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The impact of otter trawling on the relationship between functional traits of benthic invertebrates and specific biogeochemical processes were investigated in the oligotrophic Cretan Sea. The fishery is managed through a seasonal closure during the summer. During two seasons (winter and summer) replicate samples were taken from the field from a commercial trawl ground and an adjacent control area. Environmental parameters related to sediment biogeochemistry were measured including particulate organic carbon, sedimentary organic carbon, bottom water and sedimentary chlorophyll a and phaeopigment concentrations as well as benthic oxygen consumption. A significant impact of trawling was recorded only for bottom water chlorophyll and sedimentary organic carbon. Furthermore, the links between species traits and specific ecosystem processes were affected by trawling, highlighting the importance of unique functional modalities on ecosystem functioning. The traits that mostly influenced benthic biogeochemistry in the control sites were related to bioturbation and burrowing activities. In contrast, in the trawled sites, the associated traits were related to more opportunistic lifestyles and deposit feeding species that do not act as bioturbators. Thus, under trawling disturbance, this shift can decouple the species-sediment relations and affect nutrient cycling.

Despite a growing interest in interdisciplinary research, systematic ways of how to integrate data from different disciplines are still scarce. We argue that successful resource management relies on two key data sources: natural science data, which represents ecosystem structure and processes, and social science data, which describes people's perceptions and understanding. Both are vital, mutually complementing information sources that can underpin the development of feasible and effective policies and management interventions. To harvest the added value of combined knowledge, a uniform scaling system is needed. In this paper, we propose a standardized methodology to connect and explore different types of quantitative data from the natural and social sciences reflecting temporal trends in ecosystem quality. We demonstrate this methodology with different types of data such as fisheries stocks and mangrove cover on the one hand and community's perceptions on the other. The example data are collected from three United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere reserves and one marine park in Southeast Asia. To easily identify patterns of convergence or divergence among the datasets, we propose heat maps using colour codes and icons for language- and education-independent understandability. Finally, we discuss the limitations as well as potential implications for resource management and the accompanying communication strategies. This article is part of the theme issue 'Nurturing resilient marine ecosystems'.

Marine spatial planning that addresses ocean climate-driven change ('climate-smart MSP') is a global aspiration to support economic growth, food security and ecosystem sustainability. Ocean climate change ('CC') modelling may become a key decision-support tool for MSP, but traditional modelling analysis and communication challenges prevent their broad uptake. We employed MSP-specific ocean climate modelling analyses to inform a real-life MSP process; addressing how nature conservation and fisheries could be adapted to CC. We found that the currently planned distribution of these activities may become unsustainable during the policy's implementation due to CC, leading to a shortfall in its sustainability and blue growth targets. Significant, climate-driven ecosystem-level shifts in ocean components underpinning designated sites and fishing activity were estimated, reflecting different magnitudes of shifts in benthic versus pelagic, and inshore versus offshore habitats. Supporting adaptation, we then identified: CC refugia (areas where the ecosystem remains within the boundaries of its present state); CC hotspots (where climate drives the ecosystem towards a new state, inconsistent with each sectors' present use distribution); and for the first time, identified bright spots (areas where oceanographic processes drive range expansion opportunities that may support sustainable growth in the medium term). We thus create the means to: identify where sector-relevant ecosystem change is attributable to CC; incorporate resilient delivery of conservation and sustainable ecosystem management aims into MSP; and to harness opportunities for blue growth where they exist. Capturing CC bright spots alongside refugia within protected areas may present important opportunities to meet sustainability targets while helping support the fishing sector in a changing climate. By capitalizing on the natural distribution of climate resilience within ocean ecosystems, such climate-adaptive spatial management strategies could be seen as nature-based solutions to limit the impact of CC on ocean ecosystems and dependent blue economy sectors, paving the way for climate-smart MSP., (© 2021 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused (and continues to cause) severe disruption in global and local economies and has forced countries, societies, and individuals to adapt quickly to the unprecedented and unpredictable situations. Despite the obvious negative consequences of the pandemic, many have called for efforts to identify transformative opportunities for sustainable development throughout this disorderly time. In the present paper, we explore such potential opportunities in the context of an interdisciplinary, international research project, which is focusing on sustainable marine management in biosphere reserves and marine parks in Southeast Asia. During a virtual workshop conducted as part of the GCRF (Government's Global Challenges Research Fund) Blue Communities Project, future scenarios were developed depicting the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on five case study sites. All of these sites are in areas of internationally recognized outstanding ecological value (Taka Bonerate Kepulauan-Selayar Biosphere Reserve, Indonesia; Tun Mustapha Park, Sabah, Malaysia; Palawan Biosphere Reserve, Philippines; North Devon Biosphere Reserve, United Kingdom; Cu Lao Cham-Hoi An Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam). At the macro-level, economies, governance structures, and societal norms are undergoing big changes. At the micro-level, the livelihoods, lifestyles, and backyards of local residents have to adapt. Collaboratively, we explored how COVID-19 posed challenges in our five case study sites, but we also focused on the potential COVID-19-related windows of opportunity for future sustainable development. Opportunities could be identified in all three pillars of sustainable development: the environment, the society, and the economy. Although remarkable similarities can be found across all five sites, we conclude that there cannot be a "one-size-fits-all" solution to turn the tide toward achieving sustainable development. Just as before the pandemic, sustainable development starts with engaging with and understanding local environments, challenges, and situations; building on local knowledge; and developing tailor-made solutions for the communities in situ ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Richter, Avillanosa, Cheung, Goh, Johari, Kay, Maharja, Nguyễn, Pahl, Sugardjito, Sumeldan, van Nguyen, Vu, Wan Mohamad Ariffin and Austen.)

This study presents valuations of components of marine natural capital that have hitherto been overlooked by the valuation literature. Using a discrete choice experiment, it values a set of ecosystem services linked to seabed natural capital in the UK section of the North Sea. The study focuses on offshore seabed habitats, using Good Environmental Status as a measure of seabed health, thus linking directly to management targets under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. It considers how changing pressures on seabed habitats could affect marine industries and other ecosystems through trade-offs with (1) the contribution that exploitation of these habitats makes to the maritime cultural heritage; and (2) changes to the health of seabird populations. For seabed habitats and seabirds, the elicited values mainly represent non-use values for changes in the condition of natural capital assets. For maritime cultural heritage the valuation refers to the changed provision of this cultural ecosystem service. Results show that the public in England hold significant, strongly correlated, values for changes in the condition of offshore seabeds and seabird populations. Projected losses in maritime cultural heritage are found to lead to expected welfare decreases. Implications of these findings for marine planning and decision-making are discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This research takes a holistic approach to considering the consequences of marine plastic pollution. A semi-systematic literature review of 1191 data points provides the basis to determine the global ecological, social and economic impacts. An ecosystem impact analysis demonstrates that there is global evidence of impact with medium to high frequency on all subjects, with a medium to high degree of irreversibility. A novel translation of these ecological impacts into ecosystem service impacts provides evidence that all ecosystem services are impacted to some extent by the presence of marine plastic, with a reduction in provision predicted for all except one. This reduction in ecosystem service provision is evidenced to have implications for human health and wellbeing, linked particularly to fisheries, heritage and charismatic species, and recreation., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Our understanding of ecological processes that lead to ecosystem services is still evolving but ecological research aims to understand the linkages between the ecosystem and services. These linkages can affect trade-offs between different ecosystem services. Understanding these linkages, by considering multiple ecosystem services simultaneously supports management of the environment and sustainable use of resources. The UK marine environment is relatively data rich, yet the links between ecosystem and several ecosystem services and linkages between services are poorly described. A workshop with 35 marine scientists was used to create a conceptual model that links ecosystem components and key processes to four services they provide and to highlight trade-offs between them. The model was subsequently further developed to include pressures and mitigating management measures. The models are discussed in terms of their application to marine data to facilitate evidence-based marine management and their usefulness to communicate management measures with managers and stakeholders., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) is widely recognized as a useful, though often controversial, approach to conservation and management. However, its use in the marine environment, hence evidence of its efficacy, lags behind that in terrestrial ecosystems. This largely reflects key challenges to marine conservation and management such as the practical difficulties in studying the ocean, complex governance issues and the historically-rooted separation of biodiversity conservation and resource management. Given these challenges together with the accelerating loss of marine biodiversity (and threats to the ES that this biodiversity supports), we ask whether valuation efforts for marine ecosystems are appropriate and effective. We compare three contrasting systems: the tropical Pacific, Southern Ocean and UK coastal seas. In doing so, we reveal a diversity in valuation approaches with different rates of progress and success. We also find a tendency to focus on specific ES (often the harvested species) rather than biodiversity. In light of our findings, we present a new conceptual view of valuation that should ideally be considered in decision-making. Accounting for the critical relationships between biodiversity and ES, together with an understanding of ecosystem structure and functioning, will enable the wider implications of marine conservation and management decisions to be evaluated. We recommend embedding valuation within existing management structures, rather than treating it as an alternative or additional mechanism. However, we caution that its uptake and efficacy will be compromised without the ability to develop and share best practice across regions., (© 2016 The Authors.)

The Paris Conference of Parties (COP21) agreement renewed momentum for action against climate change, creating the space for solutions for conservation of the ocean addressing two of its largest threats: climate change and ocean acidification (CCOA). Recent arguments that ocean policies disregard a mature conservation research field and that protected areas cannot address climate change may be oversimplistic at this time when dynamic solutions for the management of changing oceans are needed. We propose a novel approach, based on spatial meta-analysis of climate impact models, to improve the positioning of marine protected areas to limit CCOA impacts. We do this by estimating the vulnerability of ocean ecosystems to CCOA in a spatially explicit manner and then co-mapping human activities such as the placement of renewable energy developments and the distribution of marine protected areas. We test this approach in the NE Atlantic considering also how CCOA impacts the base of the food web which supports protected species, an aspect often neglected in conservation studies. We found that, in this case, current regional conservation plans protect areas with low ecosystem-level vulnerability to CCOA, but disregard how species may redistribute to new, suitable and productive habitats. Under current plans, these areas remain open to commercial extraction and other uses. Here, and worldwide, ocean conservation strategies under CCOA must recognize the long-term importance of these habitat refuges, and studies such as this one are needed to identify them. Protecting these areas creates adaptive, climate-ready and ecosystem-level policy options for conservation, suitable for changing oceans., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The implementation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is ultimately a social endeavour to sustain or improve human well-being via the conservation of marine ecosystems. The degree to which ecological gains are realised can depend upon how economic, ecological and social costs (negative impacts) and benefits (positive impacts) are included in the designation and management process. Without the support of key stakeholder groups whose user rights have been affected by the creation of an MPA, human impacts cannot be reduced. This study analyses a three year dataset to understand the themes associated with the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits of an MPA in Lyme Bay, United Kingdom (UK) following its establishment in 2008. Methodologically, the paper presents an ecosystem based management framework for analysing costs and benefits. Two hundred and forty one individuals were interviewed via questionnaire between 2008 and 2010 to determine perceptions and the level of support towards the MPA. Results reveal that despite the contentious manner in which this MPA was established, support for the MPA is strong amongst the majority of stakeholder groups. The level of support and the reasons given for support vary between stakeholder groups. Overall, the stakeholders perceive the social, economic and environmental benefits of the MPA to outweigh the perceived costs. There have been clear social costs of the MPA policy and these have been borne by mobile and static gear fishermen and charter boat operators. Local support for this MPA bodes well for the development of a network of MPAs around the UK coast under the United Kingdom Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. However, this initial optimism is at risk if stakeholder expectation is not managed and the management vacuum is not filled., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Nematodes and fungi are both ubiquitous in marine environments, yet few studies have investigated relationships between these two groups. Microbial species share many well-documented interactions with both free-living and parasitic nematode species, and limited data from previous studies have suggested ecological associations between fungi and nematodes in benthic marine habitats. This study aimed to further document the taxonomy and distribution of fungal taxa often co-amplified from nematode specimens. A total of 15 fungal 18S rRNA phylotypes were isolated from nematode specimens representing both deep-sea and shallow water habitats; all fungal isolates displayed high pairwise sequence identities with published data in Genbank (99-100%) and unpublished high-throughput 454 environmental datasets (>95%). BLAST matches indicate marine fungal sequences amplified in this study broadly represent taxa within the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, and several phylotypes showed robust groupings with known taxa in phylogenetic topologies. In addition, some fungal phylotypes appeared to be present in disparate geographic habitats, suggesting cosmopolitan distributions or closely related species complexes in at least some marine fungi. The present study was only able to isolate fungal DNA from a restricted set of nematode taxa; further work is needed to fully investigate the taxonomic scope and function of nematode-fungal interactions.

Policy makers are increasingly recognising the role of environmental valuation to guide and support the management and conservation of biodiversity. This paper presents a goods and services approach to determine the economic value of marine biodiversity in the UK, with the aim of clarifying the role of valuation in the management of marine biodiversity. The goods and services resulting from UK marine biodiversity are detailed, and 8 of the 13 services are valued in monetary terms. It is found that a decline in UK marine biodiversity could result in a varying, and at present unpredictable, change in the provision of goods and services, including reduced resilience and resistance to change, declining marine environmental health, reduced fisheries potential, and loss of recreational opportunities. The results suggest that this approach can facilitate biodiversity management by enabling the optimal allocation of limited management resources and through raising awareness of the importance of marine biodiversity.

This paper identifies and defines ecosystem goods and services provided by marine biodiversity. Case studies have been used to provide an insight into the practical issues associated with the assessment of marine ecosystem goods and services at specific locations. The aim of this research was to validate the definitions of goods and services, and to identify knowledge gaps and likely difficulties of quantifying the goods and services. A validated theoretical framework for the assessment of goods and services is detailed, and examples of the goods and services at a variety of case study areas are documented. These results will enable future assessments of marine ecosystem goods and services. It is concluded that the utilisation of this goods and services approach has the capacity to play a fundamental role in the Ecosystem Approach, by enabling the pressures and demands of society, the economy and the environment to be integrated into environmental management.

Phylogenetic reconstructions of relations within the phylum Nematoda are inherently difficult but have been advanced with the introduction of large-scale molecular-based techniques. However, the most recent revisions were heavily biased towards terrestrial and parasitic species and greater representation of clades containing marine species (e.g. Araeolaimida, Chromadorida, Desmodorida, Desmoscolecida, Enoplida, and Monhysterida) is needed for accurate coverage of known taxonomic diversity. We now add small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) sequences for 100 previously un-sequenced species of nematodes, including 46 marine taxa. SSU rDNA sequences for >200 taxa have been analysed based on Bayesian inference and LogDet-transformed distances. The resulting phylogenies provide support for (i) the re-classification of the Secernentea as the order Rhabditida that derived from a common ancestor of chromadorean orders Araeolaimida, Chromadorida, Desmodorida, Desmoscolecida, and Monhysterida and (ii) the position of Bunonema close to the Diplogasteroidea in the Rhabditina. Other, previously controversial relationships can now be resolved more clearly: (a) Alaimus, Campydora, and Trischistoma belong in the Enoplida, (b) Isolaimium is placed basally to a big clade containing the Axonolaimidae, Plectidae, and Rhabditida, (c) Xyzzors belongs in the Desmodoridae, (d) Comesomatidae and Cyartonema belongs in the Monhysterida, (e) Globodera belongs in the Hoplolaimidae and (f) Paratylenchus dianeae belongs in the Criconematoidea. However, the SSU gene did not provide significant support for the class Chromadoria or clear evidence for the relationship between the three classes, Enoplia, Dorylaimia, and Chromadoria. Furthermore, across the whole phylum, the phylogenetically informative characters of the SSU gene are not informative in a parsimony analysis, highlighting the short-comings of the parsimony method for large-scale phylogenetic modelling.

Microcosm experiments have been carried out with whole natural meiobenthic communities to look at the effects of TBT sediment contamination on the community structure of the dominant nematode component of the meiobenthos. TBT has a high affinity for aquatic sediments, yet this is the first study of the effects of this contaminant in sediment on natural benthic communities. Three communities were studied from contrasting locations in south-west England: the intertidal of the Lynher estuary (muddy sediment) and the Exe estuary (sandy sediment) and the subtidal (50m depth) at Rame Head off Plymouth (muddy sand). Fresh sediment with natural meiobenthic communities was incubated for 2 months with TBT-contaminated sediment (three dose levels) in bottles. Nematodes were identified and enumerated and subjected to multivariate data analysis. The sandy Exe estuary fauna was significantly affected by TBT-contaminated sediment at all three doses (0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 microg g(-1) dry wt (as Sn) sediment), whereas the offshore fauna from Rame Head was significantly affected only at the highest dose. The muddy Lynher estuary meiofauna was affected (somewhat peculiarly) at the medium dose level only. Meiobenthic nematodes may not be as sensitive to TBT-contaminated sediment as other infaunal benthos but exhibited responses to levels of contamination still persisting in some UK estuaries and harbours. Comparing the effects of TBT with those of copper and zinc in the same laboratory experiments, our observations suggest that the relative impact of TBT on meiobenthic community structure is not as great as these contaminants in marine sediments. Although there are very few observations of TBT toxicity in sediment, it appears that TBT is toxic at much lower concentrations in seawater (ppb) than it is in sediment (ppm).