Laurence Mee

Nutrient budgets for European seas: A measure of the effectiveness of nutrient reduction policies

Socio-economic development in Europe has exerted increasing pressure on the marine environment. Eutrophication, caused by nutrient enrichment, is evident in regions of all European seas. Its severity varies but has, in places, adversely impacted socio-economic activities. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of recently adopted policies to reduce anthropogenic nutrient inputs to European seas. Nitrogen and phosphorus budgets were constructed for three different periods (prior to severe eutrophication, during severe eutrophication and contemporary) to capture changes in the relative importance of different nutrient sources in four European seas suffering from eutrophication (Baltic Proper, coastal North Sea, Northern Adriatic and North-Western Black Sea Shelf). Policy success is evident for point sources, notably for P in the Baltic and North Seas, but reduction of diffuse sources has been more problematic.

Megacities and Large Urban Agglomerations in the Coastal Zone: Interactions Between Atmosphere, Land, and Marine Ecosystems

Megacities are not only important drivers for socio-economic development but also sources of environmental challenges. Many megacities and large urban agglomerations are located in the coastal zone where land, atmosphere, and ocean meet, posing multiple environmental challenges which we consider here. The atmospheric flow around megacities is complicated by urban heat island effects and topographic flows and sea breezes and influences air pollution and human health. The outflow of polluted air over the ocean perturbs biogeochemical processes. Contaminant inputs can damage downstream coastal zone ecosystem function and resources including fisheries, induce harmful algal blooms and feedback to the atmosphere via marine emissions. The scale of influence of megacities in the coastal zone is hundreds to thousands of kilometers in the atmosphere and tens to hundreds of kilometers in the ocean. We list research needs to further our understanding of coastal megacities with the ultimate aim to improve their environmental management.

Oceans and Human Health: A rising tide of challenges and opportunities for Europe

The European Marine Board recently published a position paper on linking oceans and human health as a strategic research priority for Europe. With this position paper as a reference, the March 2014 Cornwall Oceans and Human Health Workshop brought together key scientists, policy makers, funders, business, and non governmental organisations from Europe and the US to review the recent interdisciplinary and cutting edge research in oceans and human health specifically the growing evidence of the impacts of oceans and seas on human health and wellbeing (and the effects of humans on the oceans). These impacts are a complex mixture of negative influences (e.g. from climate change and extreme weather to harmful algal blooms and chemical pollution) and beneficial factors (e.g. from natural products including seafood to marine renewable energy and wellbeing from interactions with coastal environments). Integrated approaches across disciplines, institutions, and nations in science and policy are needed to protect both the oceans and human health and wellbeing now and in the future.

Sustaining Europe's seas as coupled social-ecological systems

BACKGROUND There is ample evidence for human alteration of Europe’s regional seas, particularly the enclosed or partly enclosed Baltic, Black, Mediterranean, and North Seas. Accounts of habitat and biodiversity loss, pollution, and the decline of fish stocks in these economically, socially, and ecologically important seas demonstrate unsustainable use of the marine environment. At the same time, there is an insufficient quantity and quality of information to enable purely evidence-based management of Europe’s seas despite this being a declared goal of many decisionmakers; for example, less than 10% of the deep sea has been systematically explored (UNEP 2006). Evidence-based management alone is rarely possible in situations with complex value-laden policy options (Greenhalgh and Russell 2009), and unfortunately, many of the most pervasive problems in the marine environment are “wicked” second-order problems (Jentoft and Chuenpagdee 2009): they are complex in nature and their management will often involve both winners and losers. Solutions to these problems involve less politically attractive, valuebased choices and may require long time lags before tangible results are observed. Fisheries management, habitat and species protection, competition for marine space, and invasive species are all examples of “wicked” problems. These are some of the biggest issues facing Europe’s seas and are the major focus of this article and Special Feature. For the first time in European history, most countries have adopted a common maritime policy (the 2007 Integrated Maritime Policy) and a legally binding environmental directive (the 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive [MSFD]). These comprehensive policy vehicles encompass, or closely interface with, more specific measures, such as the recently reformed Common Fisheries Policy, the Water Framework Directive, the Habitats and Birds Directive, and a number of targeted policy instruments that deal with aspects of pollution control and coastal zone management. The overall array of measures has the potential to ensure the sustainable use of Europe’s seas and the restoration of marine environments, but the pathway between the current situation and the implementation of an ecosystem approach to management (the aspiration of the European Commission; see Our Approach to Research) is fraught with “wicked” problems. Science can help society resolve these problems, but in many cases this requires the broad and integrative vision of Odum’s (1971) “macroscope” rather than trying to piece together an ill-fitting jigsaw puzzle of discipline-focused information. This paper and the others in this Special Feature employ a systems approach. We describe the approach, how it can be applied practically, and some of the challenges in making it work. Though the work is based on research on Europe’s seas, it has much wider implications for regional seas throughout the world. OUR APPROACH TO RESEARCH ON MARINE SOCIALECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS The research described in this paper (and Special Feature) was conducted in the framework of the EU-FP7 funded project Knowledge-based Sustainable Management of Europe’s Seas (KnowSeas). The interdisciplinary research spanned 4 years and involved 33 institutions from 16 European countries (KnowSeas 2013). Its primary objective was to develop “a comprehensive scientific knowledge base and practical guidance for the application of the ecosystem approach to the sustainable development of Europe’s regional seas.” Given the knowledge gaps and uncertainties in the way Europe’s marine social-ecological systems function (e.g., unresolved causal links, poorly mapped habitats, nonlinear dynamics), an iterative approach to inquiry was adopted, based partly on the reasoning behind soft systems analysis (e.g., Checkland 2000).

Achieving good environmental status in the Black Sea: scale mismatches in environmental management

The Black Sea has suffered severe environmental degradation. Governance of the Black Sea region is complex and results in a series of scale mismatches which constrain management. This paper develops a simple classification of spatial scale mismatches incorporating the driver, pressure, state, welfare, response (DPSWR) framework. The scale mismatch classification is applied to two major environmental problems of the Black Sea, eutrophication and small pelagic fisheries. A number of scale mismatches are described and classified and potential solutions are identified.

Group report: Integrated assessment and future scenarios for the coast

A prototype scenario assessment was carried out with help of a DP-S-I-R framework to provide an outline forward look at the European coastal areas. Impacts of change were assessed for the following major sectoral or cross-sectoral drivers: climate change, agriculture/forestry, urbanisation, tourism, industry and trade, fishery and shellfish fishery, and energy. The present situation was tabulated prior to an outline of the impacts of three scenarios, i.e. (1) a world market perspective, (2) global sustainability and (3) environmental stewardship. From twelve identified impact categories, three were judged to be of particular significance in the present situation: habitat loss (including coastal squeeze); changes in biodiversity; and the loss of fisheries productivity. A group of three impacts – eutrophicationrelated effects, contamination-related effects and coastal erosion – were all judged to be of moderate importance in most areas. All others were allocated only local importance. The analysis suggests that the major current drivers will still play the dominant role, augmented by climate change. Drivers and impacts intensities usually increase under the perspective of a more globalised world (scenario 1) and usually decrease through better management, mitigation and adaptation measures of scenarios 2 and 3. Under scenario 1, the eastern countries (Black Sea and Baltic Sea areas) are particularly prone to eutrophication and contamination impacts, as well as habitat and biodiversity loss, due to expansion of mass tourism eastwards, together with intensification of agriculture and aquaculture. Under scenario 2 more stringent regulations and management reduce environmental impacts. Under scenario 3 impacts are reduced through decentralisation, although this may also result in sub-optimal management (local fragmentation).

Past and future challenges in managing European seas

Marine environments have undergone large-scale changes in recent decades as a result of multiple anthropogenic pressures, such as overfishing, eutrophication, habitat fragmentation, etc., causing often nonlinear ecosystem responses. At the same time, management institutions lack the appropriate measures to address these abrupt transformations. We focus on existing examples from social-ecological systems of European seas that can be used to inform and advise future management. Examples from the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea on long-term ecosystem changes caused by eutrophication and fisheries, as well as changes in management institutions, illustrate nonlinear dynamics in social-ecological systems. Furthermore, we present two major future challenges, i.e., climate change and energy intensification, that could further increase the potential for nonlinear changes in the near future. Practical tools to address these challenges are presented, such as ensuring learning, flexibility, and networking in decision-making processes across sectors and scales. A combination of risk analysis with a scenario-planning approach might help to identify the risks of ecosystem changes early on and may frame societal changes to inform decision-making structures to proactively prevent drastic surprises in European seas.

Assessing the impact of pollution on aquatic systems at a global and regional level

In developing a methodology for the ongoing Global International Waters Assessment, major gaps have become apparent in our ability to make comparative assessments of pollution. A pragmatic impacts scoping methodology has been developed and tested. A more effective assessment protocol however, requires a better knowledge of the relationship between pollution sources and biological effects with less reliance on chemical monitoring.

Visions for the North Sea: The Societal Dilemma Behind Specifying Good Environmental Status

We augment discussions about the Good Environmental Status of the North Sea by developing two extreme visions and assessing their societal benefits. One vision (‘Then’) assumes restoration of benthic functioning; we contend that trawling had already degraded the southern North Sea a century ago. Available information is used to speculate about benthic functioning in a relatively undisturbed southern North Sea. The second vision (‘Now’) draws on recent benthic functioning. The supply of five ecosystem services, supported by benthic functioning, is discussed. ‘Then’ offers confidence in the sustainable supply of diverse services but restoration of past function is uncertain and likely to be paired with costs, notably trawling restraints. ‘Now’ delivers known and valued services but sustained delivery is threatened by, for example, climate change. We do not advocate either vision. Our purpose is to stimulate debate about what society wants, and might receive, from the future southern North Sea.

Using a lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler for measuring current velocities in the Black Sea

The results obtained with the use of a lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP) are presented. The use of the LADCP from a vessel was the first in the history of the study of the Black Sea. The measurements were carried out in the northeastern Black Sea under the auspices of the Black Sea Ecosystem Recovery Program (BSERP) in May 2004. The effect of the computation parameters on the quality and accuracy of the calculations of velocity profiles was studied. It was shown that the use of optimal parameters and reliable navigation data and setting the instrument as close to the bottom as possible could essentially enhance the accuracy of the measurements. The current velocity calculations from the LADCP data were compared with the data on the vessel drift under calm weather. The accuracy of the calculations reached 6–8 cm/s. Recommendations on the choice of the optimal parameters for processing the data on the current velocity are presented.