Prioritizing forest management actions to benefit marine habitats in data-poor regions |
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Authors: | Jade M S Delevaux Kostantinos A Stamoulis |
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Institution: | Seascape Solutions LLC, Princeville, Hawaii, USA |
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Abstract: | Land-use change is considered one of the greatest human threats to marine ecosystems globally. Given limited resources for conservation, we adapted and scaled up a spatially explicit, linked land–sea decision support tool using open access global geospatial data sets and software to inform the prioritization of future forest management interventions that can have the greatest benefit on marine conservation in Vanuatu. We leveraged and compared outputs from two global marine habitat maps to prioritize land areas for forest conservation and restoration that can maximize sediment retention, water quality, and healthy coastal/marine ecosystems. By combining the outputs obtained from both marine habitat maps, we incorporated elements unique to each and provided higher confidence in our prioritization results. Regardless of marine habitat data source, prioritized areas were mostly located in watersheds on the windward side of the large high islands, exposed to higher tropical rainfall, upstream from large sections of coral reef and seagrass habitats, and thus vulnerable to human-driven land use change. Forest protection and restoration in these areas will serve to maintain clean water and healthy, productive habitats through sediment retention, supporting the wellbeing of neighboring communities. The nationwide application of this linked land–sea tool can help managers prioritize watershed-based management actions based on quantitative synergies and trade-offs across terrestrial and marine ecosystems in data-poor regions. The framework developed here will guide the implementation of ridge-to-reef management across the Pacific region and beyond. |
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Keywords: | coral reefs decision-making global data sets habitat ridge-to-reef seagrass sediment water quality arrecifes de coral calidad del agua conjuntos de datos globales de la cumbre al arrecife hábitat pastos marinos sedimento toma de decisiones 分层贝叶斯模型 近交衰退 新西兰 新西兰鸲鹟 种群建模 重引入 小种群 |
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