1. Combined effects of human pressures on Europe’s marine ecosystems
- Author
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Leena Laamanen, Monika Peterlin, Ulf Stein, Katja Klancnik, Juuso Haapaniemi, Emilie Kallenbach, Lena Bergström, E. Therese Harvey, Johnny Reker, Marco Nurmi, Leonardo Tunesi, David Vaughan, Samuli Korpinen, Jesper H. Andersen, and Ciarán Murray
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,climate changes ,Good Environmental Status ,environmental effects ,vaikutukset ,Geography, Planning and Development ,coastal waters ,meriensuojelu ,01 natural sciences ,Marine Strategy Framework Directive ,toiminta ,Human use ,merenkulkijat ,marine management ,meriekologia ,mariners ,biodiversity ,evaluation ,Ecology ,development (active) ,Environmental resource management ,kehittäminen ,General Medicine ,Europe ,Europe's seas ,cumulative effect assessments ,ympäristövaikutukset ,marine assessment ,ihminen ,meret ,Environmental Monitoring ,Conservation of Natural Resources ,conservation of the seas ,Oceans and Seas ,rannikkoalueet ,seas ,ranta-alueet ,coastal areas ,010603 evolutionary biology ,effects (results) ,rannikot ,Humans ,Environmental Chemistry ,Marine ecosystem ,14. Life underwater ,Ecosystem ,merialueet ,business.industry ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Marine habitats ,sea areas ,15. Life on land ,ilmastonmuutokset ,ecosystems (ecology) ,biodiversiteetti ,ekosysteemit (ekologia) ,Marine management ,Disturbance (ecology) ,human activities ,13. Climate action ,merentutkimus ,käsittely ,coasts ,Environmental science ,anthropogenic pressures ,rannikkovedet ,business ,arviointi - Abstract
Marine ecosystems are under high demand for human use, giving concerns about how pressures from human activities may affect their structure, function, and status. In Europe, recent developments in mapping of marine habitats and human activities now enable a coherent spatial evaluation of potential combined effects of human activities. Results indicate that combined effects from multiple human pressures are spread to 96% of the European marine area, and more specifically that combined effects from physical disturbance are spread to 86% of the coastal area and 46% of the shelf area. We compare our approach with corresponding assessments at other spatial scales and validate our results with European-scale status assessments for coastal waters. Uncertainties and development points are identified. Still, the results suggest that Europe’s seas are widely disturbed, indicating potential discrepancy between ambitions for Blue Growth and the objective of achieving good environmental status within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.
- Published
- 2021