With the growth in human pressures on the marine environment and the increase in competition for space and resources there has been recognition by many governments of the need to use the marine environment sustainably and allow for its acceptable allocation for each sector. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the use of Marxan and Marxan with Zones as practical tools to enable the production of marine plans that integrate environmental and socioeconomic data and to suggest best practice in the types of data used. In this thesis three key aspects of data type and integration were identified and evaluated. The resolution and complexity of data required to protected marine biodiversity was assessed. The effects of using different substrate data resolution on the selection of sites to protect a range of biotopes using Marxan are determined. The nature of the data used in marine planning has significant implications for the protection of marine biodiversity. Using less complex data, of any resolution, did not adequately protect marine biodiversity. There is a need to determine what is an acceptable allocation of marine resource to each sector. Two case study areas were used to determine how to integrate conservation and socioeconomic data and objectives in a marine plan. Objectives for all the sectors could not be met completely in a single marine plan and each sector had to compromise. This research highlighted the potential compromises required and indicates that if marine heritage and biodiversity are to be protected each sector will have to change the impact it has on the marine environment. Currently marine conservation assumes that all data on habitats and species presented for use in marine planning are equal, in accuracy, precision and value. This is not always the case, with data based on a wide range of sources including routine government monitoring, specific innovative research and stakeholder based data gathering. A case study area was used to evaluate the impacts of using confidence levels in habitat data on marine biodiversity. It was found that data outputs that best protected marine biodiversity used data over 20% and over 30% confidence. With the data currently available for the UK marine environment it is not possible to be confident that a representative MPA network can be created. Together these studies contribute key recommendations for best practice in marine planning and demonstrate that the use of spatial decision support tools (Marxan and Marxan with Zones) are essential for the integration of data in marine planning, to assess how using different types of data will impact marine planning and marine biodiversity protection and to explore implications of different management actions.

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) increasingly utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and technologies to support decision-making with stakeholders and policymakers. The study of the group use of GIS to support decision-making processes is called Collaborative GIS. Measuring the impact and influence the technology has on decision-making processes is an important aim of Collaborative GIS research. To date, Collaborative GIS research has relied on qualitative questionnaires to measure the impact of GIS on group decision-making and the GIS software and technology being used, lacking support of quantitative measures. A novel technology increasingly being used for group planning processes with maps is multi-user touch tables; this technology encourages equality of technology interactions and increases participant engagement by allowing all group members the opportunity to interact with the technology, transcending limitations of single-user mouse environments. This research identifies and evaluates measures of collaboration for Collaborative GIS on multi-user touch tables for MSP activities. Group measures of participation are explored using coding systems to determine fluctuations in the groups’ participation using technological interactions and verbal participation by Google Earth task performed and by decision phase. Results indicate variation in participation across role play simulations due largely to group dynamics and participant personality, evidenced by researcher observation. Coding systems require improvements in capturing participation levels. Individual measures of participation are also collected to determine the equality of technological interactions and verbal participation by seat location around a multi-user touch table. Results indicate technological interactions and verbal participation are not equally distributed around a multi-user touch table using Google Earth. Seat locations closest to the Google Earth menus tend to have higher participation rates, with seat locations farthest from the menus marginalized. Furthermore, technological interactions by interface-menus, dialogue boxes, and earth display –have variation in equality of interactions by seat location. Menus and dialogue boxes have higher rates of inequality of participation than the earth display has. To date, study and collection of group and individual participation has been limited in Collaborative GIS research. With reliance on qualitative questionnaires to collect data, this study represents quantitative measures to describe Collaborative GIS group decision-making processes on touch tables. Whereas, previous literature represents coarse scale measures of the group’s process and outcome constructs, this study focuses on fine scale measures of collaboration. / Graduate / 0366 / 0632 / 0984

No description available.

<p>In 2004, a report from the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy documented a broad range of ecological problems in U.S. ocean waters, including declining fish stocks, changes in marine biodiversity, coastal habitat loss, and hypoxic "dead zones," as well as related governance problems, such as uncoordinated and contradictory laws, underfunded programs, and conflicts between local, state, and federal priorities. The Commission's recommendations for improvement revolved around the themes of ecosystem-based management, improved agency coordination, and regional flexibility.</p><p>One recommendation in particular stated that, "Congress ... should establish a balanced, ecosystem-based offshore management regime that sets forth guiding principles for the coordination of offshore activities." Five years later, President Obama instructed an interagency taskforce to develop a "framework for effective coastal and marine spatial planning" to help achieve the goals of that recommendation and, in 2012, nine Regional Planning Bodies were established to begin the planning process.</p><p>Not everyone has embraced marine spatial planning (MSP) as a desirable next step in ocean management. Some ocean industries worry that MSP could interfere with economic priorities. New users, such as offshore windfarm developers, fear that extended planning will further delay their activities. Members of Congress have complained that MSP policy lacks adequate legislative underpinnings. Still others worry</p><p>that MSP may be a solution in search of a problem, diverting money and attention away from more immediate ocean challenges. Equally worrisome, the policy research community has yet to provide solid theoretical or historical support for the presumed efficacy of MSP in U.S. ocean waters. In light of the recent, rapid adoption of MSP and the questions surrounding it, more rigorous examination is in order.</p><p>This study contributes to that examination in two ways. First, it places MSP within the broader context of research and practice in fields such as policy analysis, common-pool resource theory, institutional analysis, planning and design, community engagement, and conflict resolution. Second, it looks at the history of U.S. public lands--a public space that has been accommodating multiple uses and conservation for over a century--as a comparative model. </p><p>This approach results in three research questions:</p><p>1) Are U.S. public lands and the U.S. EEZ sufficiently similar, based on characteristics most relevant to policy analysis, that successes and failures in one arena might be relevant to the other?</p><p>2) If so, has over a hundred years of active public land management in the U.S. produced any lessons for success that might be applicable to the more recently developing field of ocean management, particularly with respect to multiple-use planning and management? and</p><p>3) If the settings are similar in meaningful ways, and if lessons can be distilled from public lands management, how might these be transposed, or operationalized to inform the current drive for more integrated ocean management, particularly through the tool of marine spatial planning?</p><p>A critical review and synthesis of U.S. public land studies, particularly regarding the history of the National Forests, comprises one important element of the study. This is supplemented with case studies, site visits, detailed analyses of government documents related to both land and ocean management, and extensive formal and informal interviews with key informants in the National Forest and ocean management communities.</p><p>The study results answer the first two questions in the affirmative and conclude that sustainable, multiple-use management of government-controlled spaces and resources inevitably requires tradeoffs between numerous competing objectives. These tradeoffs can rarely be resolved through objective decision analysis and will rely implicitly or explicitly on value judgments. Using forest history as a model, it appears that the most significant choices to be made by ocean policy makers will revolve around: 1) the scale of problem definition and resolution; 2) the relative emphasis on political, technocratic, judicial, or participatory decision-making; and 3) the extent of flexibility allowed. Specific suggestions are made for how elected officials, agency staff, environmental organizations, industry, and academia can approach ocean management in a way that reflects a variety of interests, advances understanding, and achieves sustainable and productive ocean ecosystems.</p> / Dissertation

This study considers the emergence of Marine Spatial Planning as a tool for ecosystem-basedmanagement using an innovation diffusion perspective that combines elements of classical diffusionof innovations theory with a consideration of individual and networked agency and cross-scaledynamics in the context of a social-ecological systems perspective. The main findings are that thediffusion of Marine Spatial Planning does not follow a linear, technologically deterministic process asindicated by many diffusion of innovation studies but instead the diffusion process can becharacterised by a hybrid diffusion system that cascades over a series of phases and where individualsembedded in informal networks play a key role in driving the emergence of Marine Spatial Planningacross scales.This study provides a valuable contribution to considering how the study of innovation and diffusiondynamics could be applied to provide explanatory power when considering innovations that gobeyond being technological that might emerge in the context of addressing challenges facing linkedsocial-ecological systems at the global level and thus assist in resolving the mismatches between thescale of ecological processes and the governance of ecosystems to ensure an ongoing delivery ofecosystem services. These innovations are also important to study in the context of innovation being acatalyst for transformation of marine social-ecological systems to a more sustainable trajectory.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are important conservation tools that can support the resilience of marine ecosystems. Many countries, including Canada, have committed to protecting at least 10% of their marine areas under the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Target 11, which includes connectivity as a key aspect. Connectivity, the movement of individuals among habitats, can enhance population stability and resilience within and among MPAs. This thesis aimed to understand regional spatial patterns of marine ecological connectivity, specifically through the mechanism of adult movement, and how these patterns may be affected by climate change. I used the Northern Shelf Bioregion in British Columbia, Canada, as a case study for four objectives: (1) evaluate potential connectivity via adult movement for the entire bioregion, using habitat proxies for distinct ecological communities; (2) assess potential connectivity via adult movement among existing and potential MPAs, using the same habitat proxies; (3) model potential connectivity via adult movement among marine protected areas for two focal species (Metacarcinus magister and Sebastolobus alascanus) and predict how this interconnectedness may shift based on projected ocean temperature changes; and (4) contribute the results of these analyses to the MPA technical team’s ongoing planning process so that connectivity may be considered in the implementation of a new MPA network in the bioregion. This thesis developed an approach to assess and design MPA networks that maximize inferred connectivity within habitat types for adult movement when ecological data are limited. It applied least-cost theory and circuit theory to model MPA suitability and interconnectedness, finding that these are projected to decrease for Sebastolobus alascanus but increase for Metacarcinus magister. I showcased some methods that may be used in MPA design and evaluation, with lessons for other contexts. Importantly, this thesis informed an ongoing MPA planning process, enabling ecological connectivity to be considered in the establishment of a new MPA network in the bioregion. Overall, this work provided examples for incorporating connectivity and climate change into MPA design, highlighting what is possible even when data are limited. / Graduate

The marine environment provides essential ecosystem services that are critical to the functioning of the earth’s life support system and the maintenance of human well-being. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are recognised as being the mechanism though which marine natural capital may be conserved. This thesis focuses on the value associated with marine conservation in a case study area, Lyme Bay, England where a ‘closed area’ was created in 2008. A review of literature spanning 20 years shows that despite sound ecological knowledge of a marine area, the reliance on traditional neo-classical economic valuations for marine spatial planning can obscure other issues pertinent to the ecosystem approach. A further valuation of the marine leisure and recreation industry shows that the industry is of economic significance and that the MPA enables the protection of the most valuable sites but has limited benefits for protecting the full resource base. In terms of ecological value, a ‘service orientated framework’ was developed to enable decision makers to understand the links between benthic species, ecological function and indirect ecosystem services. Results spatially identify which ecosystem services occur and demonstrate the value of the MPA in ensuring delivery of these ecosystem services. In relation to the social value of the MPA the research reveals that support for the MPA is strong amongst the majority of stakeholder groups. Values are expressed as the economic, environmental and social benefits of the MPA. However, there have been clear social costs of the MPA policy and these have been borne by mobile and static gear fishermen and charter boat operators. Each valuation methodology can inform decision making. Though, if ecosystem service valuation is to become a deliberative tool for marine conservation and planning, then there is a need for a larger societal discussion on what activities and trade-offs society considers acceptable.

Nearly half of the population of the United States lives in coastal regions, and millions of visitors from across the nation and world enjoy the coasts every year. Coastal and marine areas provide for recreation, economic activities essential for the financial health of the nation, and vital ecological services. As they provide so many benefits to the U.S., it is vital to protect and preserve the coastal and ocean areas from the increasing, competing demands they are facing. In order to protect and preserve these complex systems, a comprehensive approach incorporating science, engineering, humanities, and social sciences should be taken; this approach is commonly referred to as Ecosystem-Based Management. This dissertation focuses on developing a framework that can be used to identify appropriate sub-regions in Northern Gulf of Mexico coastal and marine environments for the purposes of Ecosystem-Based Management. Through this work, the roles of three management protocols used for managing coastal areas – coastal and marine spatial planning, ecosystem-based management, and integrated ecosystem assessment – were examined individually as well as their integrations with each other. Biological, ecological, physical, human, and economic indicators for partitioning an ecosystem were developed and weighted for each management protocol using the analytic hierarchy process and expert elicitation. Using the weighted indicators, a framework for identifying sub-regions and estuarine classification system was developed. The framework and classification system were applied to five estuaries within the Northern Gulf of Mexico: Barataria, Galveston, Mobile, and Perdido Bays and Mississippi Sound. Initial results from this work show that: 1. Sub-regions can be identified as associated to each other based upon indicator data values and not upon physical location. 2. Even though the weights calculated for the management protocols vary significantly, for systems that were not highly homogeneous in indicator data values, the different weights did not produce the vastly different cluster maps expected. 3. The scale work indicates that to identify appropriate sub-regions using the developed framework, a larger grid size produces more consistent results for larger systems whereas a smaller grid size produces more consistent results for smaller systems. Recommendations for further research are also presented.

[pt] O oceano é um ecossistema fundamental para a sobrevivência dos humanos e não humanos. Todavia, vem sendo explorado de forma desordenada e sufocado com poluição plástica, como demonstram diagnósticos recentes, elaborados na Década do Oceano, inclusive em relação ao cenário brasileiro. Nesse período, pretende-se alavancar ações para alcançar um oceano saudável e produtivo, entre outros atributos, mediante integração e colaboração entre diversos atores, inclusive as instituições financeiras, que dispõem de recursos para financiar sua execução. O presente trabalho objetiva demonstrar como o Planejamento Espacial Marinho, cujo estudo para implementação do Projeto-Piloto na região sul do país será apoiado pelo Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), poderá, além de servir de base para a adequada regulação do uso sustentável do oceano, também acelerar o combate à poluição plástica nesse ecossistema, induzindo a ampliação de ações voltadas à gestão de resíduos sólidos, nele planejadas. Esse efeito adicional poderá ser alcançado porque esse planejamento será desenvolvido com base ecossistêmica e observando a integração entre as políticas públicas marinhas e terrestres já existentes, além de considerar todas as questões que afetam o oceano. A Convenção das Nações Unidas sobre Diversidade Biológica definiu a base ecossistêmica como uma estratégia para a gestão integrada da terra, da água e dos recursos vivos, que promove a conservação e o uso sustentável, de um modo equitativo. No âmbito do referido financiamento, deverão ser produzidos cadernos técnicos setoriais, entre os quais sobre meio ambiente e mudança do clima, analisando, inclusive, a poluição marinha e como esse problema ambiental e social pode afetar o uso econômico do oceano. Assim, aliando essa iniciativa a outras que já são apoiadas, em linha com sua missão socioambiental, o BNDES irá induzir transformações relevantes, ao colaborar para a efetividade da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, necessária para o desenvolvimento da Economia Azul e a consequente sustentabilidade do oceano. / [en] The ocean is a fundamental ecosystem for the survival of humans and non-humans. However, it has been exploited in a disorderly way and suffocated with plastic pollution, as shown by recent diagnoses, elaborated in the Ocean Decade, including in relation to the Brazilian scenario. During this period, the intention is to leverage actions to achieve a healthy and productive ocean, among other attributes, through integration and collaboration between different actors, including financial institutions, which have resources to finance its execution. This work aims to demonstrate how the Marine Spatial Planning, whose study for the implementation of the Pilot Project in the southern region of the country will be supported by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), may, in addition to providing for the regulation of ocean use, also accelerate the combat against plastic pollution in this ecosystem, inducing the expansion of actions aimed at solid waste management in Brazil. This additional effect can be achieved because this planning will be developed based on ecosystem and observing the integration between existing marine and terrestrial public policies, in addition to considering all issues that affect the ocean. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defined the ecosystem base as a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. In this financing, should be produced a sectoral notebook about the environmental and climate change, including analyzing marine pollution and how this environmental and social problem can affect the economic use of the ocean. Thus, combining this initiative with others that are already supported, in line with its socio-environmental mission, the BNDES will induce relevant transformations, by collaborating for the effectiveness of the National Solid Waste Policy, necessary for the development of the Blue Economy and the consequent sustainability of the ocean.

Species distribution maps can provide important information to focus conservation efforts and enable spatial management of human activities. Two sympatric marine predators, grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina), have overlapping ranges but contrasting population dynamics around the UK; whilst grey seals have generally increased, harbour seals have shown significant regional declines. A robust analytical methodology was developed to produce maps of grey and harbour seal usage estimates with corresponding uncertainty, and scales of spatial partitioning between the species were found. Throughout their range, both grey and harbour seals spend the majority of their time within 50 km of the coast. The scalability of the analytical approach was enhanced and environmental information to enable spatial predictions was included. The resultant maps have been applied to inform consent and licensing of marine renewable developments of wind farms and tidal turbines. For harbour seals around Orkney, northern Scotland, distance from haul out, proportion of sand in seabed sediment, and annual mean power were important predictors of space-use. Utilising seal usage maps, a framework was produced to allow shipping noise, an important marine anthropogenic stressor, to be explicitly incorporated into spatial planning. Potentially sensitive areas were identified through quantifying risk of exposure of shipping traffic to marine species. Individual noise exposure was predicted with associated uncertainty in an area with varying rates of co-occurrence. Across the UK, spatial overlap was highest within 50 km of the coast, close to seal haul outs. Areas identified with high risk of exposure included 11 Special Areas of Conservation (from a possible 25). Risk to harbour seal populations was highest, affecting half of all SACs associated with the species. For 20 of 28 animals in the acoustic exposure study, 95% CI for M-weighted cumulative Sound Exposure Levels had upper bounds above levels known to induce Temporary Threshold Shift. Predictions of broadband received sound pressure levels were underestimated on average by 0.7 dB re 1μPa (± 3.3). An analytical methodology was derived to allow ecological maps to be quantitatively compared. The Structural Similarity (SSIM) index was enhanced to incorporate uncertainty from underlying spatial models, and a software algorithm was developed to correct for internal edge effects so that loss of spatial information from the map comparison was limited. The application of the approach was demonstrated using a case study of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus, Linneaus 1758) in the Mediterranean Sea to identify areas where local-scale differences in space-use between groups and singleton whales occurred. SSIM is applicable to a broad range of spatial ecological data, providing a novel tool for map comparison.