Developing expert scientific consensus on the environmental and societal effects of marine artificial structures prior to decommissioning.

Autor: Knights AM; University of Plymouth, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK. Electronic address: aknights@plymouth.ac.uk., Lemasson AJ; University of Plymouth, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK., Firth LB; University of Plymouth, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK., Bond T; The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia., Claisse J; Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA, 91768, USA; Vantuna Research Group, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA, 90041, USA., Coolen JWP; Wageningen Marine Research, Ankerpark 27, 1781 AG, Den Helder, Netherlands., Copping A; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Seattle, USA., Dannheim J; Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany., De Dominicis M; National Oceanography Centre, Joseph Proudman Building, 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L3 5DA, UK., Degraer S; Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directory Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium., Elliott M; School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, HU6 7RX, UK; International Estuarine & Coastal Specialists (IECS) Ltd., Leven, HU17 5LQ, UK., Fernandes PG; Heriot-Watt University, The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South, Edinburgh, EH14 4AP, UK., Fowler AM; New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, NSW, 2088, Australia., Frost M; Plymouth Marine Laboratory, The Hoe Plymouth, Prospect Place, Devon, PL13DH, UK., Henry LA; School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings Campus, James Hutton Road, EH9 3FE, Edinburgh, UK., Hicks N; School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, UK., Hyder K; Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Lowestoft, UK; School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK., Jagerroos S; King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia., Jones DOB; National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK., Love M; Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, USA., Lynam CP; Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Lowestoft, UK., Macreadie PI; Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Burwood, Australia., Marlow J; Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Oban, UK., Mavraki N; Wageningen Marine Research, Ankerpark 27, 1781 AG, Den Helder, Netherlands., McLean D; The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia; Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Perth, Australia., Montagna PA; Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA., Paterson DM; School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 8LB, UK., Perrow M; Department of Geography, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK., Porter J; International Centre Island Technology, Heriot-Watt University, Orkney Campus, Stromness, Orkney, UK., Russell DJF; Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, KY16 8LB, UK., Bull AS; Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, USA., Schratzberger M; Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Lowestoft, UK., Shipley B; Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Coastal Fisheries - Artificial Reef Program, USA., van Elden S; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia., Vanaverbeke J; Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directory Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium., Want A; Energy and Environment Institute, University of Hull, HU6 7RX, UK., Watson SCL; Plymouth Marine Laboratory, The Hoe Plymouth, Prospect Place, Devon, PL13DH, UK., Wilding TA; Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Oban, UK., Somerfield P; Plymouth Marine Laboratory, The Hoe Plymouth, Prospect Place, Devon, PL13DH, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of environmental management [J Environ Manage] 2024 Feb 14; Vol. 352, pp. 119897. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jan 06.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119897
Abstrakt: Thousands of artificial ('human-made') structures are present in the marine environment, many at or approaching end-of-life and requiring urgent decisions regarding their decommissioning. No consensus has been reached on which decommissioning option(s) result in optimal environmental and societal outcomes, in part, owing to a paucity of evidence from real-world decommissioning case studies. To address this significant challenge, we asked a worldwide panel of scientists to provide their expert opinion. They were asked to identify and characterise the ecosystem effects of artificial structures in the sea, their causes and consequences, and to identify which, if any, should be retained following decommissioning. Experts considered that most of the pressures driving ecological and societal effects from marine artificial structures (MAS) were of medium severity, occur frequently, and are dependent on spatial scale with local-scale effects of greater magnitude than regional effects. The duration of many effects following decommissioning were considered to be relatively short, in the order of days. Overall, environmental effects of structures were considered marginally undesirable, while societal effects marginally desirable. Experts therefore indicated that any decision to leave MAS in place at end-of-life to be more beneficial to society than the natural environment. However, some individual environmental effects were considered desirable and worthy of retention, especially in certain geographic locations, where structures can support improved trophic linkages, increases in tourism, habitat provision, and population size, and provide stability in population dynamics. The expert analysis consensus that the effects of MAS are both negative and positive for the environment and society, gives no strong support for policy change whether removal or retention is favoured until further empirical evidence is available to justify change to the status quo. The combination of desirable and undesirable effects associated with MAS present a significant challenge for policy- and decision-makers in their justification to implement decommissioning options. Decisions may need to be decided on a case-by-case basis accounting for the trade-off in costs and benefits at a local level.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Antony Knights reports financial support was provided by Natural Environment Research Council. Anaelle Lemasson reports financial support was provided by Natural Environment Research Council. Paul Somerfield reports financial support was provided by Natural Environment Research Council.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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