Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services

Worm, Boris; Barbier, Edward B.; Beaumont, Nicola; Duffy, J. Emmett; Folke, Carl; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Jackson, Jeremy B. C.; Lotze, Heike K.; Micheli, Fiorenza; Palumbi, Stephen R.; Sala, Enric; Selkoe, Kimberley A.; Stachowicz, John J.; Watson, Reg

doi:10.1126/science.1132294

Cited by 3,612 publications

(2,528 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Restoration of water quality resulted in the return of >110 fish species to the Thames estuary (Figure 3b) [13] and the recovery of intertidal macroalgal communities from 1984 to 2006 after implementing sewage treatment in Bilbao, Spain [66]. Cessation of exploitation in marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world resulted in significant increases in species richness of fishes and invertebrates [15,22] and habitat restoration of oyster reefs has enhanced associated species diversity [67].…”

Section: Species Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the review largely dealt with recovery from shorter-term impacts, such as eutrophication and oil spills, rather than long-term impacts, such as exploitation or habitat loss. Other studies showed that recovery often depends on intrinsic factors, such as life-history characteristics and genetic diversity [20], extrinsic factors, such as the type and magnitude of disturbance [21][22][23], and the conservation and management measures applied to reduce human impacts [3,8,9]. Thus, a broader and more nuanced treatment of marine recovery patterns and drivers is warranted.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Recovery of marine animal populations and ecosystems

Lotze¹,

Coll²,

Magera³

et al. 2011

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

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Many marine populations and ecosystems have experienced strong historical depletions, yet reports of recoveries are increasing. Here, we review the growing research on marine recoveries to reveal how common recovery is, its magnitude, timescale and major drivers. Overall, 10-50% of depleted populations and ecosystems show some recovery, but rarely to former levels of abundance. In addition, recovery can take many decades for long-lived species and complex ecosystems. Major drivers of recovery include the reduction of human impacts, especially exploitation, habitat loss and pollution, combined with favorable life-history and environmental conditions. Awareness, legal protection and enforcement of management plans are also crucial. Learning from historical recovery successes and failures is essential for implementing realistic conservation goals and promising management strategies.A new focus on recovery An increasing number of studies have reported strong declines in marine animal populations and the degradation of ocean ecosystems over past decades and centuries around the world [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], leading to a widespread perception of empty oceans and polluted waters. Yet, throughout history, humans have responded to declining resource abundance and ecosystem degradation by implementing management and conservation measures. Some of these have been successful and resulted in recovery, whereas others have failed [3,8,9].Therefore, an important question to science and management is: how common is recovery among depleted populations and degraded ecosystems in the ocean? Today, many marine mammal, bird, reptile and fish populations are at low abundance, and several species are endangered or extinct on regional or global scales [5,[10][11][12]. However, despite long periods of intense human impacts, most marine species persist and some populations do show signs of recovery [3,8,9]. Similarly, many coastal habitats, including wetlands, seagrass beds, mangrove and kelp forests, and oyster and coral reefs, have been severely reduced or degraded [2][3][4]6], yet partial recovery has been achieved in some regions in response to protection and pollution controls [3,13]. Restoration attempts at an ecosystem level have often been followed by the return and recovery of former species assemblages and ecosystem functions [13][14][15][16][17], but some ecosystems have remained in an altered state [18]. Such successes could serve as important guides for efforts to prevent further biodiversity loss and enhance future recoveries.Despite a growing number of case studies on the recovery of specific populations or ecosystems, an overview of the general patterns and drivers of marine recoveries over historical timescales is lacking. A recent review on the recovery of damaged ecosystems found that many terrestrial and marine ecosystems can recover on timescales of a few years to a few decades after major perturbations [19]. However, most case studies in the review, especially among marine and brackish examples, included small, short-...

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Section: Species Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of marine animal populations and ecosystems

Lotze¹,

Coll²,

Magera³

et al. 2011

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Self Cite

358

316

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show abstract

“…Experimental evidence for a relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem process rates is compelling (Balvanera et al 2006). Marine biodiversity loss is increasingly impairing the ocean's capacity to provide food, maintain water quality, and recover from perturbations (Worm et al 2006). The realization of these losses in biodiversity has resulted in regulatory and management decisions that suggest biodiversity or conservation banking (Carroll et al 2008).…”

Section: Environmental Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Elements of Human Well-Being with an Emphasis on the Contribution of Ecosystem Services

Summers

Smith

Case

et al. 2012

AMBIO

311

156

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Natural ecosystems perform fundamental lifesupport services upon which human civilization depends. However, many people believe that nature provides these services for free and therefore, they are of little or no value. While we do not pay for them, we pay significantly for their loss in terms of wastewater treatment facilities, moratoriums on greenhouse gases, increased illnesses, reduced soil fertility and losses in those images of nature that contribute to our basic happiness. Little is understood about the well-being benefits of the natural environment and its ecosystem services. The interwoven relationship of ecosystems and human well-being is insufficiently acknowledged in the wider philosophical, social, and economic well-being literature. In this article, we discuss an approach to examine human well-being and the interactions of its four primary elements-basic human needs, economic needs, environmental needs, and subjective wellbeing-and ecosystem services.

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“…These are specific casestudies that span two different types of coast: one in an enclosed brackish water sea and one bordering the highly exploited North Sea continental shelf. However, offshore fisheries and coastal exploitation are global forces that have had significant effects on continental seas world-wide , Worm et al 2006. Examples from both Suggested human-driven shifts in the structure of higher trophic levels in marine food webs and resulting consequences for the relation between offshore and nearshore fish communities (see also Eriksson et al 2010).…”

Section: Managing Interactions Between Nearshore Communities and Offsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Altered Offshore Food Webs on Coastal Ecosystems Emphasize the Need for Cross-Ecosystem Management

Eriksson

Sieben

Eklöf

et al. 2011

AMBIO

113

144

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By mainly targeting larger predatory fish, commercial fisheries have indirectly promoted rapid increases in densities of their prey; smaller predatory fish like sprat, stickleback and gobies. This process, known as mesopredator release, has effectively transformed many marine offshore basins into mesopredator-dominated ecosystems. In this article, we discuss recent indications of trophic cascades on the Atlantic and Baltic coasts of Sweden, where increased abundances of mesopredatory fish are linked to increased nearshore production and biomass of ephemeral algae. Based on synthesis of monitoring data, we suggest that offshore exploitation of larger predatory fish has contributed to the increase in mesopredator fish also along the coasts, with indirect negative effects on important benthic habitats and coastal water quality. The results emphasize the need to rebuild offshore and coastal populations of larger predatory fish to levels where they regain their control over lower trophic levels and important links between offshore and coastal systems are restored.

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Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services

Cited by 3,612 publications

References 23 publications

Recovery of marine animal populations and ecosystems

Recovery of marine animal populations and ecosystems

A Review of the Elements of Human Well-Being with an Emphasis on the Contribution of Ecosystem Services

Effects of Altered Offshore Food Webs on Coastal Ecosystems Emphasize the Need for Cross-Ecosystem Management

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