Guiding ecological principles for marine spatial planning     

Melissa M. Foley  Benjamin S. Halpern  Fiorenza Micheli  Matthew H. Armsby  Margaret R. Caldwell  Caitlin M. Crain  Erin Prahler  Nicole Rohr  Deborah Sivas  Michael W. Beck  Mark H. Carr  Larry B. Crowder  J. Emmett Duffy  Sally D. Hacker  Karen L. McLeod  Stephen R. Palumbi  Charles H. Peterson  Helen M. Regan  Mary H. Ruckelshaus  Paul A. Sandifer  Robert S. Steneck 《Marine Policy》2010

The declining health of marine ecosystems around the world is evidence that current piecemeal governance is inadequate to successfully support healthy coastal and ocean ecosystems and sustain human uses of the ocean. One proposed solution to this problem is ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP), which is a process that informs the spatial distribution of activities in the ocean so that existing and emerging uses can be maintained, use conflicts reduced, and ecosystem health and services protected and sustained for future generations. Because a key goal of ecosystem-based MSP is to maintain the delivery of ecosystem services that humans want and need, it must be based on ecological principles that articulate the scientifically recognized attributes of healthy, functioning ecosystems. These principles should be incorporated into a decision-making framework with clearly defined targets for these ecological attributes. This paper identifies ecological principles for MSP based on a synthesis of previously suggested and/or operationalized principles, along with recommendations generated by a group of twenty ecologists and marine scientists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives on MSP. The proposed four main ecological principles to guide MSP—maintaining or restoring: native species diversity, habitat diversity and heterogeneity, key species, and connectivity—and two additional guidelines, the need to account for context and uncertainty, must be explicitly taken into account in the planning process. When applied in concert with social, economic, and governance principles, these ecological principles can inform the designation and siting of ocean uses and the management of activities in the ocean to maintain or restore healthy ecosystems, allow delivery of marine ecosystem services, and ensure sustainable economic and social benefits.  相似文献   

Seasonal changes in community composition and trophic structure of fish populations of five salt marshes along the Essex coastline, United Kingdom     

Benjamin C. Green  David J. Smith  Sarah E. Earley  Leanne J. Hepburn  Graham J.C. Underwood 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2009,85(2):247-256

European intertidal salt marshes are important nursery sites for juvenile fish and crustaceans. Due to the increasing threat of habitat loss, the seasonal changes of salt marsh fish communities need to be understood in order to appreciate the ecological and economic importance of the saltmarsh habitat. This study was the first in Great Britain to investigate the seasonal changes of salt marsh fish communities and the variation in community structure between closely located marsh habitats. Between February 2007 and March 2008, five marshes on three estuaries of the Essex coastline were sampled using flume nets to block off intertidal creeks at high tide. Fourteen fish species were caught. The community overall was dominated by three species that made up 91.6% of the total catch: the common goby Pomatoschistus microps (46.2% of the total catch), juvenile herring Clupea harengus (24.3%), and juvenile and larval sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (21.2%). Cluster analysis demonstrated clear seasonal patterns, with some community structures unique to specific marshes or estuaries. The marsh fish community shifts from a highly diverse community during spring, to a community dominated by D. labrax and P. microps in autumn, and low diversity during winter months. Gravimetric stomach content analysis of fish community identified three main trophic guilds; macroinvertivores, planktivores and omnivores. The macroinvertivore feeding guild contained D. labrax and P. microps, the two most frequently occurring species. This investigation demonstrates the importance of British salt marshes as nursery habitats for commercial fish species.  相似文献   

The divergent environmental characteristics of permanently-open,seasonally-open and normally-closed estuaries of south-western Australia     

Benjamin M. Chuwen  Steeg D. Hoeksema  Ian C. Potter 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2009

This study has compared the environmental characteristics of the basins and saline lower reaches of the tributaries of eight estuaries on the south coast of Western Australia, which differ in their degree of connectivity with the ocean. Although four estuaries between 115.1° and 121.8° E along that coast remain permanently open to the ocean, the others only become open when the volume of river discharge is sufficient to breach the prominent sand bars at their mouths, which occurs annually following heavy winter and early spring rainfall in some estuaries (seasonally open) and infrequently in others (normally closed). Estuaries to the west of 118.5° E are predominantly permanently open, e.g. Oyster Harbour, or seasonally open, e.g. Broke, Irwin and Wilson inlets, whereas those further east, e.g. Wellstead Estuary and Hamersley, Culham and Stokes inlets, where annual rainfall and thus discharge are much lower, only become open after exceptionally heavy discharge. In permanently and seasonally-open estuaries, pronounced haloclines and oxyclines are present in the narrow rivers but not the wide basins where the waters are subjected to wind-driven mixing. The extent of cyclical seasonal fluctuations in environmental conditions differed markedly among the three seasonally-open estuaries and between years in one of those systems. These differences reflected variations in the relationship between the volume of fluvial discharge, which is determined by a combination of the amount of local rainfall, catchment size and extent of clearing of native vegetation, and the amount of intrusion by marine waters, which is largely controlled by the size and duration of the opening of the estuary mouth. The mean seasonal salinities in the basins of the three normally-closed estuaries increased over three years of very low rainfall to 64 in the deepest of these estuaries (Stokes Inlet) to 145 in Hamersley Inlet and to 296 in the shallowest estuary (Culham Inlet). These results demonstrate that the environmental characteristics of estuaries on the south coast of Western Australia differ markedly, even among those of the same type, e.g. seasonally-open estuaries or normally-closed estuaries.  相似文献   

An overview of socio-economic and ecological perspectives of Fiji's inshore reef fisheries     

Lydia C.L. Teh  Louise S.L. Teh  Ben Starkhouse  U. Rashid Sumaila 《Marine Policy》2009,33(5):807-817

This paper reviews the socio-economic and ecological context of Fijian reef fisheries. This review is deemed necessary because improved understanding of the state and trends of Fiji's coral reef fisheries on a national level is required for designing an effective management plan for Fiji's inshore reef fisheries. The most important point that emerges from our review is that despite numerous studies of Fiji's reef fisheries, the current status of reef-associated fisheries at the national level is still uncertain due, mainly, to the lack of dependable data on the subsistence fisheries. This in turn leads to uncertainty about how the continuation of fishing, in particular, fishing focused on target species for the coral reef resources trade, will affect fishing communities and the ecosystem.  相似文献   

Passive microwave remote sensing of the historic February 2010 snowstorms in the Middle Atlantic region of the USA     

James L. Foster  Gail Skofronick‐Jackson  Huan Meng  James R. Wang  George Riggs  Paul J. Kocin  Benjamin T. Johnson  Judah Cohen  Dorothy K. Hall  Son V. Nghiem 《水文研究》2012,26(22):3459-3471

The snowfall in the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area during the winter of 2009/2010 was unprecedented and caused serious snow‐related disruptions. In February 2010, snowfall totals approached 2 m, and because maximum temperatures were consistently below normal, snow remained on the ground the entire month. One of the biggest contributing factors to the unusually severe winter weather in 2009/2010, throughout much of the middle latitudes, was the Arctic Oscillation. Unusually high pressure at high latitudes and low pressure at middle latitudes forced a persistent exchange of mass from north to south. In this investigation, a concerted effort was made to link remotely sensed falling snow observations to remotely sensed snow cover and snowpack observations in the Baltimore/Washington area. Specifically, the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer onboard the Aqua satellite was used to assess snow water equivalent, and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit‐B and Microwave Humidity Sounder were employed to detect falling snow. Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer passive microwave signatures in this study are related to both snow on the ground and surface ice layers. In regard to falling snow, signatures indicative of snowfall can be observed in high frequency brightness temperatures of Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit‐B and Microwave Humidity Sounder. Indeed, retrievals show an increase in snow water equivalent after the detection of falling snow. Yet, this work also shows that falling snow intensity and/or the presence of liquid water clouds impacts the ability to reliably detect snow water equivalent. Moreover, changes in the condition of the snowpack, especially in the surface features, negatively affect retrieval performance. Copyright © 2011. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.  相似文献   

Subsurface transport in water and gas     

Benjamin Ross  Steven Amter 《Engineering Geology》1989,26(4):373-403

Current designs for nuclear-waste repositories rely primarily upon subsurface geologic barriers for long-term containment. Because water and air are generally considered to be the mechanisms most likely to transport radioactivity to the surface environment, flow and transport models are important tools in repository assessment. Most models assume that the geologic medium can be treated as a continuum. A substantial body of recent work has focused on applying these models to difficult-to-solve problems, such as the simulation of variably dense or variably saturated flow and transport, large and complex flow systems, sharp solute concentration fronts, and fractured rock systems. The complex chemical interactions between the transport fluid and solid particles within the system have been analyzed using geochemical flow models, most of which assume that the system is at chemical equilibrium. The role of colloids in contaminant transport is a relatively new area of research. The large-scale effects of small-scale variability within the geologic system have been the subject of intense investigation. Inherent limitations of the continuum approach have prompted the design of models in which the flow occurs in discrete fractures. The difficulty and complexity of simulating transport has led to the development of network transport models, which represent the flow field as a series of 1-D path segments. The widespread use of models for prediction and analysis has prompted investigations of their reliability and relative merits.  相似文献   

SCIENTIFICALLY CREDIBLE SITE-SPECIFIC SOIL CLEANUP LEVELS TO PROTECT GROUND WATER     

D. A. Belluck  S. L. Benjamin 《Ground water》1994,32(6):882-883

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Global gravitational changes due to atmospheric mass redistribution as observed by the Lageos nodal residual   总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4  

Benjamin Fong Chao  Richard Eanes 《Geophysical Journal International》1995,122(3):755-764

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Geophysical analysis of zonal tidal signals in length of day   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5  

Benjamin Fong Chao  James B. Merriam  Yoshiaki Tamura 《Geophysical Journal International》1995,122(3):765-775

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Changes in global gravitational energy induced by earthquakes   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Benjamin Fong Chao  Richard S. Gross  Da-Nan Dong 《Geophysical Journal International》1995,122(3):784-789

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