The effect of anchoring disturbance on seabed ecosystems

锚泊扰动对海底生态系统的影响

• 批准号: 2882535
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Bangor University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2882535
• 关键词: effect; anchoring; disturbance; seabed; ecosystems

The sustainable management of marine resources requires an understanding of the current condition of the marine environment, what good status does/should/could look like and what level and types of human activity are compatible with the achievement or maintenance of a good ecosystem state. Sedimentary seabed ecosystems provide a wide range of important functions. They can have a very high biodiversity, provide food for commercial fish and seabirds of conservation concern, and contribute to the biogeochemistry of nutrient cycling. The UK Marine Strategy (UKMS) and the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive require the seabed to be in a good state. Although the effect of other human activities that disturb the seabed, such as bottom trawling and dredging, are well understood and included in assessments, the effects of anchoring, have so far been totally ignored, even though the area of seabed that is affected by anchoring is likely to be larger than the area used for aggregate dredging, and the intensity of disturbance is likely to be severe. Sustainable management of the seabed for anchoring therefore requires an assessment of the footprint of this activity and the disturbance that it causes within this footprint, and how this impact varies with the environmental conditions. Developing a sound understanding of the impact that anchoring can have on the seabed will support the prioritization of environmental management actions for habitats that may currently be affected by this disturbance. This project will be done in collaboration with Natural Resources Wales, and the findings will be of direct relevance to the United Kingdom's national Marine Strategy. The implication of this work has potential for impact more broadly, as the models built and validated by this detailed site-based work in Wales has the potential to be scaled up to understand anchor damage impacts globally.

海洋资源的可持续管理需要了解海洋环境的现状，良好的状态应该是什么样子，以及人类活动的水平和类型与实现或维持良好的生态系统状态相适应。沉积海底生态系统提供了广泛的重要功能。它们具有非常高的生物多样性，为受保护的商业鱼类和海鸟提供食物，并有助于营养循环的生物地球化学。英国海洋战略（UKMS）和欧盟海洋战略框架指令要求海底处于良好状态。尽管其他人类活动对海底的干扰，如底拖网和疏浚，已得到充分了解并纳入评估，但迄今为止，抛锚的影响完全被忽视，尽管受抛锚影响的海床面积可能比集料疏浚所影响的面积更大，而且干扰的强度可能很严重。因此，对锚定海底的可持续管理需要评估该活动的足迹及其在该足迹内造成的干扰，以及这种影响如何随环境条件变化。充分了解抛锚对海底可能产生的影响，将有助于对目前可能受到这种干扰影响的栖息地的环境管理行动进行优先排序。该项目将与威尔士自然资源局合作完成，其研究结果将与英国国家海洋战略直接相关。这项工作的意义有可能产生更广泛的影响，因为通过威尔士这项详细的现场工作建立和验证的模型有可能扩大规模，以了解全球范围内的锚损坏影响。