Mapping an ecosystem service: A quantitative approach to derive fish feeding ground maps**This study was supported by Norwegian Financial Mechanism (project No. LT0047) and BONUS PREHAB.

AbstractThis study presents a quantitative approach to mapping benthophagous fish feeding grounds. This approach combines the spatial biomass distribution of benthic prey items and their importance for the diets of predators. A point based biomass data of macrozoobenthos together with a set of environmental factors was used to develop Random Forests models that produce continuous biomass distribution layers for individual prey species. Depending on the diet composition and the importance of prey for fish feeding, these layers are overlaid and an integrated GIS map of the seabed showing the quality of feeding grounds is generated. These maps provide a useful basis for conservation and marine spatial planning. In addition, this method could be applied to the mapping of resources used by other benthophagous organisms. The method is presented using the example of three common Baltic fish species: cod, flounder and viviparous eelpout

Diskrečių skirstinių taikymas duomenų apie gamtos plotų padengimą Bajesinėje analizėje

Classical statistical methods do not always provide desired results for every situation. Therefore, new alternative methods of data analysis are in demand. As the computational power becomes more modern, Bayes statistical methods are increasingly applied for statistical data analysis. This article describes several discrete models for analyzing nature area coverage. These models can be applied for analysis of such areas as forests, water ponds, soil, etc. when data is provided in integer data in percent. Poisson and negative binomial distributions are used in this article. Unknown parameters of the models were estimated using Bayes statistical methods in OpenBUGS modeling environment. The models of nature area coverage analysis were implemented using the data of Baltic Sea bottom algae coverage. This article analyzes coverage dependence of abiotic and physical factors.Klasikinės statistikos metodai ne visada leidžia pasiekti norimų rezultatų, todėl ieškoma alternatyvių duomenų analizės metodų. Dėl modernėjančios skaičiuojamosiostechnikos, statistinei duomenų analizei vis plačiau taikomi Bajesinės statistikos metodai.Šiame darbe sudaromi keli diskrečiųjų skirstinių modeliai įvairių gamtos plotų padengimui analizuoti. Šie modeliai gali būti pritaikyti tokių gamtos plotų, kaip miškų, vandens telkinių dugno, dirvožemio analizei, kai duomenys pateikiami procentiniais dydžiais, išreikštais sveikaisiais skaičiais. Šiame darbe sudaromi modeliai panaudojant kelis skirtingus diskrečiuosius skirstinius, t. y. Puasono ir neigiamai binominį skirstinį. Naudojant Bajesinės statistikosmetodus OpenBUGS modeliavimo aplinkoje įvertinami nežinomi modelio parametrai. Atliekama parametrų įverčių patikimumo statistikų analizė, realizuota OpenBUGS modeliavimo aplinkoje. Gamtos plotų padengimo analizei skirtų modelių realizavimui buvo pasirinkti duomenys, aprašantys Baltijos jūros dugno padengimą raudondumbliu šakotuoju banguoliu. Šiame darbe tiriama padengimo priklausomybė nuo kelių regresorių, aprašančių abiotinius ir fizinius veiksnius

European marine biodiversity monitoring networks: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

© 2016 Patrício, Little, Mazik, Papadopoulou, Smith, Teixeira, Hoffmann, Uyarra, Solaun, Zenetos, Kaboglu, Kryvenko, Churilova, Moncheva, Bucas, Borja, Hoepffner and Elliott. By 2020, European Union Member States should achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) for 11 environmental quality descriptors for their marine waters to fulfill the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). By the end of 2015, in coordination with the Regional Seas Conventions, each EU Member State was required to develop a marine strategy for their waters, together with other countries within the same marine region or sub-region. Coherent monitoring programs, submitted in 2014, form a key component of this strategy, which then aimed to lead to a Program of Measures (submitted in 2015). The European DEVOTES FP7 project has produced and interrogated a catalog of EU marine monitoring related to MSFD descriptors 1 (biological diversity), 2 [non-indigenous species (NIS)], 4 (food webs), and 6 (seafloor integrity). Here we detail the monitoring activity at the regional and sub-regional level for these descriptors, as well as for 11 biodiversity components, 22 habitats and the 37 anthropogenic pressures addressed. The metadata collated for existing European monitoring networks were subject to a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. This interrogation has indicated case studies to address the following questions: (a) what are the types of monitoring currently in place? (b) who does what and how? (c) is the monitoring fit-for-purpose for addressing the MSFD requirements? and (d) what are the impediments to better monitoring (e.g., costs, shared responsibilities between countries, overlaps, co-ordination, etc.)? We recommend the future means to overcome the identified impediments and develop more robust monitoring strategies. As such the results are especially relevant to implementing comprehensive and coordinated monitoring networks throughout Europe, for marine policy makers, government agencies and regulatory bodies. It is emphasized that while many of the recommendations given here require better, more extensive and perhaps more costly monitoring, this is required to avoid any legal challenges to the assessments or to bodies and industries accused of causing a deterioration in marine quality. More importantly the monitoring is required to demonstrate the efficacy of management measures employed. Furthermore, given the similarity in marine management approaches in other developed systems, we consider that the recommendations are also of relevance to other regimes worldwide

Lithological anomalies in a relict coastal dune : geophysical and paleoenvironmental markers

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 34 (2007): L09707, doi:10.1029/2007GL029767.Ground exposures of migration surfaces (slipfaces) of a relict Holocene coastal dune along the southeastern Baltic Sea coast provide an ideal opportunity for establishing the causes of prominent reflections on geophysical profiles. High-amplitude reflections on high-resolution ground-penetrating radar (GPR) images correlate well with two major lithological anomalies: 1) paleosols developed on dune slipfaces, and 2) slipfaces consisting of heavy-mineral concentrations (HMCs). Paleosols serve as indicators of dune stability, represent datable chronostratigraphic surfaces, and help reconstruct dune paleo-morphology. HMCs have substantially higher magnetic susceptibility values than background quartz-rich sands and, where they are well-developed, can be also used for spatial correlation. Based on their occurrence at the study site, these enriched horizons likely represent periods of increased wind activity (storminess). Multiple HMCs upwind of paleosol P1 (800–670 cal years BP) likely reflect periods of intensified wind activity along the southeast Baltic region during the Medieval Warm Period.This research was funded by the Ocean and Climate Change Institute and The J. Lamar Worzel Assistant Scientist Fund of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Non-native marine species in north-west Europe:Developing an approach to assess future spread using regional downscaled climate projections

1. Climate change can affect the survival, colonization and establishment of non-native species. Many non-native species common in Europe are spreading northwards as seawater temperatures increase. The similarity of climatic conditions between source and recipient areas is assumed to influence the establishment of such species, however, in a changing climate those conditions are difficult to predict. 2. A risk assessment methodology has been applied to identify non-native species with proven invasive qualities that have not yet arrived in north-west Europe, but which could become problematic in the future. Those species with the highest potential to become established or be problematic have been taken forward, as well as some that may be economically beneficial, for species distribution modelling to determine future potential habitat distributions under projected climate change. 3. In the past, species distribution models have usually made use of low resolution global environmental datasets. Here, to increase the local resolution of the distribution models, downscaled shelf seas climate change model outputs for north-west Europe were nested within global outputs. In this way the distribution model could be trained using the global species presence data including the species' native locations, and then projected using more comprehensive shelf seas data to understand habitat suitability in a potential recipient area. 4. Distribution modelling found that habitat suitability will generally increase further north for those species with the highest potential to become established or problematic. Most of these are known to be species with potentially serious consequences for conservation. With caution, a small number of species may present an opportunity for the fishing industry or aquaculture. The ability to provide potential future distributions could be valuable in prioritizing species for monitoring or eradication programmes, increasing the chances of identifying problem species early. This is particularly important for vulnerable infrastructure or protected or threatened ecosystems

Satellite-assisted monitoring of water quality to support the implementation of the Water Framework Directive

The EU Water Framework Directive1 (WFD) is an ambitious legislation framework to achieve good ecological and chemical status for all surface waters and good quantitative and chemical status for groundwater by 2027. A total of 111,062 surface waterbodies are presently reported on under the Directive, 46% of which are actively monitored for ecological status. Of these waterbodies 80% are rivers, 16% are lakes, and 4% are coastal and transitional waters. In the last assessment, 4% (4,442) of waterbodies still had unknown ecological status, while in 23% monitoring did not include in situ water sampling to support ecological status assessment2. For individual (mainly biological) assessment criteria the proportion of waterbodies without observation data is much larger; the full scope of monitoring under the WFD is therefore still far from being realised. At the same time, 60% of surface waters did not achieve ‘good’ status in the second river basin management plan and waterbodies in Europe are considered to be at high risk of having poor water quality based on combined microbial, physical and physicochemical indicators3

Problem of green cultural heritage

The paper discusses some concepts of traditional heritage terms. The main attention is paid to the heritage that man has been creating for centuries using not the artificial but natural live material. The aim of the paper is to define precisely the values of art synthesis and landscape architecture created by the man in the context of constantly changing heritage terminology. Several illustrations (figures) are presented in the paper in order to allow the reader to think what name should be given to this unique (distinctive) heritage and to what category it should be attributed. Žaliojo kultūros paveldo problema Santrauka Aptariamos kai kurios paveldo tradicinės terminijos sąvokos. Daugiausia dėmesio skiriama tam paveldui, kurį žmogus amžiais kūrė naudodamas ne dirbtinę, bet gyvąją gamtinę medžiagą. Siekiama tiksliau įvardyti šias žmogaus tikslingai sukurtas menų sintezės ir kraštovaizdžio architektūros vertybes. Pateikiama keletas iliustracijų, kurios padėtų skaitytojui geriau suprasti, kaip derėtų vadinti šį unikalų paveldą ir kokiai paveldo vertybių kategorijai jis galėtų būti priskirtas. Reikšminiai žodžiai: kultūros paveldas, gamtos paveldas, mišrusis paveldas, žaliasis kultūros paveldas, kraštovaizdžio vertybės, kultūrinis kraštovaizdis, kraštovaizdžio architektūra. First Published Online: 21 May 201