Ecosystem services for supporting coastal and marine resources management, an example from the Adriatic sea (Central Mediterranean sea)

Abstract

Ecosystem Services (ESs) assessment is increasingly considered the constitutive metric to embrace the social, ecological, and economic spheres. Spatially explicit ES assessments can integrate and standardize different types of information, making them comparable. In this context, a multiple coastal and marine ESs assessment in the Northern-Central Adriatic Sea was carried out, considering seven ESs. Two cultural (tourism and recreational boating), two regulating (carbon sequestration and coastal erosion prevention potential), and three provisioning (mussel, whitefish aquaculture, and industrial fishery) ESs have been measured. The spatial analysis described (un)sustainable human uses of ecosystems in the area. (De)coupling of ES capacities and flows and synergies and tradeoffs among ESs were analyzed. Results indicate spatial agreement for capacities, while contrasting results emerged from the analysis across flows and of the capacity-flow balance. The evidence of a geographical pattern and areas of high, medium, and low capability to provide ESs across the study area was highlighted, suggesting the need for implementing the natural resources management. Some coastal provinces maximize a single ES at the detriment of other ESs, and other provinces built mimics of Nature through artificial facilities. These strategies are not far-sighted in the view of conserving the supply of the whole ESs set. These findings might be useful in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), and for the implementation of the Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) in the Northern-Central Adriatic Sea.