Detection of the Hazards That Threaten Some Coastal Areas, and Ecosystem-Based Solution to Strengthen the Natural Defenses

The coastal strip of the Nile delta has been vulnerable to environmental hazards. Field surveys, interpretation of Landsat enhanced thematic mapper imageries (ETM), and hydrochemistry analysis of the water samples was used as methods and materials to detect the hazards associated with climate change which threaten some natural protection coastal areas of the central part of the Nile Delta and assess its magnitude. The invasion of seawaters is the main hazard due to the impacts of global warming phenomena. Elimination of the coastal dunes which act as natural defenses has been accelerating the negative impacts that have been appearing clearly on low-lying lands. Planting that protected areas of the coastal strip are considered the most suitable ecosystem-based and most beneficial solution should be authorized and adopted by the local administration to preserve those areas and adapt to these disasters.

Climate Change Community-Based and Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Strategies in Selected Coastal Barangays in Masinloc, Zambales, Philippines

Climate change continues to intensify existing disaster risks and vulnerabilities in the Philippines. Thus, implementation of climate change adaptation strategies is vital to counter the effects of climate change. It is in this context that this study was undertaken to analyze the need or urgency to adopt community and ecosystem-based adaptation strategies among selected coastal barangays (villages) of Masinloc, Zambales, Philippines. Various methods of data collection were utilized such as secondary data collection, primary data collection through household survey, key informant interviews, and focus group. Results of the study indicate that in terms of community-based adaptation strategies, all of the seven barangays in Masinloc have moderate necessity. However, only Barangays Bani and Collat have high adaptation capacity in terms of infrastructure and disaster preparedness. The execution of several community-based adaptation strategies helps these barangays to respond immediately and appropriately to the moderate risk posed by floods and storm surges. On the other hand, in terms of ecosystem-based adaptation strategies, all of the seven barangays have moderate necessity which implies that they have moderate vulnerability and risk to flood and storm surge but have high adaptation capacity in terms of the conservation and protection of coastal resources (mangroves and sea grasses). The barangays implemented the necessary ecosystem-based adaptation mechanisms that they might need in the future. This only means that when they are faced with disaster, the local communities are prepared to respond appropriately and to cope up with the effects of extreme weather events which lead to floods and storm surge. Even though most of the ecosystem-based adaptation strategies are conducted by the seven barangays, there are several community-based adaptation strategies that are still lacking which will protect them from the effect of floods and storm surges. Hence, carrying out the missing adaptation strategies, both community-based and ecosystem-based, will help in improving the adaptive capacity of the affected barangays and will help them become more resilient to the amplified effects of climate change.

European Broad-Scale Seabed Habitat Maps Support Implementation of Ecosystem-Based Management

We have analyzed the development of “Broad-Scale Seabed Habitat Maps” (BSHM) and their potential use in a European context with regard to the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) implementation, MPA designation and network assessment as well as other applications of BSHMs. The analyses are anchored in BSHMs developed by a series of interlinked EU projects (e.g. UKSeaMap, BALANCE, MESH, Mesh Atlantic, EUSeaMap 2012, and EUSeaMap 2016) and all maps are based on environmental data. Some EU Member States have used BSHMs as part of their MSFD Initial Assessments published in 2012. However, we conclude that BSHMs are a prerequisite for another key MSFD activity, i.e. mapping of potentially cumulative effects of multiple human stressors. Further, BSHMs seem to play a growing role with regard to evidence-based assessments of MPAs. With the upcoming second round of MSFD Initial Assessments due in 2018, including assessment of potentially cumulative pressures, there seems to be an increasing need for more BSHMs nationally, regionally and on a European scale.

Evaluating indicators of human well-being for ecosystem-based management

Introduction:Interrelated social and ecological challenges demand an understanding of how environmental change and management decisions affect human well-being.This paper out-lines a framework for measuring human well-being for ecosystem-based management(EBM).We present a prototype that can be adapted and developed for various scales and contexts.Scientists and managers use indicators to assess status and trends in integrated ecosystem assessments(IEAs).To improve the social science rigor and success of EBM,we developed a systematic and transparent approach for evaluating indicators of human well-being for an IEA.Methods:Our process is based on a comprehensive conceptualization of human well-being,a scalable analysis of management priorities,and a set of indicator screening criteria tailored to the needs of EBM.We tested our approach by evaluating more than 2000 existing social indicators related to ocean and coastal management of the US West Coast.We focused on two foundational attributes of human well-being:resource access and self-determination.Outcomes and Discussion:Our results suggest that existing indicators and data are limited in their ability to reflect linkages between environmental change and human well-being,and extremely limited in their ability to assess social equity and justice.We reveal a critical need for new social indicators tailored to answer environmental questions and new data that are disaggregated by social variables to measure equity.In both,we stress the importance of collaborating with the people whose well-being is to be assessed.Conclusion:Our framework is designed to encourage governments and communities to carefully assess the complex tradeoffs inherent in environmental decision-making.

An ecosystem-based approach to marine risk assessment

Risk assessments quantify the probability of undesirable events along with their consequences.They are used to prioritize management interventions and assess tradeoffs,serving as an essential component of ecosystem-based management(EBM).A central objective of most risk assessments for conservation and management is to characterize uncertainty and impacts associated with one or more pressures of interest.Risk assessments have been used in marine resource management to help evaluate the risk of environmental,ecological,and anthropogenic pressures on species or habitats including for data-poor fisheries management(e.g.,toxicity,probability of extinction,habitat alteration impacts).Traditionally,marine risk assessments focused on singular pressure-response relationships,but recent advancements have included use of risk assessments in an EBM context,providing a method for evaluating the cumulative impacts of multiple pressures on multiple ecosystem components.Here,we describe a conceptual framework for ecosystem risk assessment(ERA),highlighting its role in operationalizing EBM,with specific attention to ocean management considerations.This framework builds on the ecotoxicological and conservation literature on risk assessment and includes recent advances that focus on risks posed by fishing to marine ecosystems.We review how examples of ERAs from the United States fit into this framework,explore the variety of analytical approaches that have been used to conduct ERAs,and assess the challenges and data gaps that remain.This review discusses future prospects for ERAs as EBM decision-support tools,their expanded role in integrated ecosystem assessments,and the development of next-generation risk assessments for coupled natural-human systems.

Climate Change Vulnerability and Disaster Risk Assessment Using Remote Sensing Technology and Adaptation Strategies for Resiliency and Disaster Risk Management in Selected Coastal Municipalities of Zambales, Philippines

The Philippines is one of the most hazard prone and vulnerable countries in the world to climate change effects due to its geographical location. Climate change is already happening and affecting many places causing huge problems to coastal ecosystems. Vulnerability and disaster assessment and mapping in coastal areas are essential tasks and undertakings for coastal disaster risk management. The objectives of this study were to assess the climate change vulnerability and disaster risks in the four municipalities (Sta. Cruz, Candelaria, Masinloc and Palauig) of Zambales and to determine the climate change community-based adaptation (CBA) and ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) strategies. Remote sensing, GIS, secondary data gathering and key informant interview were used to assess vulnerability and disaster risks and mapping in the four municipalities. Survey questionnaire, focus group discussion and key informant interview were utilized in gathering data for the determination of climate change adaptation strategies. Using remote sensing technology, it was revealed that coastline changes have occurred in the shorelines of the four coastal municipalities after a decade. Sea level rise happened in Sta. Cruz and Masinloc, Zambales while there was build-up of soil in the coastline of Candelaria and Palauig, Zambales. Twelve hazard maps, 12 vulnerability maps and 12 disaster risk maps were generated for the three major disasters (flood, landslide, storm surge) in the four coastal municipalities. Based on the flood vulnerability and disaster risk assessment, the municipality of Palauig was found to be the most prone to flooding while the municipality of Candelaria was found to be the most vulnerable to landslide compared to other municipalities. All coastal barangays in the four municipalities were susceptible to storm surge. The four coastal municipalities were conducting community-based adaptation (CBA) and ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) approaches in order to protect their coastal resources from the damaging impacts of climate change and improve the resilience of their local communities.

Integrated landscape approaches to building resilience and multifunctionality in the Kailash Sacred Landscape,China

Climate warming-induced rangeland degradation in arid and semiarid steppe imposes substantial threats to the livelihoods of people.But this dilemma can be solved by combining all sectors of agriculture,animal husbandry and tourism through their complementarity,i.e.by adopting integrated landscape ecosystem-based approaches.A number of experiences and lessons have been achieved in a specific sector for its successful development,but not in the multiple social,economic,and ecological systems.In this study,we use the perspective of integrated ecosystem management to strengthen crop-livestock integration and innovative livelihoods,and propose a multifunctional Kailash Landscape to activate the inter-linkage among agriculture,animal husbandry,and heritage pilgrimage/tourism in order to achieve multiple functions of the socio-ecological system.A case study of Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative in China was quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed by land use and land cover change and their consequences on multiple ecosystem services.Integrated landscape management was found to be effective in building resilience of socio-ecosystems by reducing the vulnerability of traditional agriculture in terms of improving crop production and animal husbandry.A multifunctional landscape is expected to be integrated and build a resilient sector complementarity including farming,pastorism,environmental and socioeconomic function.The analyses show that integrated landscape approaches provide an effective perspective for sustainable socio-economic development in this sacred landscape.The findings highlight the importance of landscape-scale ecosystem-based adaptation to environment change.

Management Strategies to Mitigate Anthropogenic Impacts in Estuarine and Coastal Marine Environments: A Review

A wide range of anthropogenic activities impacts estuarine and coastal marine environments including interactive climate and non-climatic drivers of change that can significantly degrade biotic communities and habitats. Many of these environments are in decline due to changes in ecosystem structure and function resulting from multiple stressor effects. In addition, inadequate governance has supported a patchwork of single issues or sectoral approaches rather than integrated management of multiple human uses and activities to maintain healthy, productive, resilient, and sustainable ecosystems and the provision of goods and services. Ecosystem-based marine spatial planning is a viable framework for a more effective governance structure and management of these vital coastal environments. An important component of this approach is a holistic effort to assess the environmental, economic, and societal impacts of anthropogenic activities. Thus, a multidisciplinary integrated approach is preferred that links ecological, physical, and socio-economic systems, increasing the protection of resources and societal benefits. For degraded estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems, restoration and rehabilitation initiatives are important intervention strategies used to reverse the loss of habitats and biotic resources and to support management programs. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an integral element of marine management plans to conserve and sustain estuarine and coastal marine environments by protecting threatened ecosystems and their resources from anthropogenic activities. National and international regulatory frameworks and directives are also in place to protect and conserve these environments.

Optimization of closing law of turbine guide vanes based on improved artificial ecosystem algorithm

Optimization of the closing law of the guide vane is the most economical and efficient way to reduce the risk incurred by pressure and speed excursions,thus guaranteeing the security of the hydro-turbine and the whole hydraulic network.In order to optimize the closing law of the guide vane of hydraulic turbine,an improved artificial ecosystem optimization algorithm was proposed(IAEO).The reverse learning was used to initialize the population,multi-strategy bound handing schemes was used to improve the algorithm convergence speed.Twenty-three mathematical benchmark functions were used to test the IAEO.Results showed an improvement in the IAEO algorithm convergence speed and a stronger exploration than other algorithms.IAEO algorithm was used to optimize the closing law of the guide vane of hydraulic turbine based on the hydraulic transient calculation.The results showed that the maximum pressure in the spiral casing inlet,the minimum pressure in the draft tube inlet and the maximum speed all meet the design requirements by use of the closing law of the guide vane optimized by IAEO.Compared with other algorithms such as particle swarm optimization(PSO),artificial ecosystem-based optimization(AEO)and grey wolf optimizer(GWO),the closing law of the guide vane optimized by IAEO algorithm was proved to be of great advantages in distribution of safety margin of each optimization goal.

Conservation and sustainable development in a VUCA world: the need for a systemic and ecosystem- based approach

Targeting the maintenance of functional ecosystems that provide the significant basis for human well-being is an integral part of an ecosystem-based sustainable development.Underlying causes of ecosystem degradation such as global climate change and ever-growing human demands that rapidly shift socioeconomic and political baselines are often unmanageable at a local scale and require a new approach to planning and action in ecosystem management.The framework conditions that challenge sustainable development are shaped by increasing Volatility,Uncertainty,Complexity,and Ambiguity(VUCA concept).Using the MARISCO method(adaptive management of vulnerability and risks at conservation sites),we analyzed 22 conservation sites,covering 26 protected areas and six administrative areas on four different continents and involving 524 participants.VUCA conditions were present across cultures and biomes,yet the responses in planning and management varied among conservation sites.The findings of both the qualitative and quantitative analyses confirm that participants understand how far human well-being heavily depends on the functionality of ecosystems that were seen to suffer from a wide range of stresses and threats of varying criticality.Worldwide,local stakeholders and experts rated impacts of global climate change as most critical.In attempts to achieve ecosystem-based sustainable development,most management teams strive for more risk-robust and adaptive strategies by advocating for active risk management.A common factor identified among all case studies was the need for cooperative management between smaller conservation sites in order to address large-scale challenges.

Principles for managing marine ecosystems prone to tipping points

As climatic changes and human uses intensify,resource managers and other decision makers are taking actions to either avoid or respond to ecosystem tipping points,or dramatic shifts in structure and function that are often costly and hard to reverse.Evidence indicates that explicitly addressing tipping points leads to improved management outcomes.Drawing on theory and examples from marine systems,we distill a set of seven principles to guide effective management in ecosystems with tipping points,derived from the best available science.These principles are based on observations that tipping points(1)are possible everywhere,(2)are associated with intense and/or multifaceted human use,(3)may be preceded by changes in earlywarning indicators,(4)may redistribute benefits among stakeholders,(5)affect the relative costs of action and inaction,(6)suggest biologically informed management targets,and(7)often require an adaptive response to monitoring.We suggest that early action to preserve system resilience is likely more practical,affordable,and effective than late action to halt or reverse a tipping point.We articulate a conceptual approach to management focused on linking management targets to thresholds,tracking early-warning signals of ecosystem instability,and stepping up investment in monitoring and mitigation as the likelihood of dramatic ecosystem change increases.This approach can simplify and economize management by allowing decision makers to capitalize on the increasing value of precise information about threshold relationships when a system is closer to tipping or by ensuring that restoration effort is sufficient to tip a system into the desired regime.

A risk table to address concerns external to stock assessments when developing fisheries harvest recommendations

This paper develops a risk table to facilitate incorporation of additional information into the fisheries stock assessment and management process.The risk table is designed to evaluate unanticipated ecosystem and environmental impacts on marine resources that may require a rapid management response.The risk table is a standardized framework to document concerns about the assessment model,population dynamics,and the ecosystem/environment that are not explicitly addressed within the stock assessment model.A scoring procedure is used to evaluate the severity of the concern.These concerns can then be evaluated in support for or against a reduction from the maximum Acceptable Biological Catch while providing reviewers and stakeholders transparent documentation of the concerns.The risk table was applied successfully to several stocks on a trial basis during the 2018 groundfish assessment cycle for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council,and will be used for all full groundfish assessments in 2019.Rapid changes in climate are likely for Alaska marine ecosystems in coming decades,and these changes are not entirely predicable.Therefore,we avocate that the risk table approach should be included in the suite of management tools used to address the effects of climate change on Alaska marine resources.