Differences in assigning probabilities to coastal inundation hazard estimators: event versus response approaches

This is the accepted version of the following article: Sanuy, M, Jiménez, JA, Ortego, MI, Toimil, A. Differences in assigning probabilities to coastal inundation hazard estimators: Event versus response approaches. J Flood Risk Management. 2020; 13 (Suppl. 1):e12557. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12557, which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jfr3.12557.Coastal flood risk assessment requires a reliable estimation of the frequency of inundation hazards, that is, characterising the hazard magnitude and assigning a probability of occurrence. In this work we analyse the uncertainty introduced in the assessment associated to the method to assign the probability of occurrence to coastal flood hazards. To this end we have compared the use of two general methods, the response and the event approaches. Different procedures are used to characterise coastal inundation hazards depending on the analysis scale and data availability. Thus, a range of possibilities has been analysed, from simple estimators such as run-up to modelled flood-prone areas. The analysis has been performed for all wave and water level conditions around the Spanish coast. The results show that the differences between the methods are location-dependent, and thus, determined by the exposure to wave and water level conditions. When using the event approach, the run-up or total water level (with good correlation between waves and surge) distributions reasonably approximate those of the response approach with low associated uncertainty. When the assessment aims to output overtopping discharges or inundation maps, observed differences suggest that the event approach would produce misleading conclusions in inundation-related coastal management and decision-making.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Coastal scenic assessment and tourism management in western Cuba

Coastal scenic assessments via checklist tables (18 natural, 8 human related parameters), can provide benchmark measures regarding desirable/non-desirable beach conditions and also classify sites. The scenic value for 43 sites in western Cuba was investigated, with the aim of helping managers improve bathing areas, especially for tourism purposes. Sites were categorised from Class 1, (top grade scenery), between La Habana and Matanzas, as extremely attractive, with white sand, turquoise water and additional scenic elements. Class 2 sites were located in Varadero, and their high scores were greatly due to appropriate human interventions, e.g. beach nourishment and dune restoration works. Classes 3 to 5 (the latter having very poor scenery), included sites with low scores for natural parameters. For these sites, coastal managers can do little to alleviate scenic impact, apart from addressing the human parameters, where improvement is possible, e.g. by litter removal together with the present chaotic protective structures

Enhancing public awareness and promoting co-responsibility for marine litter in Europe: The challenge of MARLISCO

Marine litter is a pervasive and complex societal problem but has no simple solution. Inadequate practices at all levels of production–use–disposal contribute to accumulation of waste on land and at sea. Enhanced societal awareness but also co-responsibility across different sectors and improved interactions between stakeholders are necessary. MARLISCO was a European initiative, which developed and implemented activities across 15 countries. It worked towards raising societal awareness and engagement on marine litter, through a combination of approaches: public exhibitions in over 80 locations; a video competition involving 2100 students; and a legacy of educational and decision-supporting tools. 12 national participatory events designed to facilitate dialogue on solutions brought together 1500 stakeholders and revealed support for cross-cutting, preventive measures. Evaluation during implementation shows that these activities are effective in improving individuals' perceptions about the problem but also commitment in being part of the solution. This paper summarises MARLISCO's approach and highlights a selection of outcomes

Massive coastal tourism influx to the Mediterranean Sea: The environmental risk of sunscreens

The Mediterranean region is, by far, the leading tourism destination in the world, receiving more than 330 million tourists in 2016. This tourism is undertaken mostly for seaside holidays, and during the summer season concentrates between 46% and 69% of the total international arrivals; this is equivalent to a density of 2.9 tourists per meter of Mediterranean coast, or double this number taking into account the local/permanent population in addition. Previous studies have reported not only the presence of sunscreen in the various environmental compartments (water, sediments and biota) of the Mediterranean Sea (MS) and other regions, but also show that sunscreen products are toxic for marine biota and are accumulated and biomagnificated. Here, we highlight that the environmental risk of these chemicals is likely to be exacerbated in the MS due to the massive influx of tourists and its densely populated coasts, the basin's limited exchanges with the ocean, the high residence time of surface waters, and its oligotrophic waters.A. Rodríguez-Romero is supported by the Spanish grant Juan de la Cierva Formación 2015 (JCI-2015-26873) and thanks to the University of Cantabria “Proyecto Puente 2017”under SODERCAN and ERDF Operational Programme

Erosion consequences on beach functions along the Maresme coast (NW Mediterranean, Spain)

A methodology to analyse the influence of erosion on beach functions at a regional scale is presented. The method considers erosion hazards at different timescales and assesses consequences by evaluating impacts on recreation and protection functions. To provide useful information to decision makers for managing these functions, hazard and consequences are integrated at the municipal level within a risk matrix. This methodology is applied at the Maresme, a 45-km sandy coast situated northward of Barcelona, which supports a strong urban and infrastructure development as well as an intensive beach recreational use. Obtained results indicate differentiated erosion implications along the region, depending on the management target considered. Thus, southern municipalities are more prone to erosion affecting the protection function of the beach and leisure use by the local population, whereas erosion will have a greater effect on foreign tourism in the northern municipalities. These results highlight the necessity to employ an articulated erosion risk assessment focusing on specific targets depending on the site in question. This methodology can help coastal managers to adopt tailored measures to manage erosion impacts towards specific goals, in a more efficient and sustainable manner

Mediterranean bioconstructions along the Italian coast

Marine bioconstructions are biodiversity-rich, three-dimensional biogenic structures, regulating key ecological functions of benthic ecosystems worldwide. Tropical coral reefs are outstanding for their beauty, diversity and complexity, but analogous types of bioconstructions are also present in temperate seas. The main bioconstructions in the Mediterranean Sea are represented by coralligenous formations, vermetid reefs, deep-sea cold-water corals, Lithophyllum byssoides trottoirs, coral banks formed by the shallow-water corals Cladocora caespitosa or Astroides calycularis, and sabellariid or serpulid worm reefs. Bioconstructions change the morphological and chemicophysical features of primary substrates and create new habitats for a large variety of organisms, playing pivotal roles in ecosystem functioning. In spite of their importance, Mediterranean bioconstructions have not received the same attention that tropical coral reefs have, and the knowledge of their biology, ecology and distribution is still fragmentary. All existing data about the spatial distribution of Italian bioconstructions have been collected, together with information about their growth patterns, dynamics and connectivity. The degradation of these habitats as a consequence of anthropogenic pressures (pollution, organic enrichment, fishery, coastal development, direct physical disturbance), climate change and the spread of invasive species was also investigated. The study of bioconstructions requires a holistic approach leading to a better understanding of their ecology and the application of more insightful management and conservation measures at basin scale, within ecologically coherent units based on connectivity: the cells of ecosystem functioning

Ecological Role of Submarine Canyons and Need for Canyon Conservation: A Review

Submarine canyons are major geomorphic features of continental margins around the world. Several recent multidisciplinary projects focused on the study of canyons have considerably increased our understanding of their ecological role, the goods, and services they provide to human populations, and the impacts that human activities have on their overall ecological condition. Pressures from human activities include fishing, dumping of land-based mine tailings, and oil and gas extraction. Moreover, hydrodynamic processes of canyons enhance the down-canyon transport of litter. The effects of climate change may modify the intensity of currents. This potential hydrographic change is predicted to impact the structure and functioning of canyon communities as well as affect nutrient supply to the deep-ocean ecosystem. This review not only identifies the ecological status of canyons, and current and future issues for canyon conservation, but also highlights the need for a better understanding of anthropogenic impacts on canyon ecosystems and proposes other research required to inform management measures to protect canyon ecosystemsVersión del edito

Modeling species invasions using thermal and trophic niche dynamics under climate change

Changing marine temperatures modify the distributional ranges of natural populations, but the success of invasion of new areas depends on local physical and ecological conditions. We explore the invasion by thermophilic species and their ecosystem effects by simulating a sea surface temperature increase using a trophodynamic model for the northern Adriatic Sea (NAS), in which thermal and trophic niches are explicitly represented for each thermophilic non-indigenous species and native species. The NAS acts as a cul-de-sac for local species, preventing a further poleward migration as a response to temperature rise. In this situation, model results showed that effects of warming and invasion produced complex, non-linear changes on biomasses but never resulted in a complete overturn of a group of native species and/or a bloom of invasive ones. Despite this, the diversity index stabilizes at increased values after simulating invasion, possibly indicating that in such enclosed systems the establishment of invasive species could represent enrichment in ecosystem structure. In addition, the absence of complete species substitution clearly showed the contribution of resident species towards increasing the resilience, i.e. the capability of the system to cope with invasion without changing substantially. Contrasting scenarios highlighted that changes in ecosystem primary production and species adaptation had secondary effects in ecosystem structure, while results for scenarios with different exploitation levels indicated that fishing can destabilize community structure in these change contexts, e.g. reducing community resilience. The results confirmed the importance of an ecological niche approach to analyze possible effects of invasion and highlighted the complexity of dynamics linked to temperature-driven species invasion’, in terms of both the predicted strength of impacts and the direction of biomass change