Search results for "OVEREXPLOITATION"
showing 6 items of 16 documents
Incorporating intra-annual variability in fisheries abundance data to better capture population dynamics
2022
Abstract To reduce the risk of overexploitation and the ensuing conservation and socio-economic consequences, fisheries management relies on receiving accurate scientific advice from stock assessments. Biomass dynamics models used in stock assessment tend to rely primarily on indices of abundance and commercial landings data. Standard practice for calculating the indices used in these models typically involves taking averages of survey tow data over large, diverse spatial domains. There is a lot of variability in the choice of methodologies used to propagate index uncertainty into the assessment model, many of which require specifying it through expert knowledge or prior distributions. Here…
Predictive habitat suitability models to aid the conservation of elasmobranchs in Isla del Coco National Park (Costa Rica)
2021
Abstract Worldwide there is increasing concern for elasmobranch species given that their biological and ecological characteristics make them highly vulnerable to fishing pressure. The disappearance of these species could affect the structure and function of marine ecosystems, which would induce changes in trophic interactions at the community level. For effective conservation and management of elasmobranchs detailed knowledge of their habitat preferences is essential. Yet, there is a poor understanding of their spatial ecology. Isla del Coco National Park is an oceanic island in Pacific Costa Rica and renowned for being a sanctuary for migratory pelagic species, such as elasmobranchs and ot…
Impairing the largest and most productive forest on our planet: how do human activities impact phytoplankton?
2012
This article summarizes the outcomes of the 16th Workshop of the International Association for Phytoplankton Taxonomy and Ecology. Four major issues dealing with the impact exerted by human activities on phytoplankton were addressed in the articles of this special volume: climate change and its impacts on phytoplankton, the role of land use in shaping composition and diversity of phytoplankton, the importance of autecological studies to fully understand how phytoplankton is impacted by stressors and the role of ecological classification to evaluate community changes due to the different impacts. Case studies from different types of aquatic environments (rivers, deep and shallow lakes, reser…
Functional ecological patterns and the effect of anthropogenic disturbances on a recently restored Mediterranean coastal lagoon. Needs for a sustaina…
2012
Abstract We present here a detailed case study on the lessons learned after a restoration process of a natural ecosystem, which can be considered as an ecological experiment. Senillar de Moraira is a brackish water small coastal lagoon located in the Spanish Mediterranean coast. It is separated from the sea by a sand bar and a beach, and is regularly fed by groundwater. Mostly due to the strong anthropogenic pressure this lagoon was degraded, and a restoration process, consisting mostly on the rebuilt of hydrogeomorphological features, was accomplished about a decade ago. After the restoration project, ecological monitoring was performed to reveal the recovery of the ecological integrity of…
Competitive versus efficient extraction of a common property resource: The groundwater case
2001
Abstract In this paper socially optimal and private extraction of a common property aquifer are compared. Open-loop equilibrium and feedback equilibrium in linear strategies have been computed to characterize private extraction. The use of these two equilibrium concepts allows us to distinguish between cost and strategic externalities as long as the open-loop solution captures only the cost externality, and the feedback solution captures both. The results show that strategic behaviour increases the overexploitation of the aquifer compared to the open-loop solution. However, if the groundwater storage capacity is large, the difference between the socially optimal and private extraction, the …
Voluntary Agreements to Promote the Use of Reclaimed Water at Tordera River Basin
2015
The voluntary agreement to promote the use of reclaimed water is an economic policy instrument (EPI) which focuses on improving water management by using reclaimed water. Following a win-win strategy, this EPI was implemented in the Tordera river basin (Spain), an area with endemic water scarcity problems and high competition among users for water resources. The assessment of the EPI suggests that significant positive outcomes have achieved from an environmental and economic point of view. Thus, the demand of freshwater has decreased and the availability of water is guaranteed even during summer period allowing therefore for the maintenance of economic activities (agriculture and golf cours…