Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Kraan, Casper
• Haslob, Holger
• Probst, Wolfgang N.
• Stelzenmüller, Vanessa
• Rehren, Jennifer
• Neumann, Hermann

Titel

Thresholds of seascape fauna composition along gradients of human pressures and natural conditions to inform marine spatial planning

Ist Teil von

• The Science of the total environment, 2024-03, Vol.914, p.169940-169940, Article 169940

Ort / Verlag

Netherlands: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Knowledge about the cumulative impacts of anthropogenic activities and environmental conditions on marine ecosystems is incomplete and details are lacking. Compositional community changes can occur along gradients, and community data can be used to assess the state of community resilience against combined impacts of variables representing human pressures and environmental conditions. Here we use a machine learning approach, i.e., Gradient Forest, to identify explanatory variable thresholds and select relevant epibenthic fauna and demersal fish species, which can be used to inform an integrated management of multiple human pressures and conservation planning in the southern North Sea. We show that a broad selection of anthropogenic and environmental variables, such as natural disturbance of the seafloor and euphotic depth, determined community composition thresholds of 67 epibenthic fauna and 39 demersal fish species along environmental conditions and human pressure gradients in the southern North Sea between 2010 and 2020. This has the potential to inform resilience assessments under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive to promote and retain a good environmental status of marine ecosystems. [Display omitted] •Marine biodiversity is impacted by human activities and environmental conditions•Using community data enables a holistic approach to identify critical human pressures and environmental conditions•Defining thresholds of human pressures and environmental conditions informs management and conservation measures•Spatial planning requires an integrated assessment framework covering multiple species