Microplastic river emissions are known to be one of the major sources for marine microplastic pollution. Especially urbanized estuaries localized at the land-sea interface and subjected to microplastic emissions from various sources exhibit a high microplastic discharge potential to adjacent coasts. To adapt effective measures against microplastic emissions a more detailed knowledge on the importance of various microplastic sources is necessary. As field data is scarce we combined different approaches to assess microplastic emissions into the Warnow estuary, southwestern Baltic Sea. Resulting microplastic emission estimates are based on in-situ measurements for the catchment emissions, whereas for the remaining microplastic sources within the estuary literature data on microplastic abundances, and various parameters were used (e.g. demographical, hydrological, geographical). The evaluation of the different emission scenarios revealed that the majority of microplastic is likely discharged by the Warnow river catchment (49.4%) and the separated city stormwater system (43.1%) into the estuary, followed by combined sewer discharges (6.1%). Wastewater treatment plant emissions exhibit the lowest percentage (1.4%). Our approach to estimate anti-fouling paint particles emissions from leisure and commercial shipping activities was associated with highest uncertainties. However, our results indicate the importance of this source highlighting the necessity for future research on the topic. Based on our assumptions for microplastic retention within the estuary, we estimate a potential annual emission of 152 to 291 billion microplastics (majority within the size class 10 to 100 µm) to the Baltic Sea. Considering all uncertainties of the different applied approaches, we could assess the importance of various microplastic sources which can be used by authorities to prioritize and establish emission reduction measures. Additionally, the study provides parameters for microplastic emission estimates that can be transferred from our model system to other urbanized Baltic estuaries.

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Combined Approaches to Predict Microplastic Emissions Within an Urbanized Estuary (Warnow, Southwestern Baltic Sea)

As accumulation zones, sandy beaches are temporal sinks for beach wrack and litter, both often seen as nuisances to tourists. Consequently, there is a need for beach management and an enhanced political interest to evaluate their ecosystem services. We applied a new online multidisciplinary assessment approach differentiating between the provision, potential, and flow at German and Lithuanian beaches (Southern Baltic Sea). We selected a set of services and assessed four beach scenarios developed accordingly to common management measures (different beach wrack and litter accumulations). We conducted comparative assessments involving 39 external experts using spread-sheets and workshops, an online survey as well as a combined data-based approach. Results indicated the relative importance of cultural (52.2%), regulating and maintenance (37.4%), and provisioning services (10.4%). Assessed impact scores showed that the removal of beach wrack is not favorable with regard to the overall ecosystem service provision. Contrarily, the removal of litter can increase the service flow significantly. When removing beach wrack, synergies between services should be used, i.e., use of biomass as material or further processing. However, trade-offs prevail between cultural services and the overall provision of beach ecosystem services (i.e., coastal protection and biodiversity). We recommend developing new and innovative beach cleaning techniques and procedures, i.e., different spatio-temporal patterns, e.g., mechanical vs. manually, daily vs. on-demand, whole beach width vs. patches. Our fast and easy-to-apply assessment approach can support decision-making processes within sustainable coastal management allowing us to show and compare the impacts of measures from a holistic ecosystem services perspective.

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An Impact Assessment of Beach Wrack and Litter on Beach Ecosystem Services to Support Coastal Management at the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is essential for marine ecosystem services (MES) provision and the region's socio-economic dynamics. It is considered one of the busiest and most polluted regional seas in Europe. In recent years a collective effort in enforcing European and regional environmental policies and directives (e.g. Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC, 2000; Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC, 2008; Maritime Spatial Planning Directive 2014/89/EU, 2014) has been carried out. Ecosystem Services assessment and mapping is integrated into these directives. An increasing number of scientific studies, projects, and other works were developed in this context, generating a vast body of knowledge. Despite all efforts to improve the Baltic Sea's environmental status, the targets established were not fulfilled. It is also important to analyze if current methodological approaches for assessing and mapping MES are robust enough to provide the needed results. This perspective paper analyses the status of assessment and mapping methodologies. The results showed that most of the studies were focused on qualitative assessments, with limited validation and reliability. Although the number of robust and quantitative works is increasing, more are needed. It is vital to carry out quantitative assessments to inform decision-makers better and standardize MES practices across the Baltic Sea.

Ecosystem services of the Baltic Sea: An assessment and mapping perspective

Evidence-based decision making and policy development rely on the syntheses of available scientific knowledge and the identification of respective knowledge gaps. This article presents a participatory systematic map, which constitutes a relatively new methodological approach in the field of ecosystem services (ES) research. The map identifies, collates, and describes the evidence base on marine and coastal ES research in the Baltic Sea. Key stakeholders were involved throughout the whole mapping process. 1006 publications, identified through searches in eleven databases, were double-screened and 57 publications were found eligible. The results show that research on provisioning, regulating and cultural ES is uniformly distributed in the evidence base while most studies applied bio-physical assessment approaches. The most frequently researched ES are the regulation of nutrients, the provision of fish, and recreation. Only a few studies were conducted in the context of marine policies. While ES research is growing in the Baltic Sea area, this systematic map highlights the plethora of definitions and lack of standardized approaches as an obstacle for policy implementation. The method of participatory systematic mapping was identified as a useful tool for ES research to identify all available knowledge on a specific topic, determine knowledge gaps and inform both researchers and policy makers.

Participatory systematic mapping as a tool to identify gaps in ecosystem services research: insights from a Baltic Sea case study

Coastal ecosystems are important ecosystem services (ES) suppliers. The degradation of these ecosystems jeopardizes the quality of ES provision. The Biodiversity 2020 Strategy aims at maintaining and restoring ES, although clear guidelines are missing on how to define the state to which ES should be restored. In this respect, synergies between ES assessments and the Water Framework Directive (WFD) exist, but methodological approaches to connect both are lacking. The Marine Ecosystem Services Assessment Tool (MESAT) can overcome this problem. In this study, the tool is applied to semi-open and open coastal water bodies in the Southern Baltic Sea, the Greifswald Bay and Pomeranian Bay. The resulting changes in ES provision confirm the ability of MESAT to be applied in all WFD water body types and a multitude of environmental and anthropogenic gradients. Nevertheless, problems such as data scarcity, spatial extent and historical background of the case studies require adaptations in the assessment process. The spatial extent of all case studies allowed to cover a connected system with a strong environmental (salinity) gradient. Analyzing changes in ES provision in connected systems can help to better understand linkages between ES provision and environmental and anthropogenic stressors as well as trade-offs between ES across water bodies. This information can be further used to support the design of management plans. From the analysis of all MESAT case studies, major factors were identified for the tool to be transfered into a European context, as well as potential problems and solutions. Following the WFD is a strong advantage, which ensures the tool’s transferability to other areas.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/9/2632/pdf

Assessing Changes in Ecosystem Services Provision in Coastal Waters

Coastal waters provide a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), but are under intensive human use, face fast degradation and are subject to increasing pressures and changes in near future As consequence, European Union (EU) water policies try to protect, restore and manage coastal and marine systems in a sustainable way The most important EU directive in this respect is the Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC) Objective is to reach a 'good status' in EU waters, following a stepwise and guided process Our major objective is to test how an ecosystem service assessment can support WFD implementation in practice We use the Marine Ecosystem Service Assessment Tool (MESAT) that utilizes spatial definitions, reference conditions and the good status according to the WFD as well as data and information gained during the implementation process The data-based tool allows comparative analyses between different ecological states and an evaluation of relative changes in ES provision We apply MESAT to two contrasting systems in the German Baltic Sea region, the rural Schlei and the urban/industrialized Warnow Estuary These data-based assessments show how the ES provision has changed between the historic, pre-industrial state around 1880 (reference conditions with high ecological status), the situation around 1960 (good ecological status), and today The analysis separates the estuaries into water bodies A complementary expert-based ES assessment compares the situation today with a future scenario ‘Warnow 2040’ assuming a good ecological status as consequence of a successful WFD implementation Strengths and weaknesses of the approaches and their utilization in the WFD are discussed ES assessments can be regarded as suitable to support public relation activities and to increase the acceptance of measures Further, they are promising tools in participation and stakeholder processes within the planning of measures However an ES assessment not only supports the WFD implementation, but the WFD provides a frame for ES assessments larger scale assessments in seascapes, increases the acceptance of the ES approach and the readiness of stakeholders to get involved

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Philipp Paysen

Papers

Ecosystem Service Assessments in Water Policy Implementation: An Analysis in Urban and Rural Estuaries