275 research outputs found
Towards a global strategy for the conservation of deep-sea active hydrothermal vents
No full textAbstract Deep-sea active hydrothermal vents are globally diverse, vulnerable, rare, remote, and isolated habitats, yet they face increasing threats from human activities, including deep-sea mining. To address the conservation challenges surrounding these habitats, we present a global assessment of the conservation status of deep-sea active vents. Our findings reveal that while 25% of the known deep active hydrothermal vents are currently under conservation interventions, only 8% benefit of full protection. These conservation interventions, consisting of area-based and regulation-based management measures, are implemented by 17 Sovereign States, three Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and one international treaty through 30 discrete interventions. However, our assessment and comparison of the specific measures for the 155 managed active hydrothermal vents reveal that the current conservation remain fragmented and discordant across jurisdictions and biogeographical provinces, resulting in overall insufficient protection, especially in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Seizing the current momentum for ocean conservation, it is crucial to harmonize the management and protection of active deep-sea vents worldwide, taking into account their global biogeographic context and spatial distribution. This requires aligning current international initiatives that could improve baseline policies for the global protection of deep-sea hydrothermal vents
Other Effective Conservation Measures in the Marine Environment: The Policy-Makers' Silver Bullet for Meeting Global Conservation Ambitions?
No full textThe concept of ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECMs) has recently gained traction, as they seem to offer an easier means to achieve area-based conservation targets than conventional protected areas, which can require greater stakeholder engagement, compromise and investment. Many existent area-based management measures – including traditional harvesting areas, indigenous sacred places and activity exclusion zones – may already offer some form of biodiversity protection, despite conservation not being their primary purpose, potentially meeting the OECM criteria. There is concern, however, that conferring OECM status to any such measure without consideration of all relevant aspects could result in an inflated sense of the proportion of area that is effectively protected. This paper investigates and reflects upon the legal basis of OECMs and assesses how governance frameworks may incorporate the concept to meet conservation commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity and obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Data to Decision in a Dynamic Ocean: Robust Species Distribution Models and Spatial Decision Frameworks
No full textHuman use of the oceans is increasingly in conflict with conservation of endangered species. Methods for managing the spatial and temporal placement of industries such as military, fishing, transportation and offshore energy, have historically been post hoc; i.e. the time and place of human activity is often already determined before assessment of environmental impacts. In this dissertation, I build robust species distribution models in two case study areas, US Atlantic (Best et al. 2012) and British Columbia (Best et al. 2015), predicting presence and abundance respectively, from scientific surveys. These models are then applied to novel decision frameworks for preemptively suggesting optimal placement of human activities in space and time to minimize ecological impacts: siting for offshore wind energy development, and routing ships to minimize risk of striking whales. Both decision frameworks relate the tradeoff between conservation risk and industry profit with synchronized variable and map views as online spatial decision support systems.For siting offshore wind energy development (OWED) in the U.S. Atlantic (chapter 4), bird density maps are combined across species with weights of OWED sensitivity to collision and displacement and 10 km2 sites are compared against OWED profitability based on average annual wind speed at 90m hub heights and distance to transmission grid. A spatial decision support system enables toggling between the map and tradeoff plot views by site. A selected site can be inspected for sensitivity to a cetaceans throughout the year, so as to capture months of the year which minimize episodic impacts of pre-operational activities such as seismic airgun surveying and pile driving.Routing ships to avoid whale strikes (chapter 5) can be similarly viewed as a tradeoff, but is a different problem spatially. A cumulative cost surface is generated from density surface maps and conservation status of cetaceans, before applying as a resistance surface to calculate least-cost routes between start and end locations, i.e. ports and entrance locations to study areas. Varying a multiplier to the cost surface enables calculation of multiple routes with different costs to conservation of cetaceans versus cost to transportation industry, measured as distance. Similar to the siting chapter, a spatial decisions support system enables toggling between the map and tradeoff plot view of proposed routes. The user can also input arbitrary start and end locations to calculate the tradeoff on the fly.Essential to the input of these decision frameworks are distributions of the species. The two preceding chapters comprise species distribution models from two case study areas, U.S. Atlantic (chapter 2) and British Columbia (chapter 3), predicting presence and density, respectively. Although density is preferred to estimate potential biological removal, per Marine Mammal Protection Act requirements in the U.S., all the necessary parameters, especially distance and angle of observation, are less readily available across publicly mined datasets.In the case of predicting cetacean presence in the U.S. Atlantic (chapter 2), I extracted datasets from the online OBIS-SEAMAP geo-database, and integrated scientific surveys conducted by ship (n=36) and aircraft (n=16), weighting a Generalized Additive Model by minutes surveyed within space-time grid cells to harmonize effort between the two survey platforms. For each of 16 cetacean species guilds, I predicted the probability of occurrence from static environmental variables (water depth, distance to shore, distance to continental shelf break) and time-varying conditions (monthly sea-surface temperature). To generate maps of presence vs. absence, Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves were used to define the optimal threshold that minimizes false positive and false negative error rates. I integrated model outputs, including tables (species in guilds, input surveys) and plots (fit of environmental variables, ROC curve), into an online spatial decision support system, allowing for easy navigation of models by taxon, region, season, and data provider.For predicting cetacean density within the inner waters of British Columbia (chapter 3), I calculated density from systematic, line-transect marine mammal surveys over multiple years and seasons (summer 2004, 2005, 2008, and spring/autumn 2007) conducted by Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Abundance estimates were calculated using two different methods: Conventional Distance Sampling (CDS) and Density Surface Modelling (DSM). CDS generates a single density estimate for each stratum, whereas DSM explicitly models spatial variation and offers potential for greater precision by incorporating environmental predictors. Although DSM yields a more relevant product for the purposes of marine spatial planning, CDS has proven to be useful in cases where there are fewer observations available for seasonal and inter-annual comparison, particularly for the scarcely observed elephant seal. Abundance estimates are provided on a stratum-specific basis. Steller sea lions and harbour seals are further differentiated by ‘hauled out’ and ‘in water’. This analysis updates previous estimates (Williams & Thomas 2007) by including additional years of effort, providing greater spatial precision with the DSM method over CDS, novel reporting for spring and autumn seasons (rather than summer alone), and providing new abundance estimates for Steller sea lion and northern elephant seal. In addition to providing a baseline of marine mammal abundance and distribution, against which future changes can be compared, this information offers the opportunity to assess the risks posed to marine mammals by existing and emerging threats, such as fisheries bycatch, ship strikes, and increased oil spill and ocean noise issues associated with increases of container ship and oil tanker traffic in British Columbia’s continental shelf waters.Starting with marine animal observations at specific coordinates and times, I combine these data with environmental data, often satellite derived, to produce seascape predictions generalizable in space and time. These habitat-based models enable prediction of encounter rates and, in the case of density surface models, abundance that can then be applied to management scenarios. Specific human activities, OWED and shipping, are then compared within a tradeoff decision support framework, enabling interchangeable map and tradeoff plot views. These products make complex processes transparent for gaming conservation, industry and stakeholders towards optimal marine spatial management, fundamental to the tenets of marine spatial planning, ecosystem-based management and dynamic ocean management.</p
How gray whales find food: A novel approach offers insight into the factors that drive gray whale foraging at a local scale
No full textThe population of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) that forage seasonally on macro-zooplankton along the coast of Port Orford, Oregon, offer an opportunity to explore the important yet understudied dynamics of these animals and their prey at a local scale. During the 2016 foraging season, GoPro video footage of the water column was used to measure prey distribution and density (n = 198) while individual gray whales were non-invasively tracked using a theodolite (n = 11). In addition, environmental parameters were measured including water depth, distance to kelp, and habitat type. An analysis of these data provides evidence that distance to kelp and depth have significant negative relationships with gray whale foraging effort. The study provides new insight into understanding the complexity of gray whale foraging and highlights the benefits and limitations of using video analysis methods in related studies
Social Context: A Review of Autobiography of a Disease
No full textAutobiography of Disease by Patrick Anderson thoroughly examines the author’s life threatening experience with Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) osteomyelitis. Through notes kept by the author and caregiver/mother Anderson tells an evocative ethnography as told from the perspective of MRSA itself. This complex weaving of narratives highlights how multiple social and environmental considerations interact to impact Anderson\u27s experience with illness. This book may be of interest to anyone seeking to learn more about the social context of illness
Developing a Methodology to Assess Transportation Vulnerability to Recurrent Tidal Flooding
No full textDespite the moniker of “nuisance flooding,” the recurrent flooding of coastal cities during high tides poses risks to people and property that extend beyond minor inconveniences. The frequency of this recurrent tidal flooding is expected to increase as sea levels rise. Using publicly available data, this study develops a methodology to assess local vulnerability of coastal cities’ transportation infrastructure and residents to tidal flooding. Geospatial analysis methods identify roads, public transit infrastructure, and socially vulnerable populations with potential physical exposure to flooding, while an evaluation of local planning documents suggests a lack of preparedness for coastal flood hazards. Recommendations for improving and expanding upon this exploratory methodology are provided, as are recommendations to local officials and stakeholders for reducing risk in the face of this growing hazard
Ocean Justice: Strategies for an Equitable Implementation of North Carolina's Offshore Wind Industry
No full textThe United States currently faces a dual crisis of climate change and inequality. Racial wealth disparities stemming from a history of discriminatory policies and oppressive practices have been further compounded by climate impacts and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Calls to action by activists and politicians alike propose leveraging opportunities in the clean economy to address both climate change and the deepening socioeconomic divides. Meanwhile, offshore wind is poised to become a major contributor to the United States’ clean energy economy in the next decade and beyond, with the potential to create 83,000 jobs across 74 occupations by 2030. If implemented properly, this burgeoning industry could both mitigate climate change and provide meaningful economic benefits for disadvantaged communities on a large scale. States along the east coast are beginning to establish policies and build capacity for an equitable development of the offshore wind industry. This study examines those strategies, along with existing disparities within the industry, to recommend best practices as North Carolina moves to stake its claim in offshore wind
SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF OAK WILT SPREAD IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
No full textOak wilt, Ceratocystis fagacearum, has been documented in the Southern Appalachian region of
North Carolina since the early 1950s. Due to its rapid spread and rate of damage, the North
Carolina Forest Resources Division monitored oak wilt closely by performing annual surveys to
both control for and monitor the disease. This project uses the monitoring data to investigate
where and how oak wilt could spread in the near future. Understanding the spatial nature of oak
wilt can help managers target future monitoring and prevention efforts for this particular region.
Both spatial and statistical analyses were used, including the Chi-Squared test, Classification and
Regression Tree (CART) models, and the Mantel test. Results from several tests indicate that oak
wilt prefers specific oak species within the red oak family, has the potential to spread in Western
North Carolina, and spread of oak wilt by long-range pathogen mechanisms have a higher impact
on the transmission of oak wilt than short-range mechanisms
Characterization of Scale in Commercial Fisheries Data
No full textAs management of commercial fisheries becomes more spatially oriented, collection of
commercial fisheries data must adapt to accurately reflect location. An important component of
accurate spatial data is scale. In an attempt to characterize patterns of scale in fisheries data, I
tested the National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast bottom trawl survey data for spatial
dependency using semivariogram analysis. Specifically, and more importantly for management,
I wanted to determine if the distance between sample locations is a good predictor variable for
how much fish will be caught. Focusing on 1996-2002 catch data for Atlantic cod and witch
flounder, I found that for current data collection techniques, the variance of catch weight is
spatially independent from distance between observations. Thus, the scale and spatial pattern of
the data can not be characterized based on distance for the range of space and time analyzed.
This finding does not rule out the possibility that spatial dependence may be observed in these
fisheries if we were to examine data sets with finer spatial distances and finer time intervals.
Because ocean processes vary significantly across time, the effect of aggregating the spatial data
across time may have acted to conceal some of the potential trends in the data set.
Determining the spatial patterns in the data is part of a sequential approach to understanding
ecological processes. Alternative hypotheses that may possibly explain the spatial pattern of the
data need to be tested and include spatial patterns being dependent upon bottom habitat
complexity, water temperature, and/or prey availability. The goal is to find a variable that
explains fish biomass patterns, allowing managers and scientists to begin to understand what
proxy data they really need to collect and map, and at what scale, in order to predict patterns of
fishes for effective and sustainable fisheries management
THE CONSERVATION APPLICATIONS OF GLOBAL SCALE MODELING: A LOOK AT CLIMATE CHANGE AND BENTHIC BIOMASS DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE
No full textThis project considers the conservation applications of global scale modeling by evaluating the
impacts of climate change on benthic biomass distribution and abundance. Marine benthic
organisms, the organisms buried in or living on the sea floor, comprise a range of
invertebrate phyla, are largely immobile, have distributions and abundances tied directly to
physical oceanographic characteristics and provide food and shelter for higher tropic
levels. These characteristics suggest that changes in this single class of organisms related to
large scale disturbances can be extrapolated to the ecosystem scale and provide guidance for
marine conservation planning. Spatial models of benthic biomass abundance for 1997 and 2006
are compared to assess changes in benthic biomass. Changes are summarized within a number
of politically and ecologically relevant boundaries. The study shows that, overall, modeled
benthic biomass values were 17% lower in 2006 than in 1997, which suggests a potential
decrease in benthic biomass due to climate change. However, resulting percent change estimates
at smaller scales varied widely and were often unrealistically high. Thus while global scale
models are effective at elucidating large scale trends, they are unlikely, on their own, to be useful
in guiding conservation planning. In order to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functionality
in the face of climate change, conservation planners should use environmental analysis
approaches that incorporate regional and global scale data to develop adaptive management
techniques, such as protected areas with mobile boundaries, which foster ecosystem resilience
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