15 research outputs found
Anthropogenic Disturbance Can Determine the Magnitude of Opportunistic Species Responses on Marine Urban Infrastructures
Background: Coastal landscapes are being transformed as a consequence of the increasing demand for infrastructures to sustain residential, commercial and tourist activities. Thus, intertidal and shallow marine habitats are largely being replaced by a variety of artificial substrata (e.g. breakwaters, seawalls, jetties). Understanding the ecological functioning of these
artificial habitats is key to planning their design and management, in order to minimise their impacts and to improve their potential to contribute to marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Nonetheless, little effort has been made to assess the role of human disturbances in shaping the structure of assemblages on marine artificial infrastructures. We tested the
hypothesis that some negative impacts associated with the expansion of opportunistic and invasive species on urban
infrastructures can be related to the severe human disturbances that are typical of these environments, such as those from maintenance and renovation works.
Methodology/Principal Findings: Maintenance caused a marked decrease in the cover of dominant space occupiers, such as mussels and oysters, and a significant enhancement of opportunistic and invasive forms, such as biofilm and macroalgae. These effects were particularly pronounced on sheltered substrata compared to exposed substrata. Experimental application of the disturbance in winter reduced the magnitude of the impacts compared to application in spring or summer. We use these results to identify possible management strategies to inform the improvement of the ecological value of artificial marine infrastructures.
Conclusions/Significance: We demonstrate that some of the impacts of globally expanding marine urban infrastructures, such as those related to the spread of opportunistic, and invasive species could be mitigated through ecologically-driven planning and management of long-term maintenance of these structures. Impact mitigation is a possible outcome of policies that consider the ecological features of built infrastructures and the fundamental value of controlling biodiversity in marine urban systems
Uniendo ingenierÃa y ecologÃa: la protección costera basada en ecosistemas
En un contexto de crecientes impactos y riesgos socio-económicos en las costas del planeta, la
protección costera basada en ecosistemas surge como un nuevo paradigma que une los principios
de protección, sostenibilidad y resiliencia, a la vez que proporciona múltiples beneficios. Este
artÃculo ofrece una perspectiva sobre qué son y cómo se pueden utilizar las defensas naturales en
el diseño, planificación y gestión de costas. La polÃtica pública muestra un creciente interés por su
implementación general y el cuerpo de conocimiento y experiencia alrededor de la también
denominada infraestructura ?verde? es creciente, pero aún existen importantes barreras que
salvar. Una de ellas es estandarizar su diseño en términos ingenieriles, asà como reconocer los
aspectos que los diferencian respecto a enfoques tradicionales. La adaptación climática y la
reducción de riesgos son áreas en las que su utilización puede ser más significativa, debido a
la variedad de servicios que ofrecen. Tanto desde el punto de vista técnico como económico,
existen argumentos sólidos para evitar la degradación de los ecosistemas, avanzando su
restauración y conservación, como también desde la perspectiva de la defensa de las costas.In a context of increasing socio-economic impacts and risks in the coastal areas of the planet,
coastal protection based on ecosystem features becomes a new paradigm that combines the
principles of conservation, sustainability and resilience, while providing multiple benefits. This
paper provides a perspective on what these are and how they can be used in the design,
planning and management of the coastal zones. Policy-makers are calling for further uptake
and implementation across the board and the body of knowledge and experience around the socalled
?green? infrastructure is growing, but there are still major barriers for a widespread uptake.
One of them is to standardize designs in engineering terms, recognizing the different characteristics
compared to traditional engineering solutions. Climate adaptation and risk reduction are
areas where its use may be more significant, for the variety of services they offer. Both technically
and economically, there are strong arguments to prevent degradation of ecosystems and to
advance in their restoration and conservation, as well as from a coastal defense perspective