An integrated Pan-European perspective on coastal Lagoons management through a mosaic-DPSIR approach

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 6 (2016): 19400, doi:10.1038/srep19400.A decision support framework for the management of lagoon ecosystems was tested using four European Lagoons: Ria de Aveiro (Portugal), Mar Menor (Spain), Tyligulskyi Liman (Ukraine) and Vistula Lagoon (Poland/Russia). Our aim was to formulate integrated management recommendations for European lagoons. To achieve this we followed a DPSIR (Drivers-Pressures-State Change-Impacts-Responses) approach, with focus on integrating aspects of human wellbeing, welfare and ecosystem sustainability. The most important drivers in each lagoon were identified, based on information gathered from the lagoons’ stakeholders, complemented by scientific knowledge on each lagoon as seen from a land-sea perspective. The DPSIR cycles for each driver were combined into a mosaic-DPSIR conceptual model to examine the interdependency between the multiple and interacting uses of the lagoon. This framework emphasizes the common links, but also the specificities of responses to drivers and the ecosystem services provided. The information collected was used to formulate recommendations for the sustainable management of lagoons within a Pan-European context. Several common management recommendations were proposed, but specificities were also identified. The study synthesizes the present conditions for the management of lagoons, thus analysing and examining the activities that might be developed in different scenarios, scenarios which facilitate ecosystem protection without compromising future generations.This study was supported by the European Commission, under the 7th Framework Programme, through the collaborative research project LAGOONS (contract n° 283157); by European funds through COMPETE and by Portuguese funds through the national Foundation for Science and Technology – FCT (PEst-C/MAR/LA0017/2013). The post-Doc grant SFRH/BPD/41117/2007 (M Dolbeth) and the PhD grant SFRH/BD/79170/2011 (LP Sousa) supported by FCT are also acknowledged

Barotropic wind-driven circulation patterns in a closed rectangular basin of variable depth influenced by a peninsula or an island

We study how a coastal obstruction (peninsula or coastal island) affects the three-dimensional barotropic currents in an oblong rectangular basin with variable bathymetry across the basin width. The transverse depth profiele is asymmetric and the peninsula or island lies in the middle of the long side of the rectangle. A semi-spectral model for the Boussinesq-approximated shallow water equations, developed in Haidvogel et al. and altered for semi-implicit numerical integration in time in Wang and Hutter, is used to find the steady barotropic state circulation pattern to external winds. The structural (qualitative) rearrangements and quantitative features of the current pattern are studied under four principal wind is inclination relative to the shore. The essentially non-linear relationships of the water flux between the two sub-basins (formed by the obstructing penisula) and the corresponding crosssectional area left open are found and analysed. It is further analysed whather the depth- integrated model, usually adopted by others, is meaningful when applied to the water exchange problems. The flow through the challel narrowing is quantitatively estimmated and compared with the three- dimensional results. The dynamics of the vortex structure and the indentification of the up-welling/down-welling zones around the obsrruction are discussed in detail. The influence of the transformation of the penisula into a coastal islang on the gloabal basin circulation is considered as are the currents in the channel. The geometric and physical reasons for the anisotropy of the current structure which prevail through all obtained solutions are also discussed

Wind-driven current simulations around the Island Mainau (Lake Constance)

Using three-dimensional numerical modelling for the shallow water equations on the rotating Earth in the Boussinesq approximation, we study the steady barotropic motion around the Island Mainau in Lake überlingen, forced by uniformly distributed winds of different directions. The method of substructuring is used to resolve the flow pattern near the Island Mainau with greater accuracy and thus to identify the peculiarities that are induced by the island as an obstruction to the current field within the lake basin. The barotropic response is analysed in detail for 16 different wind directions. It is shown to what extent these winds determine the distribution of the horizontal current and the up- and down-welling zones in the vicinity of the island. Current peculiarities, such as diverging and converging elements, locations of maximum current speeds and, in particular, the flow through the Mainau channel are identified. They provide hints to an optimal design of a flow measuring campaign under homogeneous conditions. It is further demonstrated that the island acts as an obstructing entity that effectively influences the flow within Lake Überlingen. For wind blowing along Lake Überlingen the baroclinic motion was also studied. The flow in the upper-layer and the lower-layer-return flow are modified over the lake

Assessment of marine ecosystem services indicators: experiences and lessons learned from 14 european case studies

This article shares the experiences, observations, and discussions that occurred during the completing of an ecosystem services (ES) indicator framework to be used at European Union (EU) and Member States' level. The experience base was drawn from 3 European research projects and 14 associated case study sites that include 13 transitional-water bodies (specifically 8 coastal lagoons, 4 riverine estuaries, and 1 fjord) and 1 coastal-water ecosystem. The ES pertinent to each case study site were identified along with indicators of these ES and data sources that could be used for mapping. During the process, several questions and uncertainties arose, followed by discussion, leading to these main lessons learned: 1) ES identification: Some ES that do not seem important at the European scale emerge as relevant at regional or local scales; 2) ES indicators: When direct indicators are not available, proxies for indicators (indirect indicators) might be used, including combined data on monitoring requirements imposed by EU legislation and international agreements; 3) ES mapping: Boundaries and appropriate data spatial resolution must be established because ES can be mapped at different temporal and spatial scales. We also acknowledge that mapping and assessment of ES supports the dialogue between human well-being and ecological status. From an evidence-based marine planning-process point of view, mapping and assessment of marine ES are of paramount importance to sustainable use of marine natural capital and to halt the loss of marine biodiversity. (C) 2016 SETA