Combining eight research areas to foster the uptake of ecosystem‐based management in fresh waters

Abstract

Freshwater ecosystems are under a constant risk of being irreversibly damaged by human pressures that threaten their biodiversity, the sustainability of ecosystem services (ESs), and human well‐being. Despite the implementation of various environmental regulations, the challenges of safeguarding freshwater assets have so far not been tackled successfully. A promising way forward to stop the loss of freshwater biodiversity and to sustain freshwater‐based ESs is by implementing ecosystem‐based management (EBM), an environmental planning and adaptive management approach that jointly considers social and ecological needs. Responsible for considerable recent success in sustainably managing and conserving marine ecosystems, EBM has not yet been championed for fresh waters. A major reason for the delayed uptake of EBM in fresh waters is likely to be its complexity, requiring planners to be familiar with the latest developments in a range of different research areas. EBM would therefore benefit from becoming more tangible to receive attention on the ground. To facilitate uptake, eight core research areas for EBM and their innovations are introduced, and the way in which they feed into the workflow that guides the EBM planning stage is explained. The workflow links biodiversity distributions with ES supply‐and‐demand modelling and SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely) target planning, including scenario‐ and cross‐realm perspectives, the prioritization of management alternatives, spatial prioritization of biodiversity conservation and ES areas, and the quantification of uncertainties. Given the extensive resources, time, and technical capacity required to implement the full workflow, a light and an ultralight version of the workflow are also provided. Applied in concert, the eight well‐known research areas allow for better planning and operationalizing, and eventually for implementing EBM in freshwater ecosystems. EBM has great potential to increase public acceptance by introducing the consideration of human needs and aspirations into typically biodiversity‐driven conservation and management approaches. This will ultimately improve the integrity of freshwater ecosystems.

Ecosystem-Based Management to Support Conservation and Restoration Efforts in the Danube Basin

“…The two integrated modelling studies (Domisch et al 2019;Funk et al 2019) exemplify how different holistic approaches can be used to identify management options which consider ecological integrity biodiversity resilience and ESS (Principle 1). Both implementations of the quantitative model coupling framework for EBM (Langhans et al 2019), confirms how biodiversity and ESS estimates can be jointly simulated within the DRB given the availability of requisite data and models. It demonstrates that the method is very flexible and the criteria and models used are broadly applicable and the approach is transferable to other aquatic systems (Funk et al 2019.…”

“…A linkage framework approach (Borgwardt et al 2019;Teixeira et al 2019; was used to assess the relationships between different activities within the catchment and their relations to biodiversity and ecosystem services. The potential of EBM was also tested within two quantitative studies following an EBM planning framework based on a generic model-coupling approach proposed by Langhans et al (2019). The workflow consists of three elements a spatial (model-based) representation of (1) biodiversity,…”

“…The core principle of Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) is to concurrently consider biodiversity and human society as integral parts of the ecosystem and manage the socio-ecological system as a whole (Domisch et al 2019;Langhans et al 2019). Delacámara et al (2020) review the many 'flavours' of EBM to identify six characteristics or principles, which set EBM apart from other types of management:…”

Theory and practice to conserve freshwater biodiversity in the Anthropocene

“…Broadening the scope of water planning is a cornerstone of the description of ecosystem‐based management (EBM) by Langhans et al (). The article introduces innovations in eight core research areas for EBM, including modelling species distribution, ecosystem services supply and demand; planning with SMART targets, scenarios and across realms; evaluating and prioritizing management strategies; spatial planning for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services; and quantifying uncertainties.…”

“…the discussion of fish passageways by Birnie‐Gauvin, Franklin, Wilkes, & Aarestrup, ). Similarly, Langhans et al () draw attention to the importance of evaluating management strategies and quantifying their uncertainties.…”