Mapping the seagrass conservation and restoration priorities: Coupling habitat suitability and anthropogenic pressures

Seagrass meadows provide important ecosystem services, but are among the least conserved marine ecosystems. The Southern bioregion of China has the nation’s largest seagrass distribution. However, lack of information on the distribution of seagrasses and the threats they face pose a significant obst...

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Autores principales:	Wenjia Hu, Dian Zhang, Bin Chen, Xinming Liu, Xiaomin Ye, Qutu Jiang, Xinqing Zheng, Jianguo Du, Shiquan Chen
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Seagrass conservation Exposure assessment Habitat sustainability Conservation and restoration planning Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9a4cef8a378b42969c283ddffdd5e2ba
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9a4cef8a378b42969c283ddffdd5e2ba2021-12-01T04:56:56ZMapping the seagrass conservation and restoration priorities: Coupling habitat suitability and anthropogenic pressures1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107960https://doaj.org/article/9a4cef8a378b42969c283ddffdd5e2ba2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21006257https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XSeagrass meadows provide important ecosystem services, but are among the least conserved marine ecosystems. The Southern bioregion of China has the nation’s largest seagrass distribution. However, lack of information on the distribution of seagrasses and the threats they face pose a significant obstacle to their conservation and restoration. Accordingly, a framework for prioritizing conservation and restoration objectives was proposed in the present study. First, we modeled the suitable habitats with MaxEnt, random forest (RF), and ensemble models to obtain a reliable basis map of seagrass distribution. A potentially suitable area of approximately 3,536–4,852 km2 was mapped in the coastal sea of South China, with the greatest area occurring between 18 °N and 22 °N. The anthropogenic pressures on the seagrass habitat were then estimated using an integrated exposure index consisting of four indicators, namely, population density, fishery economy, aquaculture, and shipping. The results indicated 48% of the coastal seas were under intensive anthropogenic pressures, with a higher exposure in the north than the south. The current conservation status suggests that there is a large seagrass conservation gap. By coupling the two dimensions of habitat suitability and integrated exposure, priority sites for seagrass management in South China were identified for the first time. Our work will not only provide basic information for coastal ecosystem management, but also serve as a tool to support the conservation and restoration planning of seagrass, thus, ultimately promoting the sustainability of seagrasses habitats.Wenjia HuDian ZhangBin ChenXinming LiuXiaomin YeQutu JiangXinqing ZhengJianguo DuShiquan ChenElsevierarticleSeagrass conservationExposure assessmentHabitat sustainabilityConservation and restoration planningEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 129, Iss , Pp 107960- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Seagrass conservation Exposure assessment Habitat sustainability Conservation and restoration planning Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Seagrass conservation Exposure assessment Habitat sustainability Conservation and restoration planning Ecology QH540-549.5 Wenjia Hu Dian Zhang Bin Chen Xinming Liu Xiaomin Ye Qutu Jiang Xinqing Zheng Jianguo Du Shiquan Chen Mapping the seagrass conservation and restoration priorities: Coupling habitat suitability and anthropogenic pressures
description	Seagrass meadows provide important ecosystem services, but are among the least conserved marine ecosystems. The Southern bioregion of China has the nation’s largest seagrass distribution. However, lack of information on the distribution of seagrasses and the threats they face pose a significant obstacle to their conservation and restoration. Accordingly, a framework for prioritizing conservation and restoration objectives was proposed in the present study. First, we modeled the suitable habitats with MaxEnt, random forest (RF), and ensemble models to obtain a reliable basis map of seagrass distribution. A potentially suitable area of approximately 3,536–4,852 km2 was mapped in the coastal sea of South China, with the greatest area occurring between 18 °N and 22 °N. The anthropogenic pressures on the seagrass habitat were then estimated using an integrated exposure index consisting of four indicators, namely, population density, fishery economy, aquaculture, and shipping. The results indicated 48% of the coastal seas were under intensive anthropogenic pressures, with a higher exposure in the north than the south. The current conservation status suggests that there is a large seagrass conservation gap. By coupling the two dimensions of habitat suitability and integrated exposure, priority sites for seagrass management in South China were identified for the first time. Our work will not only provide basic information for coastal ecosystem management, but also serve as a tool to support the conservation and restoration planning of seagrass, thus, ultimately promoting the sustainability of seagrasses habitats.
format	article
author	Wenjia Hu Dian Zhang Bin Chen Xinming Liu Xiaomin Ye Qutu Jiang Xinqing Zheng Jianguo Du Shiquan Chen
author_facet	Wenjia Hu Dian Zhang Bin Chen Xinming Liu Xiaomin Ye Qutu Jiang Xinqing Zheng Jianguo Du Shiquan Chen
author_sort	Wenjia Hu
title	Mapping the seagrass conservation and restoration priorities: Coupling habitat suitability and anthropogenic pressures
title_short	Mapping the seagrass conservation and restoration priorities: Coupling habitat suitability and anthropogenic pressures
title_full	Mapping the seagrass conservation and restoration priorities: Coupling habitat suitability and anthropogenic pressures
title_fullStr	Mapping the seagrass conservation and restoration priorities: Coupling habitat suitability and anthropogenic pressures
title_full_unstemmed	Mapping the seagrass conservation and restoration priorities: Coupling habitat suitability and anthropogenic pressures
title_sort	mapping the seagrass conservation and restoration priorities: coupling habitat suitability and anthropogenic pressures
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/9a4cef8a378b42969c283ddffdd5e2ba
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Mapping the seagrass conservation and restoration priorities: Coupling habitat suitability and anthropogenic pressures

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