The matrix revisited: A bird's-eye view of marine ecosystem service provision

Abstract

The marine environment provides a range of ecosystem services and benefits for society. A previous study in Marine Policy [1] advocated a matrix approach to demonstrate the relative degree of ecosystem service provision from habitats and species within UK Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), but excluded seabird species in its assessment. Despite the number of existing UK MPAs designated specifically for individual seabird species and/or seabird assemblages, and the fact that seabird species have long been used as policy-relevant indicators for the monitoring and management of the marine environment, as yet little research has focussed on the direct role of seabird species in the provision of ecosystem services and how these are captured for marine spatial planning purposes in the context of MPAs. Building on the matrix approach, this paper develops and populates a matrix to illustrate the relationship between key UK breeding seabird species and their relative contribution to the delivery of intermediate ecosystem services and goods/benefits. The original matrix approach has been strengthen to include the development and testing of a set of rules for combining multiple matrices. Confidence scores relating to the underlying evidence base are built into the matrix to provide an illustration of the current understanding and to identify current gaps in evidence. Following a sense check by external seabird experts the matrix is applied in the context of four existing UK MPA case study sites. Further developments and applications of the seabird matrix are discussed within the context of wider marine management. Research Highlights: A seabird matrix was developed and populated for relative ecosystem service provision  Rules were established and tested for combining scores from multiple matrices  Confidence scores were applied to the evidence base underlying the assessment  Application to case study sites demonstrates the value of applying a matrix approach

Linkage Frameworks: An Exploration Tool for Complex Systems in Ecosystem-Based Management

“…Weighting can also be given a numerical value. For example, Potts et al (2014) and Burdon et al (2017) weighted different protected habitats and seabirds, respectively, in terms of their importance for supplying different services. Teixeira et al (2019) built on this approach, weighting the links between parts of the ecosystem and ecosystem services based on: (1) expert judgement, taking into account how important a habitat is in supplying a particular service in a particular region (supply potential); (2) the area of that habitat (supply capacity); and (3) the condition the habitat is in (supply condition).…”

Expanding the role of participatory mapping to assess ecosystem service provision in local coastal environments

“…After the mapping exercises, the stakeholders at the East Caithness and Aberdeen Bay workshops were provided with edited versions of the ecosystem service matrices, developed by Potts et al (2014) for UK habitats and species and by Burdon et al (2017) for UK seabirds. The Matrix Approach recognises the relative importance of protected UK marine features in delivering ecosystem services and societal benefits (as defined by the UKNEAFO, 2014), highlights the confidence in the relationship between a particular feature and the ecosystem services they deliver, and thus provides a valuable visual tool for stakeholder engagement.…”

“…Beaumont et al, 2007;UKNEAFO, 2014;Friedrich et al, 2015;Turner et al, 2015;CoastWEB 1 ). Further scientific effort has focussed on the identification of indicators to assess state, behaviour and trajectory of marine ecosystem services (Hattam et al, 2015a;Atkins et al, 2015) and how important designated marine habitats and species at a national scale are in delivering individual services and/or benefits Potts et al, 2014;Saunders et al, 2015;Burdon et al, 2017).…”

Even at the uttermost ends of the Earth: how seabirds telecouple the Beagle Channel with regional and global processes that affect environmental conservation and social-ecological sustainability

“…3). In turn, well-regulated tourism provides an opportunity to enhance a specific cultural ecosystem service provided by seabirds and their marine ecosystems (tourism), but also other contributions of nature are simultaneously maintained, such as food, transportation, nutrient cycling, identity, knowledge, and aesthetic land/seascapes (Burdon et al 2017). On the other hand, poorly regulated tourism can affect nature's contributions to people, degrading these same benefits via the direct impact of the human visitation or indirect effects like the introduction of invasive exotic flora and fauna (Kirch 1982).…”

“…However, this status does not imply any enforceable legal protection. In turn, these birds and their associated marine ecosystem contribute to all four ecosystem service categories delineated by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2003), including provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services (Whelan et al 2008, Burdon et al 2017, Ferreira et al 2017. Indeed, because of their abundance, diversity, and charisma, seabirds in the BC have been important to humans for millennia (Caviglia 2012), and today, they also constitute the main attraction for an expanding tourism industry for both Argentina and Chile (Raya Rey and Schiavini 2000, Schiavini and Raya Rey 2001, Reyes Arriagada et al 2015, Nahuelhual et al 2017.…”