Scientific approaches to address challenges in coastal management

Abstract

Anthropogenic activity has a negative impact on many coastal ecosystems, compromising the significant direct and indirect socio-economic benefits provided in these areas. Maintaining activities that depend on coastal zones while preserving the ecological state of the ecosystems represents a management challenge. Management of coastal zones requires scientifically based knowledge, due to the complexity of the ecological processes which occur in these ecosystems and because of interaction with the socio-economic system. The effectiveness of coastal management instruments and programmes needs to be evaluated to determine the success of adopted measures and to establish improved goals. Some of the research areas that can support coastal management include marine spatial planning, ecological modelling, development of tools to communicate science to managers, and interaction between coastal ecosystems and socio-economics. This paper reviews management instruments to address coastal zone problems and of some research areas to support management.

Development and Use of a Bioeconomic Model for Management of Mussel Fisheries under Different Nutrient Regimes in the Temperate Estuary of the Limfjord, Denmark

“…Management of the coastal zone represents a challenge and requires science-based knowledge, because of the complexity of the ecological processes and interactions with the socioeconomic system (Nobre 2011). Bioeconomic models and other crosssectorial models that encompass multiple issues are few and far between, as a result of several obstacles, such as lack of data on the appropriate scale, lack of communication across sectors and scientific disciplines, and lack of understanding of system complexity.…”

“…Management of the many interacting pressures calls for scientifically based methods that can help to achieve sustainable use of resources while conserving nature (Nobre 2011). The management systems already in place often control these pressures on a sectorial level, even though attempts have been made to encompass multiple ecosystem components, such as guidelines for the implementation of the ecosystem approach to fisheries framework (Garcia and Cochrane 2005).…”

The need for ecosystem-based coastal planning in Trabzon city

“…Coasts are places that supply economically valuable ecosystem services. Therefore, more than half of the world's economic activities occur in 100km wide coastal zone (Nobre, 2011). Unfortunately, the attractiveness and very high interest in coastal zones have led to coastal degradation in many places of the world seas.…”

“…Unfortunately, the attractiveness and very high interest in coastal zones have led to coastal degradation in many places of the world seas. These can be noticed as deterioration of natural habitats, decreasing rate of biodiversity and rising vulnerability of the coastal areas regarding global climate change (Nobre, 2011).…”

Biodiversity, ecosystems and coastal zone management: linking science and policy

“…Thus, in the context of marine ecosystem management, it is important to continually assess the data available and develop management approaches (Mora & Sale 2011, this Theme Section), aiming to translate research capability into policy as efficiently as possible (Cook et al 2011, this Theme Section). In conjunction with the science required to provide information on the current status of ecosystems, there is also a need to interpret potential consequences of human activity and to develop methods of predicting how ecosystems and their associated biodiversity will respond in the future (Nobre et al 2011, Townsend et al 2011. This on-going work is of increasing importance, as the impact of climate change and demographic pressures increasingly reduce the functionality of coastal systems.…”