Files and links (2)
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Drivers of Ecological Condition Identify Bright Spots and Sites for Management Across Coastal Seascapes
Estuaries and Coasts, Vol.46, pp.906-924
2023
Appears in UniSC Supported Open Access Outputs
Abstract
Disentangling natural and anthropogenic effects on ecosystem condition can uncover bright spots in urban landscapes that are performing above expectations and so are potential sites for conservation or benchmarking, as well as sites performing below expectations that should be the focus of management. In this study, we tested for correlations between metrics indexing ecological condition (focusing on habitat forming species) and a suite of spatial and environmental variables at 373 sites across four ecosystems (mangroves, seagrass, saltmarsh and rocky outcrops) and 13 estuaries in southeast Queensland, Australia. Ten condition metrics across the four ecosystems correlated with variables indexing the seascape context of sites, with condition metrics typically higher at sites more connected to natural features including the estuary mouth and mangroves. Urbanisation affected only two metrics, with rocky outcrop oyster cover being 75% lower at sites near extensive urbanisation and algae cover being highest at sites with intermediate urbanisation. We identified patterns in at least two variables from each ecosystem, meaning that decisions need to be made regarding optimal ecosystem states. Overall, management sites were more common than bright spots, with 50% more management sites in mangroves, 42.8% more in seagrasses, 38.5% more in saltmarshes and no bright spots in rocky outcrops (however, 10.3% of rocky outcrop sites were bright spots under an alternate ecosystem state model). We found that patterns in habitat condition across coastal seascapes can be predicted using spatial modelling approaches, and that these models can be readily used to prioritise management actions across the entire regions.
Details
- Title
- Drivers of Ecological Condition Identify Bright Spots and Sites for Management Across Coastal Seascapes
- Authors
- Ben L. Gilby (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringLucy Goodridge A. Gaines (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringHayden P. Borland (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringChristopher J. Henderson (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringJesse D. Mosman (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringAndrew D. Olds (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringHannah J. Perry (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Publication details
- Estuaries and Coasts, Vol.46, pp.906-924
- Publisher
- Springer New York LLC
- Date published
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.1007/s12237-023-01187-w
- ISSN
- 1559-2731; 1559-2723
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Grant note
- CAUL Healthy Land and Water University of the Sunshine Coast
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99713298002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
7 File views/ downloads
98 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Web Of Science research areas
- Environmental Sciences
- Marine & Freshwater Biology
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites