Mapping marine benthic biological traits to facilitate future sustainable development.

Autor: Bolam SG; The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Suffolk, UK., Cooper K; The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Suffolk, UK., Downie AL; The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Suffolk, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America [Ecol Appl] 2023 Oct; Vol. 33 (7), pp. e2905. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jul 17.
DOI: 10.1002/eap.2905
Abstrakt: Escalating societal demands placed on the seabed mean there has never been such a pressing need to align our understanding of the relationship between the physical impact of anthropogenic activities (e.g., installation of wind turbines, demersal fishing) and the structure and function of the seabed assemblages. However, spatial differences in benthic assemblages based on empirical data are currently not adequately incorporated into decision-making processes regarding future licensable activities or wider marine spatial planning frameworks. This study demonstrates that, through harnessing a Big Data approach, large-scale, continuous coverage maps revealing differences in biological traits expressions of benthic assemblages can be produced. We present independent maps based on a suite of response traits (depicting differences in responses to natural or anthropogenically induced change) and effects traits (reflecting different functional potential), although maps derived using single traits or combinations of a range of traits are possible. Models predicting variations in response traits expression provide greater confidence than those predicting effects traits. We discuss how such maps may be used to assist in the decision-making process for the licensing of anthropogenic activities and as part of marine spatial planning approaches. The confidence in such maps to reflect spatial variations in marine benthic trait expression may, in the future, inherently be improved through (1) the inclusion of more empirical macrofaunal assemblage field data; (2) an improved knowledge of marine benthic taxa trait expression; and (3) a greater understanding of the traits responsible for determining a taxon's response to an anthropogenic pressure and a taxon's functional potential.
(© 2023 Crown copyright. Ecological Applications published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America. This article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the King's Printer for Scotland.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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