Assessing the Impact of Human Activities on British Columbia’s Estuaries

The world’s marine and coastal ecosystems are under threat and single-sector management efforts have failed to address those threats. Scientific consensus suggests that management should evolve to focus on ecosystems and their human, ecological, and physical components. Estuaries are recognized globally as one of the world’s most productive and most threatened ecosystems and many estuarine areas in British Columbia (BC) have been lost or degraded. To help prioritize activities and areas for regional management efforts, spatial information on human activities that adversely affect BC’s estuaries was compiled. Using statistical analyses, estuaries were assigned to groups facing related threats that could benefit from similar management. The results show that estuaries in the most populated marine ecosections have the highest biological importance but also the highest impacts and the lowest levels of protection. This research is timely, as it will inform ongoing marine planning, land acquisition, and stewardship efforts in BC.

Related papers:

title: Building Regional Threat-Based Networks for Estuaries in the Western United States
abstract: Estuaries are ecologically and economically valuable and have been highly degraded from both land and sea. Estuarine habitats in the coastal zone are under pressure from a range of human activities. In the United States and elsewhere, very few conservation plans focused on estuaries are regional in scope; fewer still address threats to estuary long term viability.We have compiled basic information about the spatial extent of threats to identify commonalities. To do this we classify estuaries into hierarchical networks that share similar threat characteristics using a spatial database (geodatabase) of threats to estuaries from land and sea in the western U.S.Our results show that very few estuaries in this region (16%) have no or minimal stresses from anthropogenic activity. Additionally, one quarter (25%) of all estuaries in this study have moderate levels of all threats. The small number of un-threatened estuaries is likely not representative of the ecological variability in the region and will require working to abate threats at others. We think the identification of these estuary groups can foster sharing best practices and coordination of conservation activities amongst estuaries in any geography.

title: The conservation significance of estuaries: a classification of Tasmanian estuaries using ecological, physical and demographic attributes as a case study
abstract: Estuaries arguably represent the most anthropogenically-degraded habitat-type on earth, with few estuaries in temperate and tropical regions existing in a near pristine state. Conservation of estuarine biodiversity requires recognition that different estuary types are subjected to particular types and levels of human impact. To protect assemblages associated with all estuary types in Tasmania, Australia, the conservation significance of the 111 large- and moderate-size estuaries in the island state were assessed by firstly categorising estuaries into nine groups on the basis of similarities in physical attributes. These attributes were quantified using GIS maps of estuaries and their catchments and field-collected data, with separation of groups primarily reflecting presence of a seaward barrier, tidal range, salinity, estuary size and river runoff. The adequacy of the physical groups as surrogates for biological patterns was assessed by comparison with data on the distribution of 390 macrobenthic invertebrate taxa in 48 Tasmanian estuaries and 101 beach-seined fish species in 75 estuaries. Multivariate analyses indicated that six of the nine estuarine groups based on physical data were useful for categorising biological relationships between estuaries, but that three groups required modification to prove more biologically meaningful. Within each of the estuarine groups, human population, landuse and land tenure data were used to assess the level of anthropogenic disturbance to each estuary, and the estuary with least disturbance in each group assigned highest conservation significance. Recommendations have been made to create a comprehensive system of estuarine protected areas by legislating to protect species within the nine representative estuaries of highest conservation significance, plus an additional estuary with exceptional species richness. Such a system of protected areas should conserve the range of estuarine biodiversity with minimal disruption to existing estuary users.

title: Environmental threats and environmental future of estuaries
abstract: Estuaries exhibit a wide array of human impacts that can compromise their ecological integrity, because of rapid population growth and uncontrolled development in many coastal regions worldwide. Long-term environmental problems plaguing estuaries require remedial actions to improve the viability and health of these valuable coastal systems. Detailed examination of the effects of pollution inputs, the loss and alteration of estuarine habitat, and the role of other anthropogenic stress indicates that water quality in estuaries, particularly urbanized systems, is often compromised by the overloading of nutrients and organic matter, the influx of pathogens, and the accumulation of chemical contaminants. In addition, the destruction of fringing wetlands and the loss and alteration of estuarine habitats usually degrade biotic communities. Estuaries are characterized by high population densities of microbes, plankton, benthic flora and fauna, and nekton; however, these organisms tend to be highly vulnerable to human activities in coastal watersheds and adjoining embayments. Trends suggest that by 2025 estuaries will be most significantly impacted by habitat loss and alteration associated with a burgeoning coastal population, which is expected to approach six billion people. Habitat destruction has far reaching ecological consequences, modifying the structure, function, and controls of estuarine ecosystems and contributing to the decline of biodiversity. Other anticipated high priority problems are excessive nutrient and sewage inputs to estuaries, principally from land-based sources. These inputs will lead to the greater incidence of eutrophication as well as hypoxia and anoxia. During the next 25 years, overfishing is expected to become a more pervasive and significant anthropogenic factor, also capable of mediating global-scale change to estuaries. Chemical contaminants, notably synthetic organic compounds, will remain a serious problem, especially in heavily industrialized areas. Freshwater diversions appear to be an emerging global problem as the expanding coastal population places greater demands on limited freshwater supplies for agricultural, domestic, and industrial needs. Altered freshwater flows could significantly affect nutrient loads, biotic community structure, and the trophodynamics of estuarine systems. Ecological impacts that will be less threatening, but still damaging, are those caused by introduced species, sea level rise, coastal subsidence, and debris/litter. Although all of these disturbances can alter habitats and contribute to shifts in the composition of estuarine biotic communities, the overall effect will be partial changes to these ecosystem components. Several strategies may mitigate future impacts.

title: Challenges and strategies for better use of scientific information in the management of coastal estuaries
abstract: Numerous studies have concluded that better use of scientific information could improve the quality of coastal and estuarine environmental management. Approaches for effecting such a change include ecosystem-based, integrated, and adaptive management, but such basic re-orientation of estuarine and coastal management has proved difficult to achieve. Even environmental indicators, seemingly straightforward ways of injecting scientific information into decision making, have achieved broad on-the-ground use in relatively few instances—principally the largest estuary management programs. A conceptual framework useful for examining environmental management systems affecting the five PNCERS (Pacific Northwest coastal Ecosystems Regional Study) estuaries conceives of environmental managers, researchers, and interested and affected parties in the public as interacting through the multi-layered institutional arrangements that currently promote the utilization, management, or protection of coastal and estuarine resources. Considerable variation exists in the approach and effectiveness of the region's environmental management organizations. Interaction between science and management in the region appears to be limited to an extent by high transaction costs; a cultural divide between environmental scientists and environmental managers is perceived by members of both groups who work with the PNCERS estuaries as inhibiting communications between them. Mechanisms that both groups identify as useful for improving the flow of information between science and management are little used, perhaps as a result. The two groups have very different patterns of information dissemination and acquisition, and though both chose agency archives and databases as their top methods for disseminating information, neither group relies much on these vehicles for information they seek. Both residents' and practitioners' perceptions of threats to the PNCERS estuaries show patterns of estuary-to-estuary variation. One theme that emerges is that problems associated with poor land management in adjacent uplands are common to most of these estuaries, potentially providing a sense of commonality through which a more regional approach to estuary management could emerge. A common set of estuarine environmental indicators implemented for all estuaries could help instigate such a regional approach, but resource constraints, especially at the local level, will have to be overcome for that to occur. There is currently substantial lack of common vision among coastal practitioners as to the purpose and desirability of indicators, and relatively little experience or knowledge of their use, particularly at the local level. Use of estuarine science in the management of these estuaries appears to be greatest during periods in which the largest programmatic shifts in environmental management approaches occur, an observation consistent with other studies that have concluded that the use of environmental science in environmental management tends to be episodic.

title: The Coastal Zone — a Domain of Global Interactions
abstract: In global coastal zones, the major fabric of goods and services for human welfare as well as global changes are extraordinarily visible. They are shaped by natural Earth systems processes on a planetary scale, which are reflected in a continuously adapting coastal environment. Now, in the "Anthropocene", human society is a greater catalyst for change - impacting and modifying coastal processes. This book synthesizes knowledge on coastal and riverine material fluxes, biogeochemical processes and indications of change, and the human influence, before looking at future research and management needs. It is a milestone rather than a destination on the journey which continues under the new International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) and the LOICZ II (Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone) Project.

title: Climate change impacts on U.S. Coastal and Marine Ecosystems
abstract: Increases in concentrations of greenhouse gases projected for the 21st century are expected to lead to increased mean global air and ocean temperatures. The National Assessment of Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change (NAST 2001) was based on a series of regional and sector assessments. This paper is a summary of the coastal and marine resources sector review of potential impacts on shorelines, estuaries, coastal wetlands, coral reefs, and ocean margin ecosystems. The assessment considered the impacts of several key drivers of climate change: sea level change; alterations in precipitation patterns and subsequent delivery of freshwater, nutrients, and sediment; increased ocean temperature; alterations in circulation patterns; changes in frequency and intensity of coastal storms; and increased levels of atmospheric CO2. Increasing rates of sea-level rise and intensity and frequency of coastal storms and hurricanes over the next decades will increase threats to shorelines, wetlands, and coastal development. Estuarine productivity will change in response to alteration in the timing and amount of freshwater, nutrients, and sediment delivery. Higher water temperatures and changes in freshwater delivery will alter estuarine stratification, residence time, and eutrophication. Increased ocean temperatures are expected to increase coral bleaching and higher CO2 levels may reduce coral calcification, making it more difficult for corals to recover from other disturbances, and inhibiting poleward shifts. Ocean warming is expected to cause poleward shifts in the ranges of many other organisms, including commercial species, and these shifts may have secondary effects on their predators and prey. Although these potential impacts of climate change and variability will vary from system to system, it is important to recognize that they will be superimposed upon, and in many cases intensify, other ecosystem stresses (pollution, harvesting, habitat destruction, invasive species, land and resource use, extreme natural events), which may lead to more significant consequences.

title: Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: Potential Losses of Intertidal Habitat for Shorebirds
abstract: Global warming is expected to result in an acceleration in current rates of sea level rise, inundating many low-lying coastal and intertidal areas. This could have important implications for organisms that depend on these sites, including shorebirds that rely on them for feeding habitat during their migrations and in winter. We modeled the potential changes in the extent of intertidal foraging habitat for shorebirds at five sites in the United States that currently support internationally important numbers of migrating and wintering birds. Even assuming a conservative global warming scenario of 2°C within the next century (the most recent projections range between 1.4°C and 5.8°C), we project major intertidal habitat loss at four of the sites (Willapa Bay, Humboldt Bay, San Francisco Bay, and Delaware Bay). Projected losses range between 20% and 70% of current intertidal habitat. Such losses might jeopardize the ability of these sites to continue to support their current shorebird numbers. The most severe losses are likely to occur at sites where the coastline is unable to move inland because of steep topography or seawalls. The effects of sea level rise may be exacerbated by additional anthropogenic factors. In southern San Francisco Bay, for example, sea level rise may interact with land subsidence due to aquifer depletion, and the constraints imposed by existing seawalls on the landward migration of habitat, resulting in the greatest habitat loss. At the fifth site (Bolivar Flats) we project smaller losses as the intertidal habitats are unconstrained by sea walls and will be able to migrate inland in response to rising sea level. Installation of additional coastal protection barriers at this site and others is likely to exacerbate the rate and extent of intertidal habitat loss.

title: Impact of global warming on European tidal estuaries: some evidence of northward migration of estuarine fish species
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine whether the latitudinal distribution of fish species that use estuaries to complete their entire life cycle has shifted northward as an expected consequence of global warming. The mean latitude of past fish species distributions found in 1970s’ literature was compared with the mean latitude of distributions today based on fish density indices collected in 55 tidal estuaries along the Atlantic European seaboard, from Portugal to Scotland. Among the 15 most common species, 11 displayed a positive difference between current and past mean latitudes suggesting a northward shift of the populations. Using the occurrence of subtropical species in temperate areas as an indicator of water warming, the northernmost range limit of 10 subtropical species was subsequently focused on. Six of them were recorded up to their past northern latitudinal limit. These results reinforced the idea that a number of fish species associated to estuaries have migrated northwards over the last 30 years, possibly due to water warming. These ecological changes can get important managerial implications, i.e. in the assessment of the ecological status in European directives.

title: The combined effects of ocean acidification, mixing, and respiration on pH and carbonate saturation in an urbanized estuary
abstract: Puget Sound is a large estuary complex in the U.S. Pacific Northwest that is home to a diverse and economically important ecosystem threatened by anthropogenic impacts associated with climate change, urbanization, and ocean acidification. While ocean acidification has been studied in oceanic waters, little is known regarding its status in estuaries. Anthropogenically acidified coastal waters upwelling along the western North American continental margin can enter Puget Sound through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In order to study the combined effects of ocean acidification and other natural and anthropogenic processes on Puget Sound waters, we made the first inorganic carbon measurements in this estuary on two survey cruises in February and August of 2008. Observed pH and aragonite saturation state values in surface and subsurface waters were substantially lower in parts of Puget Sound than would be expected from anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake alone. We estimate that ocean acidification can account for 24e49% of the pH decrease in the deep waters of the Hood Canal sub-basin of Puget Sound relative to estimated pre-industrial values. The remaining change in pH between when seawater enters the sound and when it reaches this deep basin results from remineralization of organic matter due to natural or anthropogenically stimulated respiration processes within Puget Sound. Over time, however, the relative impact of ocean acidification could increase significantly, accounting for 49e82% of the pH decrease in subsurface waters for a doubling of atmospheric CO2. These changes may have profound impacts on the Puget Sound ecosystem over the next several decades. These estimates suggest that the role ocean acidification will play in estuaries may be different from the open ocean.

title: Geographic signatures of North American West Coast estuaries
abstract: West Coast estuaries are geologically young and composed of a variety of geomorphological types. These estuaries range from large fjords to shallow lagoons; from large to low freshwater flows. Natural hazards include E1 Niños, strong Pacific storms, and active tectonic activity. West Coast estuaries support a wide range of living resources: five salmon species, harvestable shellfish, waterfowl and marine birds, marine mammals, and a variety of algae and plants. Although populations of many of these living resources have declined (salmonids), others have increased (marine mammals). West Coast estuaries are also centers of commerce and increasingly large shipping traffic. The West Coast human population is rising faster than most other areas of the U.S. and Canada, and is distributed heavily in southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, around Puget Sound, and the Fraser River estuary. While water pollution is a problem in many of the urbanized estuaries, most estuaries do not suffer from poor water quality. Primary estuarine problems include habitat alterations, degradation, and loss; diverted freshwater flows; marine sediment contamination; and exotic species introductions. The growing West Coast economy and population are in part related to the quality of life, which is dependent on the use and enjoyment of abundant coastal natural resources.

title: Commercial fisheries closures in marine protected areas on Canada's Pacific coast: The exception, not the rule
abstract: No-take marine protected areas (MPAs), where all fishing is prohibited, have been shown to provide benefits that include greater productivity of fish stocks due to increased densities, average sizes, and reproductive output. A critical component of this success is the effective management of MPAs to ensure that only those activities deemed permissible, are allowed to occur. As of 2008, 161 MPAs had been designated on the Pacific coast of Canada by federal, provincial or municipal authorities. The objective of this study was to discover how many of these MPAs are intended to provide full protection to habitats and species from commercial fishing and whether management measures were put in place to actualize this conservation intent. The comprehensive spatial dataset was built illustrating commercial fisheries closures and this was overlaid with MPA locations in a GIS. The majority of MPAs were designated as IUCN Strict Nature Reserve (Type Ia), Wilderness Area (Type Ib), and National Park (Type II) marine reserves, which are intended to be free from exploitation. It was found that 160 of the 161 MPAs are open to some commercial harvesting within their bounds. One small municipal MPA and portions of three other MPAs are not open to commercial harvesting. The incongruence between management intent and fisheries permitted suggests a management failure between designation of MPAs and implementation of fisheries management regulations. Recommendations include better coordination between the management of fisheries and the management of protected areas in Canada's Pacific Waters. This analysis and these recommendations are timely as Canada has made an international commitment as a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity to build a network of MPAs by 2012, in which at least 10% of each ecological region will be effectively conserved.

title: Essential ecological insights for marine ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning
abstract: The abrupt decline in the sea's capacity to provide crucial ecosystem services requires a new ecosystem-based approach for maintaining and recovering biodiversity and integrity. Ecosystems are places, so marine spatial planners and managers must understand the heterogeneity of biological communities and their key components (especially apex predators and structure-forming species), and of key processes (e.g., population connectivity, interaction webs, biogeochemistry) that maintain them, as well as heterogeneity of human uses. Maintaining resistance and resilience to stressors is crucial. Because marine populations and ecosystems exhibit complex system behaviors, managers cannot safely assume they will recover when stressors are reduced, so prevention is a far more robust management strategy than seeking a cure for degraded systems.

title: Depletion, Degradation, and Recovery Potential of Estuaries and Coastal Seas
abstract: Estuarine and coastal transformation is as old as civilization yet has dramatically accelerated over the past 150 to 300 years. Reconstructed time lines, causes, and consequences of change in 12 once diverse and productive estuaries and coastal seas worldwide show similar patterns: Human impacts have depleted >90% of formerly important species, destroyed >65% of seagrass and wetland habitat, degraded water quality, and accelerated species invasions. Twentieth-century conservation efforts achieved partial recovery of upper trophic levels but have so far failed to restore former ecosystem structure and function. Our results provide detailed historical baselines and quantitative targets for ecosystem-based management and marine conservation.

title: A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems
abstract: The management and conservation of the world's oceans require synthesis of spatial data on the distribution and intensity of human activities and the overlap of their impacts on marine ecosystems. We developed an ecosystem-specific, multiscale spatial model to synthesize 17 global data sets of anthropogenic drivers of ecological change for 20 marine ecosystems. Our analysis indicates that no area is unaffected by human influence and that a large fraction (41%) is strongly affected by multiple drivers. However, large areas of relatively little human impact remain, particularly near the poles. The analytical process and resulting maps provide flexible tools for regional and global efforts to allocate conservation resources; to implement ecosystem-based management; and to inform marine spatial planning, education, and basic research.

title: The importance of marine spatial planning in advancing ecosystem-based sea use management
abstract: During the past 10 years, the evolution of marine spatial planning (MSP) and ocean zoning has become a crucial step in making ecosystem-based, sea use management a reality. The idea was initially stimulated by international and national interest in developing marine protected areas, e.g., the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. More recent attention has been placed on managing the multiple use of marine space, especially in areas where conflicts among users and the environment are already clear, e.g., in the North Sea. Even more recent concern has focused on the need to conserve nature, especially ecologically and biologically sensitive areas, in the context of multi-use planning of ocean space. Despite academic discussions and the fact that some countries already have started implementation, the scope of MSP has not been clearly defined. Terms such as integrated management, marine spatial management, and ocean zoning are all used inconsistently. This is one of the reasons why its importance is not more seriously reflected at the levels of policy and decision-making in most countries. This article attempts to deal with this problem. It describes why MSP is an essential step to achieve ecosystem-based sea use management, how it can be defined and what its core objectives are. The article concludes with an analysis of the use and achievements of MSP worldwide, with particular focus on new approaches in Europe.

title: Cumulative impact mapping: Advances, relevance and limitations to marine management and conservation, using Canada's Pacific waters as a case study
abstract: Analysis of cumulative human impacts in the marine environment is still in its infancy but developing rapidly. In this study, existing approaches were expanded upon, aiming for a realistic consideration of cumulative impacts at a regional scale. Thirty-eight human activities were considered, with each broken down according to stressor types and a range of spatial influences. To add to the policy relevance, existing stressors within and outside of conservation areas were compared. Results indicate the entire continental shelf of Canada's Pacific marine waters is affected by multiple human activities at some level. Commercial fishing, land-based activities and marine transportation accounted for 57.0%, 19.1%, and 17.7% of total cumulative impacts, respectively. Surprisingly, most areas with conservation designations contained higher impact scores than the mean values of their corresponding ecoregions. Despite recent advances in mapping cumulative impacts, many limitations remain. Nonetheless, preliminary analyses such as these can provide information relevant to precautionary management and conservation efforts.

title: An ecosystem‐based approach to managing estuaries: An assessment of the National Estuary program
abstract: Traditional coastal resource management programs tend to be fragmented and focused on a limited subset of problems. Many scholars, government practitioners, and academics have argued that an ecosystem‐based approach is more appropriate. A promising ecosystem‐based approach to managing estuaries in the United States is the National Estuary Program (NEP). The goal of this article is to examine the extent to which the NEP's management conference process represents an ecosystem‐based approach to managing estuarine systems. The article begins with a discussion of the challenges associated with utilizing an ecosystem‐based approach to environmental management. The strategy, structure, and process of the NEP are then examined using evaluative criteria drawn from a previous study of historical attempts to manage coastal areas in the United States. Based on the results of this assessment, some of the strengths and weaknesses of the NEP's management conference process are identified. The article concludes with a di...

title: ClimateWNA—High-Resolution Spatial Climate Data for Western North America
abstract: This study addresses the need to provide comprehensive historical climate data and climate change projections at a scale suitable for, and readily accessible to, researchers and resource managers. This database for western North America (WNA) includes over 20 000 surfaces of monthly, seasonal, and annual climate variables from1901to2009;severalclimatenormalperiods; andmultimodelclimateprojectionsforthe2020s, 2050s, and 2080s. A software package, ClimateWNA, allows users to access the database and query point locations, obtain time series, or generate custom climate surfaces at any resolution. The software uses partial derivative functions of temperature change along elevation gradients to improve medium-resolution baseline climate estimates and calculates biologically relevant climate variables such as growing degree-days, number of frost-free days, extreme temperatures, and dryness indices. Historical and projected future climates are obtained by using monthly temperature and precipitation anomalies to adjust the interpolated baseline data for the location of interest. All algorithms used in the software package are described and evaluated against observations from weather stations across WNA. The downscaling algorithms substantially improve the accuracy of temperature variables over the medium-resolution baseline climate surfaces. Climate variables that are usually calculated from daily data are estimated from monthly climate variables with high statistical accuracy.

title: Setting the stage for marine spatial planning: Ecological and social data collation and analyses in Canada's Pacific waters
abstract: Canada's Pacific coast is one region where there is a renewed commitment to pursue marine spatial planning (MSP). The British Columbia Marine Conservation Analysis (BCMCA) project aimed to set the stage for MSP, and was designed to provide resource managers, scientists, decision-makers, and stakeholders with a new set of resources to inform coast-wide integrated marine planning and management initiatives. Geographic Information Systems and the decision support tool Marxan were used to develop two main products: (1) an atlas of known marine ecological values and human uses; and (2) analyses of areas of conservation value and human use value. 110 biophysical datasets and 78 human use datasets were collated and refined where applicable, as identified through five ecological expert workshops, one expert review of physical marine classification and representation, and guidance from the human use data working group. Ecological data richness maps and Marxan results show the importance of nearshore and continental shelf regions. Data richness maps for the six categories of human uses show that all, except shipping and transport, are also closely linked to the shoreline and continental shelf. An example ecological Marxan solution identifying areas of conservation value overlapped human use sector footprints by percentages ranging from 92% (i.e., 92% of planning units selected by Marxan also contain commercial fisheries) to 3%. The experience of the BCMCA project has the potential to provide valuable guidance to regions seeking to jump-start planning processes by collating spatial information and carrying out exploratory analyses.

title: THE APPLICATION OF CLUSTER ANALYSIS IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT RESEARCH: AN ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
abstract: Cluster analysis is a statistical technique that sorts observations into similar sets or groups. The use of cluster analysis presents a complex challenge because it requires several methodological choices that determine the quality of a cluster solution. This paper chronicles the application of cluster analysis in strategic management research, where the technique has been used since the late 1970s to investigate issues of central importance. Analysis of 45 published strategy studies reveals that the implementation of cluster analysis has been often less than ideal, perhaps detracting from the ability of studies to generate knowledge. Given these findings, suggestions are offered for improving the application of cluster analysis in future inquiry.

title: High and Far: Biases in the Location of Protected Areas
abstract: About an eighth of the earth's land surface is in protected areas (hereafter “PAs”), most created during the 20th century. Natural landscapes are critical for species persistence and PAs can play a major role in conservation and in climate policy. Such contributions may be harder than expected to implement if new PAs are constrained to the same kinds of locations that PAs currently occupy.  Quantitatively extending the perception that PAs occupy “rock and ice”, we show that across 147 nations PA networks are biased towards places that are unlikely to face land conversion pressures even in the absence of protection. We test each country's PA network for bias in elevation, slope, distances to roads and cities, and suitability for agriculture. Further, within each country's set of PAs, we also ask if the level of protection is biased in these ways. We find that the significant majority of national PA networks are biased to higher elevations, steeper slopes and greater distances to roads and cities. Also, within a country, PAs with higher protection status are more biased than are the PAs with lower protection statuses.  In sum, PAs are biased towards where they can least prevent land conversion (even if they offer perfect protection). These globally comprehensive results extend findings from nation-level analyses. They imply that siting rules such as the Convention on Biological Diversity's 2010 Target [to protect 10% of all ecoregions] might raise PA impacts if applied at the country level. In light of the potential for global carbon-based payments for avoided deforestation or REDD, these results suggest that attention to threat could improve outcomes from the creation and management of PAs.

title: Assessing gaps in marine conservation in California
abstract: Implementation of marine conservation strategies lags far behind terrestrial conservation efforts. Quantifying what is protected and what is not, or “gap analysis”, helps to show just how much work there is to do; systematic conservation planning provides guidance on how to best fill those gaps. We conducted the first marine gap analysis for California by comparing distributions of major ecosystems and habitats with existing marine protected areas. Less than 0.3% of state and federal waters (to the bottom of the continental slope) are within no-take or limited-take marine protected areas (MPAs). With few exceptions, less than 5% of marine habitats are within no-take or limited-take MPAs that afford a high level of ecosystem protection. Efforts to create new MPAs to include representative habitats will help to fill some gaps, but additional conservation strategies, such as ocean zoning and ecosystem-based management of fisheries, are needed to balance protection and sustainable use of marine biodiversity.

title: Global variation in terrestrial conservation costs, conservation benefits, and unmet conservation needs
abstract: Our ability to identify cost-efficient priorities for conserving biological diversity is limited by the scarcity of data on conservation costs, particularly at fine scales. Here we address this issue using data for 139 terrestrial programs worldwide. We find that the annual costs of effective field-based conservation vary enormously, across seven orders of magnitude, from <$0.1 to >$1,000,000 per km2. This variation can be closely predicted from positive associations between costs per unit area and an array of indices of local development. Corresponding measures of conservation benefit are limited but show opposing global trends, being higher in less developed parts of the world. The benefit-to-cost ratio of conservation is thus far greater in less developed regions, yet these are where the shortfall in current conservation spending is most marked. Substantially increased investment in tropical conservation is therefore urgently required if opportunities for cost-effective action are not to be missed.

title: The integration of land and marine spatial planning
abstract: Whilst spatial planning has evolved as a tool to manage the development and use of the terrestrial environment over decades, the development of spatial planning systems for the marine environment are in their infancy. This paper focuses on the integration of land and marine based spatial planning systems. This is informed by a brief overview of the regional development of the lands and seas of Europe which underlie spatial planning systems and by a discussion of respective spatial planning systems in terms of economic sectors, land use, and sea use. The integration of spatial planning systems is then considered, followed by evaluation of relationships between spatial planning, and the wider field of environmental management. This includes consideration of organisational and geographical scales, technical management including legal aspects, policy, strategic planning and time scales of decision-making. The paper identifies the significant factors which must be considered in the integration of marine and terrestrial planning systems over the coming decades.

title: Global Biodiversity Conservation Priorities
abstract: The location of and threats to biodiversity are distributed unevenly, so prioritization is essential to minimize biodiversity loss. To address this need, biodiversity conservation organizations have proposed nine templates of global priorities over the past decade. Here, we review the concepts, methods, results, impacts, and challenges of these prioritizations of conservation practice within the theoretical irreplaceability/vulnerability framework of systematic conservation planning. Most of the templates prioritize highly irreplaceable regions; some are reactive (prioritizing high vulnerability), and others are proactive (prioritizing low vulnerability). We hope this synthesis improves understanding of these prioritization approaches and that it results in more efficient allocation of geographically flexible conservation funding.

title: Vegetation's importance in regulating surface elevation in a coastal salt marsh facing elevated rates of sea level rise
abstract: Rising sea levels threaten the sustainability of coastal wetlands around the globe, thus understanding how increased inundation alters the elevation change mechanisms in these systems is increasingly important. Typically, the ability of coastal marshes to maintain their position in the intertidal zone depends on the accumulation of both organic and inorganic materials, so one, if not both, of these processes must increase to keep pace with rising seas, assuming all else constant. To determine the importance of vegetation in these processes, we measured elevation change and surface accretion over a 4-year period in recently subsided, unvegetated marshes, resulting from drought-induced marsh dieback, in paired planted and unplanted plots. We compared soil and vegetation responses in these plots with paired reference plots that had neither experienced dieback nor subsidence. All treatments (unvegetated, planted, and reference) were replicated six times. The recently subsided areas were 6–10 cm lower in elevation than the reference marshes at the beginning of the study; thus, mean water levels were 6–10 cm higher in these areas vs. the reference sites. Surface accretion rates were lowest in the unplanted plots at 2.3 mm yr−1, but increased in the presence of vegetation to 16.4 mm yr−1 in the reference marsh and 26.1 mm yr−1 in the planted plots. The rates of elevation change were also bolstered by the presence of vegetation. The unplanted areas decreased in elevation by 9.4 mm yr−1; whereas the planted areas increased in elevation by 13.3 mm yr−1, and the reference marshes increased by 3.5 mm yr−1. These results highlight the importance of vegetation in the accretionary processes that maintain marsh surface elevation within the intertidal zone, and provide evidence that coastal wetlands may be able to keep pace with a rising sea in certain situations.

title: Progress and Challenges in Valuing Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Services
abstract: Coastal and marine ecosystems (CMEs) generate some of the most important services to humankind, but they are endangered from overexploitation and loss. The widespread decline in CME services suggests that it is important to understand what is at stake in terms of the critical benefits and values of these services. This article examines how environmental and resource economics has contributed to our knowledge of CME services and discusses progress as well as challenges in valuing these services. The article highlights case studies in which the economic valuation of key CME services has influenced policy decisions concerning the management of CMEs. Two key features of CME benefits are also examined. First, the natural spatial variability in these systems can influence the economic value of CME services. Second, because they occur at the interface between watersheds, the coast, and open water, CMEs can produce cumulative and synergistic benefits across the entire seascape that are much more significant and unique than the services provided by any single ecosystem.

title: Striking a balance between biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic viability in the design of marine protected areas.
abstract: The establishment of marine protected areas is often viewed as a conflict between conservation and fishing. We considered consumptive and nonconsumptive interests of multiple stakeholders (i.e., fishers, scuba divers, conservationists, managers, scientists) in the systematic design of a network of marine protected areas along California's central coast in the context of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative. With advice from managers, administrators, and scientists, a representative group of stakeholders defined biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic goals that accommodated social needs and conserved marine ecosystems, consistent with legal requirements. To satisfy biodiversity goals, we targeted 11 marine habitats across 5 depth zones, areas of high species diversity, and areas containing species of special status. We minimized adverse socioeconomic impacts by minimizing negative effects on fishers. We included fine-scale fishing data from the recreational and commercial fishing sectors across 24 fisheries. Protected areas designed with consideration of commercial and recreational fisheries reduced potential impact to the fisheries approximately 21% more than protected areas designed without consideration of fishing effort and resulted in a small increase in the total area protected (approximately 3.4%). We incorporated confidential fishing data without revealing the identity of specific fisheries or individual fishing grounds. We sited a portion of the protected areas near land parks, marine laboratories, and scientific monitoring sites to address nonconsumptive socioeconomic goals. Our results show that a stakeholder-driven design process can use systematic conservation-planning methods to successfully produce options for network design that satisfy multiple conservation and socioeconomic objectives. Marine protected areas that incorporate multiple stakeholder interests without compromising biodiversity conservation goals are more likely to protect marine ecosystems.

title: Using expert judgment to estimate marine ecosystem vulnerability in the California Current.
abstract: As resource management and conservation efforts move toward multi-sector, ecosystem-based approaches, we need methods for comparing the varying responses of ecosystems to the impacts of human activities in order to prioritize management efforts, allocate limited resources, and understand cumulative effects. Given the number and variety of human activities affecting ecosystems, relatively few empirical studies are adequately comprehensive to inform these decisions. Consequently, management often turns to expert judgment for information. Drawing on methods from decision science, we offer a method for eliciting expert judgment to (1) quantitatively estimate the relative vulnerability of ecosystems to stressors, (2) help prioritize the management of stressors across multiple ecosystems, (3) evaluate how experts give weight to different criteria to characterize vulnerability of ecosystems to anthropogenic stressors, and (4) identify key knowledge gaps. We applied this method to the California Current region in order to evaluate the relative vulnerability of 19 marine ecosystems to 53 stressors associated with human activities, based on surveys from 107 experts. When judging the relative vulnerability of ecosystems to stressors, we found that experts primarily considered two criteria: the ecosystem's resistance to the stressor and the number of species or trophic levels affected. Four intertidal ecosystems (mudflat, beach, salt marsh, and rocky intertidal) were judged most vulnerable to the suite of human activities evaluated here. The highest vulnerability rankings for coastal ecosystems were invasive species, ocean acidification, sea temperature change, sea level rise, and habitat alteration from coastal engineering, while offshore ecosystems were assessed to be most vulnerable to ocean acidification, demersal destructive fishing, and shipwrecks. These results provide a quantitative, transparent, and repeatable assessment of relative vulnerability across ecosystems to any ongoing or emerging human activity. Combining these results with data on the spatial distribution and intensity of human activities provides a systematic foundation for ecosystem-based management.

title: Protecting ecosystem services and biodiversity in the world's watersheds
abstract: Despite unprecedented worldwide biodiversity loss, conservation is not at the forefront of national or international development programs. The concept of ecosystem services was intended to help conservationists demonstrate the benefits of ecosystems for human well-being, but services are not yet seen to truly address human need with current approaches focusing mostly on financial gain. To promote development strategies that integrate conservation and service protection, we developed the first prioritization scheme for protecting ecosystem services in the world’s watersheds and compared our results with global conservation schemes. We found that by explicitly incorporating human need into prioritization strategies, service-protection priorities were squarely focused on the world’s poorest, most densely populated regions. We identified watersheds in Southeast Asia and East Africa as the most crucial priorities for service protection and biodiversity conservation, including Irrawaddy—recently devastated by cyclone Nargis. Emphasizing human need is a substantial improvement over dollar-based, ecosystem-service valuations that undervalue the requirements of the world’s poor, and our approach offers great hope for reconciling conservation and human development goals.