A global horizon scan of issues impacting marine and coastal biodiversity conservation

Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 6, pages1262–1270
Authors

Herbert-Read, J.E., Thornton, A., Amon, D.J. et al.
Publication year 2022
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01812-0
Affiliations
  • Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. jh2223@cam.ac.uk.
  • Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK. at915@cam.ac.uk.
  • SpeSeas, D'Abadie, Trinidad and Tobago.
  • Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
  • The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Lowestoft, UK.
  • Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
  • Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Department of Animal Biology, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
  • BirdLife International, The David Attenborough Building, Cambridge, UK.
  • Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.
  • Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
  • School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
  • British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, UK.
  • ECOMARE, CESAM-Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Santiago University Campus, Aveiro, Portugal.
  • Laboratory of Marine Sciences (UNDECIMAR), Faculty of Sciences, University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay.
  • Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium.
  • School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  • Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
  • Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood Campus, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.
  • Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
  • Department of Biology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean, Mombasa, Kenya.
  • School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
  • Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
  • Servício de Hidrografía Naval, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • Instituto Franco-Argentino sobre Estudios de Clima y sus Impactos, CONICET/CNRS, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
  • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Oceans and Atmosphere, Queensland Biosciences Precinct, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
  • Instituto Antártico Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC-CONICET), Ushuaia, Argentina.
  • Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur, Ushuaia, Argentina.
  • Department of Ocean Sciences and Biology Department, Memorial University, St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
  • Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, York, UK.
  • Lighthouse Field Station, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cromarty, UK.
  • Institute of Marine Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.
  • Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.
  • School of Biological Sciences, Area of Ecology and Biodiversity, Swire Institute of Marine Science, Institute for Climate and Carbon Neutrality, Musketeers Foundation Institute of Data Science, and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, The University of Hong Kong, Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building, Hong Kong, China.
  • Biosecurity Research Initiative at St Catharine's (BioRISC), St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
IAI Program

This Marine and Coastal Horizon Scan was funded by Oceankind. S.N.R.B. is supported by EcoStar (DM048) and Cefas (My time). R.C. acknowledges FCT/MCTES for the financial support to CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020, UIDB/50017/2020, LA/P/0094/2020) through national funds. O.D. is supported by CSIC Uruguay and Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. J.E.H.-R. is supported by the Whitten Lectureship in Marine Biology. S.A.K. is supported by a Natural Environment Research Council grant (NE/S00050X/1). P.I.M. is supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP200100575). D.M.P. is supported by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS). A.R.P. is supported by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. W.J.S. is funded by Arcadia. A.T. is supported by Oceankind. M.Y. is supported by the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative and bioDISCOVERY. We are grateful to everyone who submitted ideas to the exercise and the following who are not authors but who suggested a topic that made the final list: R. Brown (colocation of marine activities), N. Graham and C. Hicks (altered nutritional content of fish), A. Thornton (soft robotics), A. Vincent (fish swim bladders) and T. Webb (mesopelagic fisheries).
IAI Project SGP-HW 017
Keywords
Animals
Biodiversity
Climate Change
Ecosystem
Humans
PDFA global horizon scan of issues impacting marine and coastal biodiversity conservation.pdf

Abstract

The biodiversity of marine and coastal habitats is experiencing unprecedented change. While there are well-known drivers of these changes, such as overexploitation, climate change and pollution, there are also relatively unknown emerging issues that are poorly understood or recognized that have potentially positive or negative impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems. In this inaugural Marine and Coastal Horizon Scan, we brought together 30 scientists, policymakers and practitioners with transdisciplinary expertise in marine and coastal systems to identify new issues that are likely to have a significant impact on the functioning and conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity over the next 5&ndash10 years. Based on a modified Delphi voting process, the final 15 issues presented were distilled from a list of 75 submitted by participants at the start of the process. These issues are grouped into three categories: ecosystem impacts, for example the impact of wildfires and the effect of poleward migration on equatorial biodiversity resource exploitation, including an increase in the trade of fish swim bladders and increased exploitation of marine collagens and new technologies, such as soft robotics and new biodegradable products. Our early identification of these issues and their potential impacts on marine and coastal biodiversity will support scientists, conservationists, resource managers and policymakers to address the challenges facing marine ecosystems.