Browsing by Author "Somma, Francesca"
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- Assessment of marine ecosystem services indicators: experiences and lessons learned from 14 european case studiesPublication . Lillebo, Ana I.; Somma, Francesca; Noren, Katja; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Fatima Alves, M.; Ballarini, Elisabetta; Bentes, L.; Bielecka, Malgorzata; Chubarenko, Boris V.; Heise, Susanne; Khokhlov, Valeriy; Klaoudatos, Dimitris; Lloret, Javier; Margonski, Piotr; Marin, Atucha; Matczak, Magdalena; Oen, Amy M. P.; Palmieri, Maria G.; Przedrzymirska, Joanna; Rozynski, Grzegorz; Sousa, Ana I.; Sousa, Lisa P.; Tuchkovenko, Yurii; Zaucha, JacekThis article shares the experiences, observations, and discussions that occurred during the completing of an ecosystem services (ES) indicator framework to be used at European Union (EU) and Member States' level. The experience base was drawn from 3 European research projects and 14 associated case study sites that include 13 transitional-water bodies (specifically 8 coastal lagoons, 4 riverine estuaries, and 1 fjord) and 1 coastal-water ecosystem. The ES pertinent to each case study site were identified along with indicators of these ES and data sources that could be used for mapping. During the process, several questions and uncertainties arose, followed by discussion, leading to these main lessons learned: 1) ES identification: Some ES that do not seem important at the European scale emerge as relevant at regional or local scales; 2) ES indicators: When direct indicators are not available, proxies for indicators (indirect indicators) might be used, including combined data on monitoring requirements imposed by EU legislation and international agreements; 3) ES mapping: Boundaries and appropriate data spatial resolution must be established because ES can be mapped at different temporal and spatial scales. We also acknowledge that mapping and assessment of ES supports the dialogue between human well-being and ecological status. From an evidence-based marine planning-process point of view, mapping and assessment of marine ES are of paramount importance to sustainable use of marine natural capital and to halt the loss of marine biodiversity. (C) 2016 SETAC
- Eutrophication in transitional waters: an overviewPublication . Zaldívar, José-Manuel; Cardoso, Ana Cristina; Viaroli, Pierluigi; Newton, Alice; Wit, Rutger; Ibañez, Carles; Reizopoulou, Sofia; Somma, Francesca; Razinkovas, Arturas; Basset, Alberto; Holmer, Marianne; Murray, NicholasDespite their ecological and economic importance, Transitional Waters (TWs) have fallen behind all the other water categories in respect to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and further, pose some interpretation problems in other existing Water Directives. The problems faced by TWs concerning the implementation of WFD are mainly related to their characteristics, including: the high spatio-temporal variability, the fast response time to perturbations, their high productivity, the fact that primary production in these systems is normally not dominated by phytoplankton, their high socio-economic importance with a long historical tradition, and the strong anthropogenic pressures which exists in these systems. The present review attempts to bring together the main elements characterizing TWs and to identify the current understanding of the process of eutrophication and the problems this raises in establishing reference conditions, in view of the need of implementing the WFD. It is thus necessary to reach agreement on working definitions of TWs that can form the basis for the development of methodologies permitting the establishment of reference conditions; gain an understanding of the processes of eutrophication and the drivers and pressures that play a major role in their evolution; and investigate the use of indicators susceptible of accurately reflecting the ecological quality status of these types of water, as required by the WFD.