Un-muddying the waters: Using benthic and shorebird population data to assess intertidal mudflat conditions and inform management strategies in two Irish Sea marine protected areas
Un-muddying the waters: Using benthic and shorebird population data to assess intertidal mudflat conditions and inform management strategies in two Irish Sea marine protected areas
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110632
复制
发表时间：
2023-10
影响因子：
6.9
通讯作者：
Constance M. Schéré;T. Dawson;K. Schreckenberg
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Constance M. Schéré;T. Dawson;K. Schreckenberg
潮间带泥滩是生产力很高的沿海生境，是陆地生态系统和海洋生态系统之间的过渡区，提供了丰富的生态系统服务，包括为许多具有养护和商业重要性的物种提供育苗和觅食地。这些栖息地对越冬的滨鸟和涉禽很重要，它们依靠它们来觅食、筑巢和迁徙。它们的重要性在1971年《关于国际重要湿地的拉姆萨尔公约》之后得到正式承认，但它们的保护状况在很大程度上仍然不确定，因为它们很难调查，对其复杂的生物物理过程的全面了解尚未建立。虽然在英国海岸线周围发现了潮间带泥滩，但很少有对这些栖息地的常规实地调查，这使得面对不断上升的人为和气候压力的有效保护具有挑战性。英国各地的海洋保护区（MPAs）将低潮时未被海水覆盖的泥滩和沙滩列为与盐沼分开的指定特征，但它们通常被一起管理-在存在管理的情况下。由于缺乏资源，英国各地出现了几个纸公园，指定了海洋保护区，但没有得到充分的监测或管理。本研究探讨了使用底栖物种和滨鸟的人口数据作为代理的泥滩条件的时间变化，侧重于两个海洋保护区在爱尔兰海，斯特兰福德湖在北方爱尔兰，和苏格兰/英格兰的索尔韦湾。它发现，这两种方法一起可以提供有用的信息，以支持MPA管理，但这种方法受到了足够的数据的可用性差。这种数据限制可能会影响实现或维持这些生境的有利条件的意义。
Intertidal mudflats are highly productive coastal habitats, serving as a transition zone between terrestrial and marine ecosystems and providing a wealth of ecosystem services, including providing nursery and feeding grounds for many species of conservation and commercial importance. These habitats are important for wintering shorebirds and waders, which depend on them for food, nesting, and migration. Their importance was formally recognised in 1971 following the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, yet their conservation status remains largely uncertain as they are difficult to survey, and a complete understanding of their complex biophysical processes has yet to be established. While intertidal mudflats are found all around the UK coastline, there are few routine field surveys of these habitats, making effective conservation in the face of rising anthropogenic and climate pressures challenging. Marine protected areas (MPAs) across the UK listmudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tideas a designation feature separate from saltmarshes, but they are often managed together – where management exists. A lack of resources has resulted in several paper parks around the UK, where MPAs are designated but not adequately monitored or managed. This study explores the use of population data of benthic species and shorebirds as a proxy for temporal changes in mudflat conditions, focusing on two MPAs in the Irish Sea, Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, and the Solway Firth in Scotland/England. It finds that the two methods together can provide information useful to support MPA management, but this approach is hampered by poor availability of sufficient data. Such data limitation can impact what it means to achieve or maintain favourable conditions for these habitats.