DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17989096
title: Atlantic-Arctic maps of pressure from human activities

description: Coastal and marine ecosystems are exposed to a number of human activities that result in a variety of pressures. These human activities range from physical alterations of the ecosystem (e.g., dredging, bottom trawling) to diffuse stressors (e.g., noise). While several of the pressures that are derived from the human activities have minimal effects on the ecosystem, the cumulative effects of all pressures can result in significant impacts.

Converting human activities into specific pressures requires a standardised dataset that provides expert-based magnitudes to the conversion of a given activity into one or more pressures. The JNCC dataset (Robson et al., 2018) provides such a framework, where activities can be converted to pressures and create maps to showcase areas that have higher or lower cumulative pressures. Such maps are an intuitive tool for users to quickly identify areas where there might be higher needs for management.

This deliverable describes a coastal and marine footprint map, developed by integrating EMODnet activity layers with the JNCC pressure conversion table, as well as a web-based tool that allows users to generate updated pressure maps as new data become available.

A European-level pressures map was produced combining the available human activity maps in EMODnet and the JNCC table that allows to convert human activities to their specific pressures (Figure 1). 



Figure 1. Colorised version of the cumulative pressures map for each DS. The map shows that coastal areas are the most affected areas, and shipping routes (straight lines on the ocean) are also relevant impacted areas. 

The JNCC database combines 39 human use activity categories and 34 human pressure types: for example, the human activity of vessel movements is associated with 19 pressures, such as above water noise, litter, or nutrient enrichment. The layers used to produce the map are described in Table 1. To ensure that every layer has an equal weight in the final map, the layer values were multiplied by the pressure level described in the JNCC database (0.5 for mid/low pressure values and 1 for high pressure values) and then scaled to the 99th percentile so that the pressure layer is scaled in a 0 to 1 gradient and extreme values removed. Finally, all layers were added to generate a single unitless map with a resolution of 1 km. 

 

Table 1. Short description of the human activities included in the map.






Activity name



Source





Offshore energy



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/6414b069-8cb5-443e-a0d7-d08e909c43e2





Wastewater discharge



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/0bd23b5e-b288-4273-b8b7-d073538ada52





Fishing effort



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/26ec2eba-6252-467d-aad7-24d40886a5a5





Aquaculture - Shellfish



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/aa0d2b45-49c4-4b42-86bb-8971a3c2d2cc





Aquaculture - Marine finfish



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/03c35b79-808f-4168-9d30-2de44a55a6f4





Fisheries - Fishing intensity



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/d57fbdea-489e-4e11-9ff1-f0f706cfe783





EMSA Route Density - EMSA Route Density Map



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/74eef9c6-13fe-4630-b935-f26871c8b661





Vessel Density - Vessel density map



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/0f2f3ff1-30ef-49e1-96e7-8ca78d58a07c





Algae - Algae production



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/7b849214-e6ae-4199-a3f0-d4539f1f1289





Pipelines - Pipelines



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/aca3dd01-77ac-47fe-8291-6ca916daaa6d





Oil and gas - Offshore installations



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/ddbe3597-4e3f-4e74-8d31-947c4efef2e9





Cables, power - actual routes



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/41b339f8-b29c-4550-b787-3d68f08fdbcc





Cables, telecommunication - actual routes



https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/39ebe289-410b-4a5d-88a4-51bfcde538de





 

In addition, and to keep these maps’ relevance with new data sources, a simple web-based application has been developed that allows a user to convert the human activities into pressures (see screenshots provided in Appendix) using the same methodology as mentioned above, using the JNCC database on human activities. The application will be available in the official BioProtect website (https://bioprotect-project.eu/) and in the Arctic Sustainability Lab website (https://arcticsustainability.com).

 

References

Robson, L. M., Fincham, J., Peckett, F. J., Frost, N., Jackson, C., Carter, A. J., & Matear, L. (2018). UK Marine Pressures–Activities Database “PAD”: Methods report. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. https://hub.jncc.gov.uk/assets/16506231-f499-408f-bdc8-ea9a6dfbf8b5