Anthropogenic climate and non-climate drivers of change are causing significant impacts on estuarine and coastal marine environments. Climate change poses a particular threat to the structure and function of biotic co...Anthropogenic climate and non-climate drivers of change are causing significant impacts on estuarine and coastal marine environments. Climate change poses a particular threat to the structure and function of biotic communities in these environments because it acts on the most extensive temporal and spatial scales relative to other anthropogenic drivers of change. The interaction of multiple environmental drivers exacerbates degradation of ecosystem condition. Estuaries are most susceptible to climate-change mediated biotic shifts and direct anthropogenic impacts due to burgeoning human population growth and development in coastal watersheds. Multiple anthropogenic drivers of change, which often interact synergistically, alter physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. Ecological responses may be increasingly nonlinear, with cumulative effects manifested by marked changes in organism abundance, distribution, diversity, and productivity. Detrimental biotic effects in impacted coastal environments cascade up from individual organisms to population and community levels, culminating in ecosystem-level changes including reduced services. Multiple drivers of change and their impacts are increasing in estuarine and coastal marine environments with greater anthropogenic forcing in the coastal zone and global effects of climate change, creating greater challenges for environmental management and conservation programs.展开更多
A wide range of anthropogenic activities impacts estuarine and coastal marine environments including interactive climate and non-climatic drivers of change that can significantly degrade biotic communities and habitat...A wide range of anthropogenic activities impacts estuarine and coastal marine environments including interactive climate and non-climatic drivers of change that can significantly degrade biotic communities and habitats. Many of these environments are in decline due to changes in ecosystem structure and function resulting from multiple stressor effects. In addition, inadequate governance has supported a patchwork of single issues or sectoral approaches rather than integrated management of multiple human uses and activities to maintain healthy, productive, resilient, and sustainable ecosystems and the provision of goods and services. Ecosystem-based marine spatial planning is a viable framework for a more effective governance structure and management of these vital coastal environments. An important component of this approach is a holistic effort to assess the environmental, economic, and societal impacts of anthropogenic activities. Thus, a multidisciplinary integrated approach is preferred that links ecological, physical, and socio-economic systems, increasing the protection of resources and societal benefits. For degraded estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems, restoration and rehabilitation initiatives are important intervention strategies used to reverse the loss of habitats and biotic resources and to support management programs. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an integral element of marine management plans to conserve and sustain estuarine and coastal marine environments by protecting threatened ecosystems and their resources from anthropogenic activities. National and international regulatory frameworks and directives are also in place to protect and conserve these environments.展开更多
文摘Anthropogenic climate and non-climate drivers of change are causing significant impacts on estuarine and coastal marine environments. Climate change poses a particular threat to the structure and function of biotic communities in these environments because it acts on the most extensive temporal and spatial scales relative to other anthropogenic drivers of change. The interaction of multiple environmental drivers exacerbates degradation of ecosystem condition. Estuaries are most susceptible to climate-change mediated biotic shifts and direct anthropogenic impacts due to burgeoning human population growth and development in coastal watersheds. Multiple anthropogenic drivers of change, which often interact synergistically, alter physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. Ecological responses may be increasingly nonlinear, with cumulative effects manifested by marked changes in organism abundance, distribution, diversity, and productivity. Detrimental biotic effects in impacted coastal environments cascade up from individual organisms to population and community levels, culminating in ecosystem-level changes including reduced services. Multiple drivers of change and their impacts are increasing in estuarine and coastal marine environments with greater anthropogenic forcing in the coastal zone and global effects of climate change, creating greater challenges for environmental management and conservation programs.
文摘A wide range of anthropogenic activities impacts estuarine and coastal marine environments including interactive climate and non-climatic drivers of change that can significantly degrade biotic communities and habitats. Many of these environments are in decline due to changes in ecosystem structure and function resulting from multiple stressor effects. In addition, inadequate governance has supported a patchwork of single issues or sectoral approaches rather than integrated management of multiple human uses and activities to maintain healthy, productive, resilient, and sustainable ecosystems and the provision of goods and services. Ecosystem-based marine spatial planning is a viable framework for a more effective governance structure and management of these vital coastal environments. An important component of this approach is a holistic effort to assess the environmental, economic, and societal impacts of anthropogenic activities. Thus, a multidisciplinary integrated approach is preferred that links ecological, physical, and socio-economic systems, increasing the protection of resources and societal benefits. For degraded estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems, restoration and rehabilitation initiatives are important intervention strategies used to reverse the loss of habitats and biotic resources and to support management programs. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an integral element of marine management plans to conserve and sustain estuarine and coastal marine environments by protecting threatened ecosystems and their resources from anthropogenic activities. National and international regulatory frameworks and directives are also in place to protect and conserve these environments.
