Transboundary maritime spatial planning: a Baltic Sea perspective

Maritime Spatial Planning is a new form of spatial planning emerging at the intersection of expanding demands for commercial use of marine space and increasing concerns for marine ecosystems. Many coastal countries around Europe are presently engaged in this field -not only by their national activities but also cooperating across borders through transboundary dialogue, joint strategies and even considering joint planning. In the Baltic Sea region transboundary cooperation takes all these forms. Such activities, including the Plan Bothnia pilot planning of the Bothnian Sea between Sweden and Finland, bring into surface differences in planning procedures and approaches, views on the environment, compatibilities of geographical data and the general complexity of the international-national legal framework. Creativity and transparent, accountable procedures are needed to ensure that such initiatives are both useful and legitimate.     

Governance baselines as a basis for adaptive marine spatial planning

A marine spatial planning (MSP) initiative—if to be successful—has to be rooted in a thorough understanding of the tradition and structures of the governance system in the area targeted for the initiative. After decades of a mainly sectoral approach towards maritime affairs, governments began to recognised the need for a governance framework that applies a more integrated approach to maritime policy. The new Integrated Maritime Policy of the European Union is only one example for such a changed way of policy and decision making. The assembly of a governance baseline can help to identify the crucial hindering and success factors for the implementation of MSP. A governance baseline has two parts. Part One focuses upon the past and current performance of the governance system as it has responded—or failed to respond—to changes in the condition of ecosystems in a specific locale. Part Two of a baseline outlines a strategic approach to the design of a new program and records the goals, objectives and strategies of MSP implementation. Focus on both governance processes and their outcomes is essential and forms the core justification for documenting governance responses to ecosystem change.     

Maritime spatial planning: opportunities &; challenges in the framework of the EU integrated maritime policy

In recent years, maritime spatial planning (MSP) has become an internationally emerging, promising tool for the implementation of integrated ocean management. MSP provides the appropriate framework for public authorities and stakeholders to coordinate their action across sectors and administrative boundaries, and to optimize the use of natural resources. In November 2008 the European Commission adopted the Communication “Roadmap for Maritime Spatial Planning: Achieving Common Principles in the EU” (COM(2008) 791 final) aiming to facilitate the development of MSP by Member States and to stimulate its implementation at national and EU level. Core element of this Roadmap is a set of ten key principles for MSP in Europe. Although endorsed as valid and comprehensive, further discussion and research is needed to identify challenges, measures and tools for the key principle’s practical application. This special issue of the Journal of Coastal Conservation: Planning and Management (JCCPM) seeks to contribute to this discussion. Its purpose is to shed light from different angles on the various aspects of the mentioned ten key principles and provide lessons learned from experience in different maritime areas around the world. Taking a more scientific, rather than a political point of view, the following articles will debate the different principles, their practical handling, as well as the consequences linked to their application.     

The integration of land and marine spatial planning

Whilst spatial planning has evolved as a tool to manage the development and use of the terrestrial environment over decades, the development of spatial planning systems for the marine environment are in their infancy. This paper focuses on the integration of land and marine based spatial planning systems. This is informed by a brief overview of the regional development of the lands and seas of Europe which underlie spatial planning systems and by a discussion of respective spatial planning systems in terms of economic sectors, land use, and sea use. The integration of spatial planning systems is then considered, followed by evaluation of relationships between spatial planning, and the wider field of environmental management. This includes consideration of organisational and geographical scales, technical management including legal aspects, policy, strategic planning and time scales of decision-making. The paper identifies the significant factors which must be considered in the integration of marine and terrestrial planning systems over the coming decades.     

The importance of spatial autocorrelation,extent and resolution in predicting forest bird occurrence

Concerns about declines in forest biodiversity underscore the need for accurate estimates of the distribution and abundance of organisms at large scales and at resolutions that are fine enough to be appropriate for management. This paper addresses three major objectives: (i) to determine whether the resolution of typical air photo-derived forest inventory is sufficient for the accurate prediction of site occupancy by forest birds. We compared prediction success of habitat models using air photo variables to models with variables derived from finer resolution, ground-sampled vegetation plots. (ii) To test whether incorporating spatial autocorrelation into habitat models via autologistic regression increases prediction success. (iii) To determine whether landscape structure is an important factor in predicting bird distribution in forest-dominated landscapes. Models were tested locally (Greater Fundy Ecosystem [GFE]) using cross-validation, and regionally using an independent data set from an area located ca. 250 km to the northwest (Riley Brook [RB]). We found significant positive spatial autocorrelation in the residuals of at least one habitat model for 76% (16/21) of species examined. In these cases, the logistic regression assumption of spatially independent errors was violated. Logistic models that ignored spatial autocorrelation tended to overestimate habitat effects. Though overall prediction success was higher for autologistic models than logistic models in the GFE, the difference was only significantly improved for one species. Further, the inclusion of spatial covariates did little to improve model performance in the geographically discrete study area. For 62% (13/21) of species examined, landscape variables were significant predictors of forest bird occurrence even after statistically controlling for stand-level variability. However, broad spatial extents explained less variation than local factors. In the GFE, 76% (16/21) of air photo and 81% (17/21) of ground plot models were accurate enough to be of practical utility (AUC > 0.7). When applied to RB, both model types performed effectively for 55% (11/20) of the species examined. We did not detect an overall difference in prediction success between air photo and ground plot models in either study area. We conclude that air photo data are as effective as fine resolution vegetation data for predicting site occupancy for the majority of species in this study. These models will be of use to forest managers who are interested in mapping species distributions under various timber harvest scenarios, and to protected areas planners attempting to optimize reserve function.     

Multispecies genetic objectives in spatial conservation planning

Growing threats to biodiversity and global alteration of habitats and species distributions make it increasingly necessary to consider evolutionary patterns in conservation decision making. Yet, there is no clear‐cut guidance on how genetic features can be incorporated into conservation‐planning processes, despite multiple molecular markers and several genetic metrics for each marker type to choose from. Genetic patterns differ between species, but the potential tradeoffs among genetic objectives for multiple species in conservation planning are currently understudied. We compared spatial conservation prioritizations derived from 2 metrics of genetic diversity (nucleotide and haplotype diversity) and 2 metrics of genetic isolation (private haplotypes and local genetic differentiation) in mitochondrial DNA of 5 marine species. We compared outcomes of conservation plans based only on habitat representation with plans based on genetic data and habitat representation. Fewer priority areas were selected for conservation plans based solely on habitat representation than on plans that included habitat and genetic data. All 4 genetic metrics selected approximately similar conservation‐priority areas, which is likely a result of prioritizing genetic patterns across a genetically diverse array of species. Largely, our results suggest that multispecies genetic conservation objectives are vital to creating protected‐area networks that appropriately preserve community‐level evolutionary patterns.     

Longitudinal monitoring of neutral and adaptive genomic diversity in a reintroduction

Restoration programs in the form of ex-situ breeding combined with reintroductions are becoming critical to counteract demographic declines and species losses. Such programs are increasingly using genetic management to improve conservation outcomes. However, the lack of long-term monitoring of genetic indicators following reintroduction prevents assessments of the trajectory and persistence of reintroduced populations. We carried out an extensive monitoring program in the wild for a threatened small-bodied fish (southern pygmy perch, Nannoperca australis) to assess the long-term genomic effects of its captive breeding and reintroduction. The species was rescued prior to its extirpation from the terminal lakes of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin, and then used for genetically informed captive breeding and reintroductions. Subsequent annual or biannual monitoring of abundance, fitness, and occupancy over a period of 11 years, combined with postreintroduction genetic sampling, revealed survival and recruitment of reintroduced fish. Genomic analyses based on data from the original wild rescued, captive born, and reintroduced cohorts revealed low inbreeding and strong maintenance of neutral and candidate adaptive genomic diversity across multiple generations. An increasing trend in the effective population size of the reintroduced population was consistent with field monitoring data in demonstrating successful re-establishment of the species. This provides a rare empirical example that the adaptive potential of a locally extinct population can be maintained during genetically informed ex-situ conservation breeding and reintroduction into the wild. Strategies to improve biodiversity restoration via ex-situ conservation should include genetic-based captive breeding and longitudinal monitoring of standing genomic variation in reintroduced populations.     

The importance of incorporating functional habitats into conservation planning for highly mobile species in dynamic systems

The distribution of mobile species in dynamic systems can vary greatly over time and space. Estimating their population size and geographic range can be problematic and affect the accuracy of conservation assessments. Scarce data on mobile species and the resources they need can also limit the type of analytical approaches available to derive such estimates. We quantified change in availability and use of key ecological resources required for breeding for a critically endangered nomadic habitat specialist, the Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor). We compared estimates of occupied habitat derived from dynamic presence‐background (i.e., presence‐only data) climatic models with estimates derived from dynamic occupancy models that included a direct measure of food availability. We then compared estimates that incorporate fine‐resolution spatial data on the availability of key ecological resources (i.e., functional habitats) with more common approaches that focus on broader climatic suitability or vegetation cover (due to the absence of fine‐resolution data). The occupancy models produced significantly (P < 0.001) smaller (up to an order of magnitude) and more spatially discrete estimates of the total occupied area than climate‐based models. The spatial location and extent of the total area occupied with the occupancy models was highly variable between years (131 and 1498 km²). Estimates accounting for the area of functional habitats were significantly smaller (2–58% [SD 16]) than estimates based only on the total area occupied. An increase or decrease in the area of one functional habitat (foraging or nesting) did not necessarily correspond to an increase or decrease in the other. Thus, an increase in the extent of occupied area may not equate to improved habitat quality or function. We argue these patterns are typical for mobile resource specialists but often go unnoticed because of limited data over relevant spatial and temporal scales and lack of spatial data on the availability of key resources. Understanding changes in the relative availability of functional habitats is crucial to informing conservation planning and accurately assessing extinction risk for mobile resource specialists.     

Incorporating putatively neutral and adaptive genomic data into marine conservation planning

The availability of genomic data for an increasing number of species makes it possible to incorporate evolutionary processes into conservation plans. Recent studies show how genetic data can inform spatial conservation prioritization (SCP), but they focus on metrics of diversity and distinctness derived primarily from neutral genetic data sets. Identifying adaptive genetic markers can provide important information regarding the capacity for populations to adapt to environmental change. Yet, the effect of including metrics based on adaptive genomic data into SCP in comparison to more widely used neutral genetic metrics has not been explored. We used existing genomic data on a commercially exploited species, the giant California sea cucumber (Parastichopus californicus), to perform SCP for the coastal region of British Columbia (BC), Canada. Using a RAD-seq data set for 717 P. californicus individuals across 24 sampling locations, we identified putatively adaptive (i.e., candidate) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) based on genotype–environment associations with seafloor temperature. We calculated various metrics for both neutral and candidate SNPs and compared SCP outcomes with independent metrics and combinations of metrics. Priority areas varied depending on whether neutral or candidate SNPs were used and on the specific metric used. For example, targeting sites with a high frequency of warm-temperature-associated alleles to support persistence under future warming prioritized areas in the southern coastal region. In contrast, targeting sites with high expected heterozygosity at candidate loci to support persistence under future environmental uncertainty prioritized areas in the north. When combining metrics, all scenarios generated intermediate solutions, protecting sites that span latitudinal and thermal gradients. Our results demonstrate that distinguishing between neutral and adaptive markers can affect conservation solutions and emphasize the importance of defining objectives when choosing among various genomic metrics for SCP.     

Mapping shifts in spatial synchrony in grassland birds to inform conservation planning

Spatial synchrony, defined as the correlated fluctuations in abundance of spatially separated populations, can be caused by regional fluctuations in natural and anthropogenic environmental population drivers. Investigations into the geography of synchrony can provide useful insight to inform conservation planning efforts by revealing regions of common population drivers and metapopulation extinction vulnerability. We examined the geography of spatial synchrony and decadal changes in these patterns for grassland birds in the United States and Canada, which are experiencing widespread and persistent population declines. We used Bayesian hierarchical models and over 50 years of abundance data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey to generate population indices within a 2° latitude by 2° longitude grid. We computed and mapped mean local spatial synchrony for each cell (mean detrended correlation of the index among neighboring cells), along with associated uncertainty, for 19 species in 2, 26-year periods, 1968–1993 and 1994–2019. Grassland birds were predicted to increase in spatial synchrony where agricultural intensification, climate change, or interactions between the 2 increased. We found no evidence of an overall increase in synchrony among grassland bird species. However, based on the geography of these changes, there was considerable spatial heterogeneity within species. Averaging across species, we identified clusters of increasing spatial synchrony in the Prairie Pothole and Shortgrass Prairie regions and a region of decreasing spatial synchrony in the eastern United States. Our approach has the potential to inform continental-scale conservation planning by adding an additional layer of relevant information to species status assessments and spatial prioritization of policy and management actions. Our work adds to a growing literature suggesting that global change may result in shifting patterns of spatial synchrony in population dynamics across taxa with broad implications for biodiversity conservation.     

Coastal landscape and the Greek spatial planning: evidence from windpower in the South Aegean islands

This paper discusses issues about the coastal and the insular landscape integration in the Greek spatial planning framework. Case study area is the region of the South Aegean, where the proliferation of wind turbines is one of the principal factors of landscape change. The methodological approach adopted is mainly quantitative and is based on viewshed analysis. This paper is also demonstrates that zones with varying impact on landscape can be identified. It also emerges that the spatial planning framework in Greece promotes an ad hoc project-led instead of a plan-based approach to coastal and insular landscape management.     

Overview of principles and implementations to deal with spatial issues in monitoring environmental effects of genetically modified organisms

Background

Sorting and disposal of waste are the last steps in the “lifetime” of a product. If products are contaminated with chemicals assessed to be hazardous for man or environment, waste management has the role of a vacuum cleaner in substance chain management working in two different ways: The hazardous compounds have to be properly separated from potential secondary resources in sorting processes. If this is not possible, those products have to be disposed safely. Starting from the experiences collected with some chemicals banned, the tools used for phasing out these chemicals from the technosphere are studied with respect to their influence on the contamination of the environment.

Results

Even if a dangerous substance has been banned, it is further used in a number of products. In the cases presented here, the substances were banned for further use. In the case of CFCs, the substitutes used have partially also been substituted because of adverse effects. Besides the prohibition of use of hazardous substances, numerous other regulations were issued to reduce unsafe handling and minimize emissions into the environment. It turned out that waste management cannot correct mistakes which already happened “upstream” in the product chain. The control of point sources works quite successfully, whereas today the overwhelming emissions stem from diffuse sources, partially caused by unsafe waste management procedures.

Conclusions

Though there are no complete balances for both groups of compounds serving as examples, some conclusions can be drawn based on the experiences collected. Hazardous compounds may be separated successfully from used products or waste,

• If they are mostly used in industry and not in households,
• if they can be identified as part of certain products,
• if their concentration in these products is rather high,
• if technical problems come up when they contaminate secondary raw materials,
• if there is international support for proper waste management.

     

Lipids and fatty acid composition of particulate matter in the North Atlantic: importance of spatial heterogeneity,season and community structure

Lipid class profiles and total fatty acid composition of particulate matter were studied in the northeast Atlantic during the spring bloom and fall. Eddies of known physical and chemical properties were sampled at different depths. HPLC pigment data were used to characterize the phytoplankton communities. In spring, a dominance of prymnesiophytes was recorded at all depths, while in fall prochlorophytes dominated near the surface and prymnesiophytes only at deep chlorophyll maximum. Lipid classes included triglycerides, sterols, glycolipids and phospholipids. A differential relationship between phytoplankton abundance and lipid accumulation was observed: spring lipid concentrations were positively related to phytoplankton biomass, while fall particulate lipid did not show any relationship. The main feature was a northward increase in lipid concentrations unrelated to the mesoscale hydrological structures. Polar lipids dominated over neutral acyl-glycerols with phospholipids dominating over glycolipids in spring, while glycolipids dominated in fall. This resulted from different nutrient availability with a dominance of flagellates associated with mesotrophy in spring and of picophytoplankton associated with oligotrophy in fall. In terms of fatty acids, factorial correspondence analyses illustrate the influence of seasonally changing assemblages: (1) in spring, the main source of variability was the bloom with an opposition between bloom sites characterized by n-3 and n-6 PUFA, and more detrital deep samples characterized by saturated, monoenoic and branched acids; (2) fall fatty acid profiles were similar at all depths and very close to those observed for spring deep samples. Comparison of pigment and fatty acids using redundancy analysis suggested that pelagophytes were linked to saturated and branched acids. It also showed that prymnesiophytes and prochlorophytes were significantly associated with n-6 and n-3 PUFA. The spring period illustrated the complexity of these relationships with dinoflagellates and prymnesiophytes linked with n-3 PUFA, diatoms linked with palmitoleic and myristic acids, and pelagophytes linked with n-6 PUFA and higher-chain-length monoenes.     

Determinants of vigilance behavior in the ring-tailed coati (Nasua nasua): the importance of within-group spatial position

Individuals living in social groups are predicted to live under unequal predation risk due to their spatial location within the group. Previous work has indicated that individuals located at the edge of groups have higher “domains of danger”, thus are more likely to engage in vigilance or antipredator behavior. We studied the determinants of vigilance behavior in two groups of ring-tailed coatis in Iguazu National Park, Argentina. In addition to the expected pattern that coatis were more vigilant at the edge of the group, we found that individuals were particularly vigilant at the front edge of the group. This pattern conforms to predictions of differing predation risk caused by sit-and-wait predators with respect to mobile animal groups. In addition, coatis exhibited less vigilance when the number of neighbors within 5 m and group size increased. Of the three spatial variables tested, within-group spatial position was the most important predictor variable determining vigilance levels. These results confirm that spatial position has major effects on vigilance behavior, and that group directionality is an important factor which should be taken into account when measuring vigilance behavior. Coatis were more vigilant when juveniles less than 6 months old were in the groups. The presence of these young juveniles also affected the relationship between alarm response and vigilance levels. Coatis were more vigilant after strong alarm reactions, but only when young juveniles were not present in the groups. This may indicate that coatis give differential responses to alarm calls depending on the age of the caller. A comparison of antipredator vigilance between coatis and sympatric capuchin monkeys is consistent with the hypothesis that terrestriality leads to higher perceive predation risk for coatis.     

蓄水后三峡库区重庆段污染负荷与时空分布研究

针对三峡库区重庆段蓄水后的污染负荷状况及时空分布进行了研究。介于三峡库区蓄水后污染形式的变化以及污染源的多样性和库区内各区县污染源特征的差异，将各类污染源分类并分区域进行计算预测。除了对受广泛关注的工业污染、生活污染进行了预测外，还研究了农田径流污染、船舶流动污染、淹没土壤释放污染的计算方法并对其进行了计算。计算结果表明，在2002、2010、2020年重庆段库区水体的主要污染源为农田径流污染、城市生活污水污染和农村生活污染，其中农田径流污染的CODCr、NH3-N、TP的贡献率分别达到了59．95％、74．64％、85．86％，为主要污染源。在2002年、2010年、2020年重庆段三峡库区CODCr、NH3-N、TP的主要来源区域为重庆主城区、万州区、涪陵区和江津市。