Richard Kenchington

Developing an Ocean Ethic: Science, Utility, Aesthetics, Self‐Interest, and Different Ways of Knowing

Author(s): Avise, JC; Auster, PJ; Fujita, R; Keller, SR; Campagna, C; Cuker, B; Dayton, P; Henneman, B; Kenchington, R; Stone, G; Di Sciara, GN; Glynn, P

Australian Oceans Policymaking

The need for an integrated oceans policy became a fundamental public policy issue for many coastal States following the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) in November 1994. Australias Oceans Policy was released in December 1998 and sets the framework for integrated and ecosystem-based planning and management. Australian Oceans Policy resulted in the establishment of a robust biophysical understanding of the bioregions of Australias oceans jurisdiction, particularly the exclusive economic zone. Australias Oceans Policy also achieved engagement with sectors that had previously not been involved with oceans governance issues. Despite its achievements, the Australian Oceans Policy was not successful for a number of reasons. First, the Policy failed to achieve the support of the states comprising the federation of Australia, with the consequence that regional marine plans were not integrated with the 3 nautical miles jurisdiction of the states. Second, the Policy was transformed from a multi-ministerial/departmental integrated approach to a sectoral environmental activity with consultation. Third, management measures and performance criteria were not clearly spelled out. In the end, Australias Oceans Policy became a sectoral solution and not an integrated one as was envisaged.

Strong sustainability in coastal areas: a conceptual interpretation of SDG 14

Humans derive many tangible and intangible benefits from coastal areas, providing essential components for social and economic development especially of less developed coastal states and island states. At the same time, growing human and environmental pressures in coastal areas have significant impacts on coastal systems, requiring urgent attention in many coastal areas globally. Sustainable development goal (SDG) 14 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (henceforth the 2030 Agenda) aims for conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas, and marine resources, explicitly considering coastal areas in two of its targets (14.2 and 14.5). These promote, as we argue in this article, a strong sustainability concept by addressing protection, conservation, and management of coastal ecosystems and resources. The 2030 Agenda adopts the so-called “three-pillar-model” but does not specify how to balance the economic, social, and environmental dimensions in cases of trade-offs or conflicts. By analysing SDG 14 for the underlying sustainability concept, we derive decisive arguments for a strong sustainability concept and for the integration of constraint functions to avoid depletion of natural capital of coastal areas beyond safe minimum standards. In potential negotiations, targets 14.2 and 14.5 ought to serve as constraints to such depletion. However, such a rule-based framework has challenges and pitfalls which need to be addressed in the implementation and policy process. We discuss these for coastal areas in the context of SDG 14 and provide recommendations for coastal governance and for the process ahead.

Constraints of terrestrial protected area solutions in protecting marine biodiversity

ABSTRACT Traditionally the concepts of terrestrial protected areas have been used in designating marine protected areas. We discuss the differences between marine and terrestrial protected areas and highlight the need to consider the movement of species through marine protected boundaries. The source of most productivity differs; in terrestrial systems it is all attached whereas in the marine environment much occurs in the water column and cannot be restrained by artificial boundaries. This has major implications for the management of marine protected areas.

Science and the management of coral reefs

Increasing accessibility of coral reefs from the latter third of the 20th century led quickly to recognition of the vulnerability of coral reef communities to a combination of direct and indirect human impacts. Coral reefs are confronted by the stark threats of climate and ocean changes from the increasing number, intensity and forms of human use impacting global and marine systems. Management, particularly of accessible coral reefs, occurs in the context of multiple scale transboundary water column linkages of lifecycle processes and increasing human use of coastal and marine space. Four decades of experience have demonstrated the combined importance of biophysical and socio-economic sciences and sharing knowledge with communities for developing implementing effective management. In the face of environmental and socio-economic change the challenge for science and management is to develop knowledge and management responses that can better understand and increase resilience to improve he outlook for coral reef communities.

Ensuring all components of marine ecosystems included in marine reserves

Interpreting palaeovegetation and contemporary palaeoclimate from fossil pollen requires information on modern pollen-rain or deposition patterns of pollen/ spores in sediments of tropical deciduous forest (moist as well as dry types) in the area of investigation, which is achieved through the pollen analysis of surface samples, viz. surface soils/sediments, moss cushions (moss polsters), mud samples, spider web samples, leaf surface and bark that reflect modern vegetation and could be of immense help to refine and strengthen the interpretation of fossil pollen samples (Wright 1967; Flenley 1973; Moore & Webb 1978; Birks & Birks 1980; Liu & Lam 1985; Fall 1992). In the science of Quaternary palynology, this type of study has been given various names such as modern pollen-rain studies, modern pollen deposition patterns, modern pollenvegetation relationships, etc. In some advanced literature, the study has been given the name of Response Transfer Function as it serves as a modern analogue for the accurate explanation of the pollen sequences generated from the sedimentary beds in terms of past vegetation and climate in chronological order in the region during the Quaternary Period, especially the Holocene and/or Late Pleistocene epochs (Quamar & Chauhan 2012, 2013b; Chauhan & Quamar 2012a, 2012b). So far as the relationship between the present-day set-up of vegetation and pollen assemblages is concerned, it is not straightforward. Owing to the differences in pollen production, dispersal and preservation (of taxa), some plant taxa are overrepresented in pollen records whilst others are either under-represented or not represented at all (Tauber 1965; Prentice 1985; Prentice et al. 1987; Jackson & Lyford 1999; Sugita 2007) which depends on plant species and climatic conditions (Hicks 2001; Spieksma et al. 2003). Anemophilous species producing high quantities of pollen grains are over-represented, whereas species with zoophilous means of pollination produce lower numbers of pollen grains and are underrepresented in pollen assemblages (Faegri & Iverson 1964). In tropical regions, traditional pollen analysis was once upon a time thought to be impossible (Faegri 1966; Flenley 1973; Bush 1995) owing to the towering diversity of the tropical pollen flora (Flenley 1973), which was previously regarded as a stumbling block for palynologists to manage, in addition to the effect of pollen production and dispersal (on pollen analysis). However, credit goes to Flenley (1973) who for the first time investigated the modern pollen rain in the tropics systematically. Many tropical pollen taxa are rarely or never encountered in samples, despite their pollen production and dispersal to sample sites, but with the aid of modern pollen spectra the modern pollen deposition pattern could be successfully related to the vegetation. 3rd International Conference on Biodiversity & Sustainable Energy Development June 24-26, 2014 Valencia, Spain Extended Abstract Journal of Biodiversity & Endangered Species Like most palaeoecological research, the majority of work on modern pollen spectra has been carried out in temperate regions. However, the increasing interest in palaeoecological reconstruction of past tropical environments over the preceding two decades has led to more work on modern pollen spectra. A number of recent studies have been carried out in tropical areas of Africa (Vincens et al. 1997, 2000; El Ghazali & Moore 1998, Elenga et al. 2000), Australia (Kershaw & Stickland 1990; Kershaw & Bulman 1994; Crawley et al. 1994) and the mainland Neotropics (Grabant 1980; Bush 1991; Islebe & Hooghiemstra 1995; Rodgers & Horn 1996; Bush & Rivera 1998; Bush 2000; Bush et al. 2001, Marchant et al. 2001; Weng et al. 2004). In the Carribean islands, a few studies exist of sedimentary pollen profiles from lowland sites (Hodell et al. 1991; Higuera-Gundy et al. 1999), but modern pollen studies are wanting. Modern pollen rain studies were also conducted in Australia (Walker & Sun 2000), Southern Peru (Weng et al. 2004), Dominican Republic (Kennedy at al. 2005), southern Brazil (Behling & Negrelle 2006), tropical Andes (Rull 2006), northern Ecuador (Moscol Olivera et al. 2009), northeast Bolivia (Gosling et al. 2009), southern Ecuadorian Andes (Niemann et al. 2010), northern Belize (Bhattacharya et al. 2011), etc. and had generated data sets on the transfer functions regarding pollen representation to environmental parameters, as well as indicator taxa for particular ecosystems. Haselhorst et al. (2013) also conducted pollen rain studies in Panama and emphasized a better and more accurate reconstruction of palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate in long-term pollen rain studies. However, in South Asia, especially India and Sri Lanka, Bonnefille et al. (1999), Anupama et al. (2000), Barboni and Bonnefille (2001) have conducted studies to address the modern pollen deposition pattern in tropical evergreen and deciduous forests. From the Indian context, several studies have also been conducted to address the problem, for example, from the foothills of the Himalaya (Sharma 1985; Gupta & Yadav 1992; Chauhan & Sharma 1993; Quamar and Srivastava, 2013; Ranhotra and Bhattacharayya, 2013), Kashmir (Vishnu-Mittre 1966; Vishnu-Mittre & Sharma 1966, VishnuMittre & Robert 1971), Ladakh (Bhattacharyya 1989a), Himachal Pradesh (Sharma 1973; Bhattacharayya 1989b, 1989c; Bera & Gupta 1990), tropical deciduous scrub vegetation in Rajasthan desert (Singh et al. 1973), eastern Madhya Pradesh (Chauhan 1994, 2008; Quamar & Chauhan 2007), southwestern Madhya Pradesh (Quamar & Chauhan 2010, 2011a, 2011b, 2012, 2013a; Chauhan & Quamar 2012a, 2012b), Chhattisgarh (Quamar & Bera 2013a, 2013b, 2013c), Silent Valley, south India (Gupta & Bera 1996), Tamil Nadu (Bera & Gupta 1992), Uttar Pradesh (Sharma et al. 2007; Trivedi & Chauhan 2011)), northeast India (Gupta & Sharma 1985; Bera & Gupta 1992; Bera 2000; Basumatary & Bera 2007, 2010; Dixit & Bera 2011, 2012a, 2012b, 2013; Bera et al. 2012, 2013; Basumatary et al. 2013), South and Little Andaman Islands (Singh et al. 2010) and Odisha (Singh et al. 2011), etc. These studies have provided plausible assessments of the palaeovegetation and contemporary climatic scenarios from their respective regions during the Late Quaternary Period. The present communication, however, reviews the modern pollen rain studies carried out so far from southwestern Madhya Pradesh in India, with a view to refine and strengthen the interpretation of fossil pollen records, allowing the improved resolution of palaeoenvironmental changes (Prentice et al. 1991; Separ et al. 1994). The present study reviews the pattern of modern pollen-rain carried out from south-western Madhya Pradesh, India, which largely revealed Extended Abstract Journal of Biodiversity & Endangered Species 3rd International Conference on Biodiversity & Sustainable Energy Development June 24-26, 2014 Valencia, Spain 1 that Tectona grandis (teak), despite being an enormous pollen producer (7500 average number of absolute pollen/flower) (Bhattacharya et al., 1999) and the dominant forest constituent (80 to 95% of the total forest constituents), is recorded mostly in low frequencies, attributable to its low pollen dispersal efficiency as well as poor pollen preservation in the sediments. However, Madhuca indica (Mahua) and other dominant members of Sapotaceae (cf. Manilkara hexandra and Mimusops elangi) have always shown theirs’ typical behaviour in the pollen spectra and representing in high frequencies, which is assigned to its local abundance around the provenance of the samples, coupled with high dispersal efficiency as well as good pollen preservation in the sediments. Meanwhile, the other usual and characteristic associates of teak (Tectona grandis) in the tropical deciduous forests, despite being the common elements of the forests, are underrepresented, sporadically represented or not represented at all, which could be ascribed to theirs’ low pollen productivity owing to entomogamy. Various factors that affect the deposition pattern of the diverse constituents of the tropical deciduous forests dominated by teak (Tectona grandis) have been discussed and suggestions were also given while interpreting the pollen sequences generated from the sedimentary beds in terms of past vegetation and climate in a chronological order in the region during the Late Quaternary Period. This work is partly presented at 3rd International Conference on Biodiversity & Sustainable Energy Development June 24-26, 2014 Valencia, SpainIn Ethiopia, repeated plowing, complete removal of crop residues at harvest and aftermath grazing of crop fi elds have reduced the biomass return to the soil and aggravated cropland degradation. Conservation Agriculture (CA)-based cropping systems may reduce runoff and soil erosion, and improve soil quality and crop productivity. Thus, a long-term tillage experiment has been carried out (2005 to 20123) on a Vertisol to quantify - among others - changes in runoff and soil loss for two local tillage practices, modifi ed to integrate CA principles in semi-arid northern Ethiopia. The experimental layout was a randomized complete block design with three replications on permanent plots of 5 m by 19 m. The tillage treatments were (i) derdero+ (DER+) with a furrow and permanent raised bed planting system, ploughed only once at planting by refreshing the furrow from 2005 to 2013 and 30% standing crop residue retention, (ii) terwah+ (TER+) with furrows made at 1.5 m interval, plowed once at planting, 30% standing crop residue retention and fresh broad beds, and (iii) conventional tillage (CT) with a minimum of three plain tillage operations and complete removal of crop residues. Wheat, teff, barley and grass pea were grown in rotation. Runoff and soil loss were measured daily. Signifi cantly different (p<0.05) runoff coeffi cients averaged over 9 years were 14, 22 and 30% for DER+, TER+ and CT, respectively. Mean soil losses were 3 t ha-1 y-1 in DER+, 11 in TER+ and 178 in CT. A period of at least three years of cropping was required before improvements in crop yield became signifi cant. Further, modeling of the sediment budgets shows that total soil loss due to sheet and rill erosion in cropland, when CA would be practiced at large scale in a 180 ha catchment, would reduce to 581 t y-1, instead of 1109 t y-1 under the current farmer practice. Using NASA/GISS Model II precipitation projections of IPCC scenario A1FI, CA is estimated to reduce soil loss and runoff and mitigate the effect of increased rainfall due to climate change. For smallholder farmers in semi-arid agro-ecosystems, CA-based systems constitute a fi eld rainwater and soil conservation improvement strategy that enhances crop and economic productivity and reduces siltation of reservoirs, especially under changing climate. Adoption of CA-based systems in the study area requires further work to improve smallholder farmers’ awareness on benefi ts, to guarantee high standards during implementation and to design appropriate weed management strategies.

Uncertain seas ahead: legal and policy approaches to conserving marine biodiversity in the face of changing climate

Climate is a major factor in the habitat, food chains, competition, success and survival of species. Contemporary distributions and abundance of marine species and communities reflect adaptation to geologically recent climatic conditions and the impacts of human activities. Warming of the atmosphere and seawater has occurred in association with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide since the start of the twentieth century. Despite continuing scientific research and wider discussion of the relative roles of anthropogenic greenhouse gas increases and other influences on climate, climate change is occurring. The policy and legal issues have two core components: response to the effects of climate change, and addressing the human activities for which there is reasonable evidence of causation or exacerbation of climate change. For the purpose of this chapter, the focus will be on the response to the effects of climate change, rather than on the issue of anthropogenic causation and exacerbation. The effects of climate change on marine biodiversity flow from increasing water temperature and absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with consequential changes in the chemistry of seawater; the strength and direction of ocean currents; and the intensity, frequency and geographic range of extreme weather events. The expected consequences of recent and projected anthropogenic increases in greenhouse gases on climate change are now considered inevitable, with temperatures set to continue to increase. This is because the period over which any stabilization or return to historic levels would occur is expected to be long. In policy and legal terms, the effects of climate change on marine biodiversity compound and are difficult to separate from the effects caused