Abstract
Integrated ecosystem assessments challenge the broader scientific community to move beyond the important task of tallying insults to marine ecosystems to developing quantitative tools that can support the decisions national and regional resource managers must make.
Highlights
Aseries of prominent and controversial papers about the state of marine ecosystems has occupied the pages of high-profile journals over the last decade [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
We describe our view of integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA), highlighting the ways that they will enhance the ability of resource managers to evaluate cumulative impacts of diverse human activities as well as steer management efforts to achieve multiple simultaneous ecosystem objectives
The basic IEA approach is rooted in formal decision theory, and as in other applications of this paradigm, implementation forces practitioners to confront a dizzying array of issues [16]
Summary
Formal IEAs force decision makers to squarely confront both the spatial and temporal scales over which ecosystem dynamics, management issues, and societal impacts occur. Ecosystem boundaries are human constructs, and IEAs must identify a spatial scale in the context of the issues and problems under consideration. Integrated assessments must, use tools that can imbed hierarchical scales to inform management problems along this continuum. Within this broader spatial context, we envision nested spatial management strategies such as the use of zoned usage patterns. IEAs require attention to the temporal baseline against which current status is compared. Different conclusions may be drawn, for example, when comparing the current status of ecosystem indicators to those measured 25 years versus 75 years ago [38]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
