Institution
Ocean Conservancy
Nonprofit•Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States•
About: Ocean Conservancy is a nonprofit organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Ocean acidification & Ecosystem services. The organization has 49 authors who have published 80 publications receiving 10274 citations. The organization is also known as: Delta Corporation.
Papers
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State Street Corporation1, University of California, Santa Barbara2, University of Hawaii at Manoa3, Stanford University4, Wildlife Conservation Society5, Arizona State University6, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill7, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration8, Environmental Defense Fund9, Ocean Conservancy10, The Nature Conservancy11, University of Maine12, University of British Columbia13
TL;DR: This article developed an ecosystem-specific, multiscale spatial model to synthesize 17 global data sets of anthropogenic drivers of ecological change for 20 marine ecosystems and found that no area is unaffected by human influence and that a large fraction (41%) is strongly affected by multiple drivers.
Abstract: The management and conservation of the world's oceans require synthesis of spatial data on the distribution and intensity of human activities and the overlap of their impacts on marine ecosystems. We developed an ecosystem-specific, multiscale spatial model to synthesize 17 global data sets of anthropogenic drivers of ecological change for 20 marine ecosystems. Our analysis indicates that no area is unaffected by human influence and that a large fraction (41%) is strongly affected by multiple drivers. However, large areas of relatively little human impact remain, particularly near the poles. The analytical process and resulting maps provide flexible tools for regional and global efforts to allocate conservation resources; to implement ecosystem-based management; and to inform marine spatial planning, education, and basic research.
5,365 citations
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Duke University1, University of Wisconsin-Madison2, United States Environmental Protection Agency3, Indiana University4, Florida International University5, Oregon State University6, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center7, Conservation International8, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources9, Ocean Conservancy10
TL;DR: It is clear that policies encouraging the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems could significantly reduce carbon emissions from the land-use sector, in addition to sustaining the well-recognized ecosystem services of coastal habitats.
Abstract: Recent attention has focused on the high rates of annual carbon sequestration in vegetated coastal ecosystems—marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses—that may be lost with habitat destruction (‘conversion’). Relatively unappreciated, however, is that conversion of these coastal ecosystems also impacts very large pools of previously-sequestered carbon. Residing mostly in sediments, this ‘blue carbon’ can be released to the atmosphere when these ecosystems are converted or degraded. Here we provide the first global estimates of this impact and evaluate its economic implications. Combining the best available data on global area, land-use conversion rates, and near-surface carbon stocks in each of the three ecosystems, using an uncertainty-propagation approach, we estimate that 0.15–1.02 Pg (billion tons) of carbon dioxide are being released annually, several times higher than previous estimates that account only for lost sequestration. These emissions are equivalent to 3–19% of those from deforestation globally, and result in economic damages of $US 6–42 billion annually. The largest sources of uncertainty in these estimates stems from limited certitude in global area and rates of landuse conversion, but research is also needed on the fates of ecosystem carbon upon conversion. Currently, carbon emissions from the conversion of vegetated coastal ecosystems are not included in emissions accounting or carbon market protocols, but this analysis suggests they may be disproportionally important to both. Although the relevant science supporting these initial estimates will need to be refined in coming years, it is clear that policies encouraging the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems could significantly reduce carbon emissions from the land-use sector, in addition to sustaining the wellrecognized ecosystem services of coastal habitats.
1,088 citations
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Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University1, Centre national de la recherche scientifique2, Secretariat of the Pacific Community3, University of British Columbia4, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research5, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research6, Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives7, Ocean Conservancy8, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration9, Australian Research Council10, University of Washington11, University of Oxford12, Scottish Natural Heritage13, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources14, International Atomic Energy Agency15, Harvard University16, Plymouth Marine Laboratory17
TL;DR: The physics, chemistry, and ecology of the oceans might be affected based on two CO2 emission trajectories: one business as usual and one with aggressive reductions, consistent with the Copenhagen Accord of keeping mean global temperature increase below 2°C in the 21st century.
Abstract: The ocean moderates anthropogenic climate change at the cost of profound alterations of its physics, chemistry, ecology, and services. Here, we evaluate and compare the risks of impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems—and the goods and services they provide—for growing cumulative carbon emissions under two contrasting emissions scenarios. The current emissions trajectory would rapidly and significantly alter many ecosystems and the associated services on which humans heavily depend. A reduced emissions scenario—consistent with the Copenhagen Accord’s goal of a global temperature increase of less than 2°C—is much more favorable to the ocean but still substantially alters important marine ecosystems and associated goods and services. The management options to address ocean impacts narrow as the ocean warms and acidifies. Consequently, any new climate regime that fails to minimize ocean impacts would be incomplete and inadequate.
1,053 citations
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University of Toronto1, University of Georgia2, Society for Conservation Biology3, University of Queensland4, University of Western Australia5, Sea Education Association6, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration7, University of Oxford8, Arizona State University9, Ocean Conservancy10, Virginia Tech11, The Nature Conservancy12
TL;DR: Assessment of three broad management strategies, plastic waste reduction, waste management, and environmental recovery, at different levels of effort to estimate plastic emissions to 2030 for 173 countries found that 19 to 23 million metric tons, or 11%, of plastic waste generated globally in 2016 entered aquatic ecosystems.
Abstract: Plastic pollution is a planetary threat, affecting nearly every marine and freshwater ecosystem globally. In response, multilevel mitigation strategies are being adopted but with a lack of quantitative assessment of how such strategies reduce plastic emissions. We assessed the impact of three broad management strategies, plastic waste reduction, waste management, and environmental recovery, at different levels of effort to estimate plastic emissions to 2030 for 173 countries. We estimate that 19 to 23 million metric tons, or 11%, of plastic waste generated globally in 2016 entered aquatic ecosystems. Considering the ambitious commitments currently set by governments, annual emissions may reach up to 53 million metric tons per year by 2030. To reduce emissions to a level well below this prediction, extraordinary efforts to transform the global plastics economy are needed.
775 citations
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Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science1, University of California, San Diego2, Imperial College London3, National Marine Fisheries Service4, Ocean Conservancy5, Newbury College6, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research7, Virginia Institute of Marine Science8, University of Split9, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research10
TL;DR: These species exhibit a wide range of life-history characteristics, but many have relatively low productivity and consequently relatively high intrinsic vulnerability to over-exploitation, including the shortfin mako shark.
Abstract: 1.Fishing spans all oceans and the impact on ocean predators such as sharks and rays is largely unknown. A lack of data and complicated jurisdictional issues present particular challenges for assessing and conserving high seas biodiversity. It is clear, however, that pelagic sharks and rays of the open ocean are subject to high and often unrestricted levels of mortality from bycatch and targeted fisheries for their meat and valuable fins.
2.These species exhibit a wide range of life-history characteristics, but many have relatively low productivity and consequently relatively high intrinsic vulnerability to over-exploitation. The IUCN — World Conservation Union Red List criteria were used to assess the global status of 21 oceanic pelagic shark and ray species.
3.Three-quarters (16) of these species are classified as Threatened or Near Threatened. Eleven species are globally threatened with higher risk of extinction: the giant devilray is Endangered, ten sharks are Vulnerable and a further five species are Near Threatened. Threat status depends on the interaction between the demographic resilience of the species and intensity of fisheries exploitation.
4.4. Most threatened species, like the shortfin mako shark, have low population increase rates and suffer high fishing mortality throughout their range. Species with a lower risk of extinction have either fast, resilient life histories (e.g. pelagic stingray) or are species with slow, less resilient life histories but subject to fisheries management (e.g. salmon shark).
5.5. Recommendations, including implementing and enforcing finning bans and catch limits, are made to guide effective conservation and management of these sharks and rays.
Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
708 citations
Authors
Showing all 49 results
Name | H-index | Papers | Citations |
---|---|---|---|
Laurent Bopp | 83 | 258 | 39722 |
Henry P. Huntington | 39 | 115 | 9823 |
Wallace J. Nichols | 30 | 42 | 3342 |
Sarah R. Cooley | 21 | 45 | 3617 |
Michael Drexler | 21 | 83 | 1099 |
Sonja V. Fordham | 18 | 25 | 3367 |
Dennis Heinemann | 13 | 21 | 5713 |
Todd C. Stevenson | 9 | 10 | 221 |
Nicholas Mallos | 8 | 10 | 652 |
George H. Leonard | 6 | 9 | 478 |
Anna Zivian | 5 | 12 | 293 |
Andreas Merkl | 4 | 5 | 46 |
Matthew S. Love | 4 | 4 | 61 |
Chris Dorsett | 3 | 3 | 40 |
Andrew Hartsig | 3 | 4 | 90 |