions. ; Research funded by the EU project MERCES of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research (Grant agreement No. 689518, http://www.merces-project.eu). ; Research funded by the EU project MERCES of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research (Grant agreement No. 689518, http://www.merces-project.eu) ; Peer reviewed

Restoration is considered an effective strategy to accelerate the recovery of biological communities at local scale. However, the effects of restoration actions in the marine ecosystems are still unpredictable. We performed a global analysis of published literature to identify the factors increasing the probability of restoration success in coastal and marine systems. Our results confirm that the majority of active restoration initiatives are still concentrated in the northern hemisphere and that most of information gathered from restoration efforts derives from a relatively small subset of species. The analysis also indicates that many studies are still experimental in nature, covering small spatial and temporal scales. Despite the limits of assessing restoration effectiveness in absence of a standardized definition of success, the context (degree of human impact, ecosystem type, habitat) of where the restoration activity is undertaken is of greater relevance to a successful outcome than how (method) the restoration is carried out. Contrary to expectations, we found that restoration is not necessarily more successful closer to protected areas (PA) and in areas of moderate human impact. This result can be motivated by the limits in assessing the success of interventions and by the tendency of selecting areas in more obvious need of restoration, where the potential of actively restoring a degraded site is more evident. Restoration sites prioritization considering human uses and conservation status present in the region is of vital importance to obtain the intended outcomes and galvanize further actions ; Research funded by the EU project MERCES of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research (Grant agreement No. 689518