• Energy Research

7 pages, 1 figure Twenty leading scientists in the field of marine conservation planning attended the first international workshop on conservation planning in the Mediterranean Sea. This globally significant biodiversity hotspot has been subjected to human exploitation and degradation for 1,000s of years. Recently, several initiatives have tried to identify priority areas for conservation across the Mediterranean Sea. However, none of these efforts have led to large-scale actions yet. The aim of the workshop was to establish a network of scientists who are involved in large-scale conservation planning initiatives throughout the Mediterranean basin to promote collaboration and reduce redundancy in conservation initiatives. The three focus groups of the workshop build on existing efforts and intend to deliver: (1) a roadmap for setting conservation priorities, (2) a methodological framework for linking threats, actions and costs to improve the prioritization process, and (3) a systematic conservation planning process tailored to complex environments such as the Mediterranean Sea. Joining forces and involving more scientists (especially from the South-eastern part of the region) in following meetings, the participants endeavour to provide guidelines on how to bridge the science-policy gap and hence aid decision-makers to take efficient conservation actions Sylvaine Giakoumi was supported by the project ‘‘NETMED’’ co-financed by the European Union and the Greek State Peer reviewed

AbstractAimBiological invasions are major contributors to global change and native biodiversity decline. However, they are overlooked in marine conservation plans. Here, we examine for the first time the extent to which marine conservation planning research has addressed (or ignored) biological invasions. Furthermore, we explore the change of spatial priorities in conservation plans when different approaches are used to incorporate the presence and impacts of invasive species.LocationGlobal analysis with a focus on the Mediterranean Sea region.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature review consisting of three steps: (1) article selection using a search engine, (2) abstract screening and (3) review of pertinent articles, which were identified in the second step. The information extracted included the scale and geographical location of each case study as well as the approach followed regarding invasive species. We also applied the softwareMarxanto produce and compare conservation plans for the Mediterranean Sea that either protect, or avoid areas impacted by invasives, or ignore the issue. One case study focused on the protection of critical habitats, and the other on endemic fish species.ResultsWe found that of 119 papers on marine spatial plans in specific biogeographic regions, only three (2.5%) explicitly took into account invasive species. When comparing the different conservation plans for each case study, we found that the majority of selected sites for protection (ca. 80%) changed in the critical habitat case study, while this proportion was lower but substantial (27%) in the endemic fish species case study.Main conclusionsBiological invasions are being widely disregarded when planning for conservation in the marine environment across local to global scales. More explicit consideration of biological invasions can significantly alter spatial conservation priorities. Future conservation plans should explicitly account for biological invasions to optimize the selection of marine protected areas.

Summary Impacts of bottom fishing, particularly trawling and dredging, on seabed (benthic) habitats are commonly perceived to pose serious environmental risks. Quantitative ecological risk assessment can be used to evaluate actual risks and to help guide the choice of management measures needed to meet sustainability objectives. We develop and apply a quantitative method for assessing the risks to benthic habitats by towed bottom‐fishing gears. The method is based on a simple equation for relative benthic status (RBS), derived by solving the logistic population growth equation for the equilibrium state. Estimating RBS requires only maps of fishing intensity and habitat type – and parameters for impact and recovery rates, which may be taken from meta‐analyses of multiple experimental studies of towed‐gear impacts. The aggregate status of habitats in an assessed region is indicated by the distribution of RBS values for the region. The application of RBS is illustrated for a tropical shrimp‐trawl fishery. The status of trawled habitats and their RBS value depend on impact rate (depletion per trawl), recovery rate and exposure to trawling. In the shrimp‐trawl fishery region, gravel habitat was most sensitive, and though less exposed than sand or muddy‐sand, was most affected overall (regional RBS = 91% relative to un‐trawled RBS = 100%). Muddy‐sand was less sensitive, and though relatively most exposed, was less affected overall (RBS = 95%). Sand was most heavily trawled but least sensitive and least affected overall (RBS = 98%). Region‐wide, >94% of habitat area had >80% RBS because most trawling and impacts were confined to small areas. RBS was also applied to the region's benthic invertebrate communities with similar results. Conclusions. Unlike qualitative or categorical trait‐based risk assessments, the RBS method provides a quantitative estimate of status relative to an unimpacted baseline, with minimal requirements for input data. It could be applied to bottom‐contact fisheries world‐wide, including situations where detailed data on characteristics of seabed habitats, or the abundance of seabed fauna are not available. The approach supports assessment against sustainability criteria and evaluation of alternative management strategies (e.g. closed areas, effort management, gear modifications).

Levin, Noam ... et. al.-- 21 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, supplementary material https://doi.org//10.3354/meps10857 The Mediterranean Sea’s biodiversity and ecosystems face many threats due to anthropogenic pressures. Some of these include human population growth, coastal urbanization, accelerated human activities, and climate change. To enhance the formation of a science-based system of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean Sea, data on the spatial distribution of ecological features (abiotic variables, species, communities, habitats, and ecosystems) is required to inform conservation scientists and planners. However, the spatial data required is often lacking. In this review, we aimed to address the status of our knowledge for 3 major types of spatial information: bathymetry, classification of marine habitats, and species distributions. To exemplify the data gaps and approaches to bridge them, we examined case studies that systematically prioritize conservation in the Mediterranean Sea. We found that at present the data required for conservation planning is generally more readily available and of better quality for the European countries located in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Additionally, the Mediterranean Sea is lagging behind other marine regions where rigorous criteria for conservation planning has been applied in the past 20 yr. Therefore, we call upon scientists, governments, and international governmental and non-governmental organizations to harmonize current approaches in marine mapping and to develop a framework that is applicable throughout the Mediterranean region. Such coordination between stakeholders is urgently needed before more countries undertake further extensive habitat mapping, so that future conservation planning can use integrated spatial datasets M.C. was funded by the Marie Curie Career EU Integration Grant Fellowships to the BIOWEB project and by the Spanish National Program Ramon y Cajal. S.F. was supported by the project CoCoNET funded by the EU. S.G. was supported by the project NETMED co-funded by the European Social Fund and the Greek State. G.R. was funded by the Marie Curie Career EU Reintegration Grant and the EU 7th Framework Programme for the project Vectors of Change in Oceans and Seas Marine Life, Impact on Economic Sectors (VECTORS). J.J.H thanks MASTS for funding Peer reviewed

AbstractBottom trawl fishing is a controversial activity. It yields about a quarter of the world's wild seafood, but also has impacts on the marine environment. Recent advances have quantified and improved understanding of large‐scale impacts of trawling on the seabed. However, such information needs to be coupled with distributions of benthic invertebrates (benthos) to assess whether these populations are being sustained under current trawling regimes. This study collated data from 13 diverse regions of the globe spanning four continents. Within each region, we combined trawl intensity distributions and predicted abundance distributions of benthos groups with impact and recovery parameters for taxonomic classes in a risk assessment model to estimate benthos status. The exposure of 220 predicted benthos‐group distributions to trawling intensity (as swept area ratio) ranged between 0% and 210% (mean = 37%) of abundance. However, benthos status, an indicator of the depleted abundance under chronic trawling pressure as a proportion of untrawled state, ranged between 0.86 and 1 (mean = 0.99), with 78% of benthos groups > 0.95. Mean benthos status was lowest in regions of Europe and Africa, and for taxonomic classes Bivalvia and Gastropoda. Our results demonstrate that while spatial overlap studies can help infer general patterns of potential risk, actual risks cannot be evaluated without using an assessment model that incorporates trawl impact and recovery metrics. These quantitative outputs are essential for sustainability assessments, and together with reference points and thresholds, can help managers ensure use of the marine environment is sustainable under the ecosystem approach to management.