Past and Future Grand Challenges in Marine Ecosystem Ecology

[...]of the top papers assigned to each challenge, those assessing ocean health received the highest annual mean number of citations, followed by papers on understanding relationships between human pressures and ecosystems, and those dealing with understanding the role of biodiversity in maintaining...

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Published in:	Frontiers in Marine Science 2020-06, Vol.7
Main Authors:	Borja, Angel, Andersen, Jesper H., Arvanitidis, Christos D., Basset, Alberto, Buhl-Mortensen, Lene, Carvalho, Susana, Dafforn, Katherine A., Devlin, Michelle J., Escobar-Briones, Elva G., Grenz, Christian, Harder, Tilmann, Katsanevakis, Stelios, Liu, Dongyan, Metaxas, Anna, Morán, Xosé Anxelu G., Newton, Alice, Piroddi, Chiara, Pochon, Xavier, Queirós, Ana M., Snelgrove, Paul V. R., Solidoro, Cosimo, St. John, Michael A., Teixeira, Heliana
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Areas beyond national jurisdiction Biodiversity Biodiversity and Ecology Citations Climate change Coastal ecosystems Deep sea Deep water Ecology Ecosystem approaches ecosystem functioning ecosystem health assessment Ecosystem management Ecosystem services Ecosystems Environment and Society Environmental changes Environmental impact Environmental Sciences Exploration global change Global Changes Habitat loss human pressures Human-environment relationship Hydrocarbons Introduced species Invasive species Jurisdiction Marine conservation Marine ecosystems Mitigation Ocean, Atmosphere Offshore Restoration Science Sciences of the Universe Sustainability Sustainable development Terrestrial environments Underwater exploration Urban development Urbanization
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Summary:	[...]of the top papers assigned to each challenge, those assessing ocean health received the highest annual mean number of citations, followed by papers on understanding relationships between human pressures and ecosystems, and those dealing with understanding the role of biodiversity in maintaining ecosystems functionality (Table 1). To date, restoration efforts have focused on coastal ecosystems, but with increasing exploration for hydrocarbons and other resources offshore and in areas beyond national jurisdiction, approaches for deep-sea and open sea restoration should be explored and tested; (N4) Moving from descriptive studies to those providing functional assessments, improving the understanding of marine ecosystems, supporting management and sustainability strategies for human activities in the ocean, in line with the UN DOSSD; (N5) Understanding the cause-effect pathways and the response of ecosystems to increasing cumulative human impacts and climate change (Ortiz et al., 2018), as drivers of shifts in most marine ecosystems, altering species distributions and threatening biodiversity (Halpern et al., 2019). [...]this challenge is complex and requires novel methods of assessment and models spanning across disciplines (Crain et al., 2008; Phillips et al., 2019). Important knowledge gaps restrict our understanding of traits that facilitate invasions and the magnitude of their impacts, our capacity to predict future shifts in ecosystem processes and functioning due to invasive species, and our ability to propose adequate mitigation measures; (S3) Assessing urban development and subsequent loss of natural coastlines and ecosystem services (Barragán and de Andrés, 2015) (S4) Understanding the impacts of human activities as well as climate change in the deep ocean (Levin and Le Bris, 2015; Danovaro et al., 2017) (S5) Considering the land-ocean continuum, with major terrestrial and riverine inputs to the ocean (Xenopoulos et al., 2017).
ISSN:	2296-7745 2296-7745