A methodology for the assessment of local-scale changes in marine environmental benefits and its application

Local-scale planning decisions are required by the existing Environmental Impact Assessment process to take account of the implications of a development on a range of environmental and social factors, and could therefore be supported by an ecosystem services approach. However, empirical assessments at a local scale within the marine environment have focused on only a single or limited set of services. This paper tests the applicability of the ecosystem services approach to environmental impact appraisal by considering how the identification and quantification of a comprehensive suite of benefits provided at a local scale might proceed in practice. A methodology for conducting an Environmental Benefits Assessment (EBA) is proposed, the underlying framework for which follows the recent literature by placing the emphasis on ecosystem benefits, as opposed to services. The EBA methodology also proposes metrics that can be quantified at local scale, and is tested using a case study of a hypothetical tidal barrage development in the Taw Torridge estuary in North Devon, UK. By suggesting some practical steps for assessing environmental benefits, this study aims to stimulate discussion and so advance the development of methods for implementing ecosystem service approaches at a local scale.

Simple shade plots aid better long-term choices of data pre-treatment in multivariate assemblage studies

Shade plots, simple visual representations of abundance matrices from multivariate species assemblage studies, are shown to be an effective aid in choosing an overall transformation (or other pre-treatment) of quantitative data for long-term use, striking an appropriate balance between dominant and less abundant taxa in ensuing resemblance-based multivariate analyses. Though the exposition is entirely general and applicable to all community studies, detailed illustrations of the comparative power and interpretative possibilities of shade plots are given in the case of two estuarine assemblage studies in south-western Australia: (a) macrobenthos in the upper Swan Estuary over a two-year period covering a highly significant precipitation event for the Perth area; and (b) a wide-scale spatial study of the nearshore fish fauna from five divergent estuaries. The utility of transformations of intermediate severity is again demonstrated and, with greater novelty, the potential importance seen of further mild transformation of all data after differential down-weighting (dispersion weighting) of spatially clumped' or schooled' species. Among the new techniques utilized is a two-way form of the RELATE test, which demonstrates linking of assemblage structure (fish) to continuous environmental variables (water quality), having removed a categorical factor (estuary differences). Re-orderings of sample and species axes in the associated shade plots are seen to provide transparent explanations at the species level for such continuous multivariate patterns.

The effect of ocean acidification on carbon storage and sequestration in seagrass beds; a global and UK context

Ocean acidification will have many negative consequences for marine organisms and ecosystems, leading to a decline in many ecosystem services provided by the marine environment. This study reviews the effect of ocean acidification (OA) on seagrasses, assessing how this may affect their capacity to sequester carbon in the future and providing an economic valuation of these changes. If ocean acidification leads to a significant increase in above- and below-ground biomass, the capacity of seagrass to sequester carbon will be significantly increased. The associated value of this increase in sequestration capacity is approximately 500 and 600 billion globally between 2010 and 2100. A proportionally similar increase in carbon sequestration value was found for the UK. This study highlights one of the few positive stories for ocean acidification and underlines that sustainable management of seagrasses is critical to avoid their continued degradation and loss of carbon sequestration capacity.

The co-location of offshore windfarms and decapod fisheries in the UK: Constraints and opportunities

The offshore wind sector in the UK is expanding rapidly and is set to occupy significant areas of the coastal zone, making it necessary to explore the potential for co-location with other economic activities. The presence of turbine foundations introduces hard substrates into areas previously dominated by soft sediments, implying that artificial reef effects may occur, with potential benefits for fisheries. This review focuses on the possibilities for locating fisheries for two commercially important decapods, the brown crab Cancer pagurus and the European lobster Homarus gammarus, within offshore wind farms. Existing understanding of habitat use by C pagurus and H. gammarus suggests that turbine foundations have the potential to act as artificial reefs, although the responses of these species to noise and electromagnetic fields are poorly understood. Offshore wind farm monitoring programmes provide very limited information, but do suggest that adult C pagurus associate with turbine foundations, which may also serve as nursery areas. There was insufficient deployment and monitoring of rock armouring to draw conclusions about the association of H. gammarus with offshore wind farm foundations. The limited information currently available demonstrates the need for further research into the ecological and socioeconomic issues surrounding fishery co-location potential.

Coastal Zone Ecosystem Services: From science to values and decision making; a case study

This research is concerned with the following environmental research questions: socio-ecological system complexity, especially when valuing ecosystem services; ecosystems stock and services flow sustainability and valuation; the incorporation of scale issues when valuing ecosystem services; and the integration of knowledge from diverse disciplines for governance and decision making. In this case study, we focused on ecosystem services that can be jointly supplied but independently valued in economic terms: healthy climate (via carbon sequestration and storage), food (via fisheries production in nursery grounds), and nature recreation (nature watching and enjoyment). We also explored the issue of ecosystem stock and services flow, and we provide recommendations on how to value stock and flows of ecosystem services via accounting and economic values respectively. We considered broadly comparable estuarine systems located on the English North Sea coast: the Blackwater estuary and the Humber estuary. In the past, these two estuaries have undergone major land-claim. Managed realignment is a policy through which previously claimed intertidal habitats are recreated allowing the enhancement of the ecosystem services provided by saltmarshes. In this context, we investigated ecosystem service values, through biophysical estimates and welfare value estimates. Using an optimistic (extended conservation of coastal ecosystems) and a pessimistic (loss of coastal ecosystems because of, for example, European policy reversal) scenario, we find that context dependency, and hence value transfer possibilities, vary among ecosystem services and benefits. As a result, careful consideration in the use and application of value transfer, both in biophysical estimates and welfare value estimates, is advocated to supply reliable information for policy making.

Family-level AMBI is valid for use in the north-eastern Atlantic but not for assessing the health of microtidal Australian estuaries

Analysis of benthic macroinvertebrate samples at a higher taxonomic level than species, e.g. family, potentially provides a more cost-effective protocol for environmental impact assessments and monitoring as it requires less time, funds and taxonomic expertise. Using the AMBI database, species ecological group scores are shown to be coherent within families. Faunal data from a wide range of environmental impact scenarios in the north-eastern Atlantic demonstrate that AMBI, calculated from mean values for families, exhibits a strong linear relationship with species-level AMBI, the correlation improving by using square-root transformed rather than untransformed abundances. In many regions of the world, however, the sensitivity of benthic macroinvertebrates to environmental perturbations is unknown, precluding the use of AMBI for environmental assessments. Yet the families are essentially the same as in the AMBI database. The utility of family-level AMBI is tested using data for four south-western Australian estuaries previously subjected to environmental quality assessments, but where only 17 species of the 144 taxa are included in the AMBI database. Although family-level AMBI scores reflect differences in environmental quality spatially and temporally within an estuary, they do not follow variations in environmental quality among estuaries. Indeed, south-western Australia estuaries are numerically dominated by families with high AMBI scores, probably due to the detrimental effects of natural accumulations of organic material in estuaries with long residence times. As taxonomic distinctness follows trends in environmental quality among estuaries, as well as temporally and spatially within a system, it provides an appropriate substitute for assessing the 'heath' of microtidal estuaries.

The Importance of Regional, System-Wide and Local Spatial Scales in Structuring Temperate Estuarine Fish Communities

An extensive literature base worldwide demonstrates how spatial differences in estuarine fish assemblages are related to those in the environment at (bio)regional, estuary-wide or local (within-estuary) scales. Few studies, however, have examined all three scales, and those including more than one have often focused at the level of individual environmental variables rather than scales as a whole. This study has identified those spatial scales of environmental differences, across regional, estuary-wide and local levels, that are most important in structuring ichthyofaunal composition throughout south-western Australian estuaries. It is the first to adopt this approach for temperate microtidal waters. To achieve this, we have employed a novel approach to the BIOENV routine in PRIMER v6 and a modified global BEST test in an alpha version of PRIMER v7. A combination of all three scales best matched the pattern of ichthyofaunal differences across the study area (rho = 0.59; P = 0.001), with estuary-wide and regional scales accounting for about twice the variability of local scales. A shade plot analysis showed these broader-scale ichthyofaunal differences were driven by a greater diversity of marine and estuarine species in the permanently-open west coast estuaries and higher numbers of several small estuarine species in the periodically-open south coast estuaries. When interaction effects were explored, strong but contrasting influences of local environmental scales were revealed within each region and estuary type. A quantitative decision tree for predicting the fish fauna at any nearshore estuarine site in south-western Australia has also been produced. The estuarine management implications of the above findings are highlighted.

Selection of yeast strains for bioethanol production from UK seaweeds

Macroalgae (seaweeds) are a promising feedstock for the production of third generation bioethanol, since they have high carbohydrate contents, contain little or no lignin and are available in abundance. However, seaweeds typically contain a more diverse array of monomeric sugars than are commonly present in feedstocks derived from lignocellulosic material which are currently used for bioethanol production. Hence, identification of a suitable fermentative microorganism that can utilise the principal sugars released from the hydrolysis of macroalgae remains a major objective. The present study used a phenotypic microarray technique to screen 24 different yeast strains for their ability to metabolise individual monosaccharides commonly found in seaweeds, as well as hydrolysates following an acid pre-treatment of five native UK seaweed species (Laminaria digitata, Fucus serratus, Chondrus crispus, Palmaria palmata and Ulva lactuca). Five strains of yeast (three Saccharomyces spp, one Pichia sp and one Candida sp) were selected and subsequently evaluated for bioethanol production during fermentation of the hydrolysates. Four out of the five selected strains converted these monomeric sugars into bioethanol, with the highest ethanol yield (13 g L−1) resulting from a fermentation using C. crispus hydrolysate with Saccharomyces cerevisiae YPS128. This study demonstrated the novel application of a phenotypic microarray technique to screen for yeast capable of metabolising sugars present in seaweed hydrolysates; however, metabolic activity did not always imply fermentative production of ethanol.

Marine and coastal policy in the UK: Challenges and opportunities in a new era

Marine and coastal policy in the UK has faced a number of significant changes in recent years, most notably the passing of the Marine and Coastal Access Act in 2009. These changes have brought significant challenges and opportunities for all those involved in the management and use of the UK's marine and coastal environment. This new era of marine policy inspired the UK's first Marine and Coastal Policy forum held in June 2011. In this introductory paper the global context of marine policy changes and the themes which emerged from the forum, forming the basis of the articles in this special issue, are outlined. It is concluded that there is a high level of engagement, capacity and willingness of key stakeholders to work collaboratively to address the environmental, social and economic complexities of managing the marine and coastal environment. It is both evident and encouraging that progress is being made and the many challenges faced in this new era give rise to a number of opportunities to develop new ideas and effective mechanisms for finding solutions

Annual study of oxygenated volatile organic compounds in UK shelf waters

We performed an annual study of oxygenated volatile organic compound (OVOC) seawater concentrations at a site off Plymouth, UK in the Western English Channel over the period of February 2011–March 2012. Acetone concentrations ranged from 2–10 nM (nanomole/L) in surface waters with a maximum observed in summer. Concentrations correlated positively with net shortwave radiation and UV light, suggestive of photochemically linked acetone production. We observed a clear decline in acetone concentrations below the mixed layer. Acetaldehyde varied between 4–37 nM in surface waters with higher values observed in autumn and winter. Surface concentrations of methanol ranged from 16–78 nM, but no clear annual cycle was observed. Methanol concentrations exhibited considerable inter-annual variability. We estimate consistent deposition to the sea surface for acetone and methanol but that the direction of the acetaldehyde flux varies during the year.

Marine and coastal policy in the UK: Challenges and opportunities in a new era

Marine and coastal policy in the UK has faced a number of significant changes in recent years, most notably the passing of the Marine and Coastal Access Act in 2009. These changes have brought significant challenges and opportunities for all those involved in the management and use of the UK's marine and coastal environment. This new era of marine policy inspired the UK's first Marine and Coastal Policy forum held in June 2011. In this introductory paper the global context of marine policy changes and the themes which emerged from the forum, forming the basis of the articles in this special issue, are outlined. It is concluded that there is a high level of engagement, capacity and willingness of key stakeholders to work collaboratively to address the environmental, social and economic complexities of managing the marine and coastal environment. It is both evident and encouraging that progress is being made and the many challenges faced in this new era give rise to a number of opportunities to develop new ideas and effective mechanisms for finding solutions.

Effect of habitat fragmentation on the macroinvertebrate infaunal communities associated with the seagrass Zostera marina

1. The effect of habitat fragmentation was investigated in two adjacent, yet separate, intertidal Zostera marina beds in the Salcombe Estuary, Devon, UK. The seagrass bed on the west bank comprised a continuous meadow of ca. 2.3 ha, whilst the bed on the east bank of the estuary was fragmented into patches of 6–9 m2.2. Three 10 cm diameter core samples for infaunal macroinvertebrates were taken from three stations within each bed. No significant difference was found in univariate community parameters between beds, or in measured seagrass parameters. However, multivariate analysis revealed a significant difference in community composition, due mainly to small changes in species abundance rather than differences in the species present.3. The species contributing most to the dissimilarity between the two communities were polychaetes generally associated with unvegetated habitats (e.g. Magelona mirabilis) and found to be more common in the fragmented bed.4. A significant difference in median grain size and sorting coefficient was recorded between the two beds, and median grain size was found to be the variable best explaining multivariate community patterns.5. The results of the study provide evidence for the effects of habitat fragmentation on the communities associated with seagrass beds, habitats which are of high conservation importance. As the infaunal community is perhaps intuitively the component least likely to be affected by fragmentation at the scale observed, the significant difference in community composition recorded has consequences for more sensitive and high-profile parts of the biota (e.g. fish), and thus for the conservation of seagrass habitats and their associated communities.

Widespread occurrence of the non-indigenous ascidian Corella eumyota Traustedt, 1882 on the shores of Plymouth Sound and Estuaries Special Area of Conservation, UK

The ascidian Corella eumyota, originally from the Southern Hemisphere, was first reported in the Northern Hemisphere in Brittany, France, in 2002. Since then, it has been recorded in Spain, Ireland, the south coast of England and South Wales. Most European records to date have been from artificial habitats such as marinas. In Plymouth, England, C. eumyota was first found in two marinas in 2005 but individuals were soon also detected in small numbers on nearby shores. Shore surveys in March and August of 2008 indicated that C. eumyota has established reproductive populations on natural and semi-natural shores of Plymouth Sound and the adjacent coastline, largely restricted to relatively sheltered sites in the lower reaches of estuaries. At these sites it is generally the most abundant non-colonial ascidian. The species clearly has the capacity to become a significant component of the biota of sheltered shores in the Northern Hemisphere.