On the Edge: Coastal Governance and Risk

Coastal zones are not only some of the most populous areas of the planet, but are also some of the most hazardous, facing a wide range of hazards alongside environmental degradation and increasing development pressures. The inter-connectivity of coastal systems, both human and physical, provides particular challenges to risk management, especially in the context of the complex governance regimes of such areas, where contrasting land and marine institutions and policies come together. After a brief overview of traditional approaches to coastal risk management, the chapter focuses on the role and potential of integrated planning and management in facilitating a more balanced and sustainable approach to coastal risk management. Within such discussions the value and potential of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) alongside other integrated and spatial planning approaches is explored. ICZM has frequently been endorsed as a means of managing competing resources and ‘wicked’ (multi-dimensional) coastal problems, and so potentially has a valuable role to play. Drawing on a range of examples, particularly from European experiences, the chapter evaluates the extent to which ICZM contributes to coastal risk management. Whilst not a panacea, the chapter concludes that ICZM may be able to facilitate the development of more adaptable and palatable approaches for local communities, much needed in the context of coastal climate change impacts

Finding a place to live: conspecific attraction affects habitat selection in juvenile green and golden bell frogs

Conspecific attraction plays an important role in habitat selection of several taxa and can affect and determine distribution patterns of populations. The behaviour is largely studied and widespread among birds, but in amphibians, its occurrence seems limited to breeding habitats of adults and gregarious tadpoles. The Australian green and golden bell frogs (<i>Litoria aurea</i>) have suffered considerable shrinking of their original distribution in south-eastern Australia since the 1970s. Currently, with only about 40 populations remaining, the species is considered nationally threatened. In natural conditions, these frogs are aggregated in the landscape and do not seem to occupy all suitable ponds within the occurrence area. To date, studies focusing on the frogs' habitat have failed in finding a general habitat feature that explains current or past occupancy. This led us to the hypothesis that social cues may play a key role in habitat selection in this species. Using two choice experiments, we tested the preference of juvenile green and golden bell frogs for habitats containing cues of conspecifics of similar size versus habitats without conspecific cues. Tested frogs did not show a preference for habitats containing only scent from conspecifics but did prefer habitats where conspecifics were present. Our results show that conspecific attraction is a determining factor in juvenile green and golden bell frog habitat selection. To our knowledge, this is the first time the behaviour is shown to occur in juvenile frogs in the habitat selection context. From a conservation management point of view, the behaviour may help to explain the failure of reintroductions to areas where the frogs have been extinct, and the non-occupation of suitable created habitats in areas where they still inhabit and develop appropriated management strategies