The Concept of Ecosystem Services in Coastal Areas
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Oceans".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 1411
Special Issue Editors
Interests: ecosystem services; mapping; modeling; marine and coastal areas; sustainability
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Coastal areas connect natural and human-made terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, creating unique ecological gradients and hosting human settlements and dynamic economic activities. The unique characteristics of these complex social–ecological systems provide several societal benefits. For instance, coastal ecosystems such as salt marshes, mangroves, dunes and seagrass meadows contain carbon sinks, provide protection from storms, act as nursery and migratory areas for several species and offer recreational opportunities. Despite this, due to the mixture of marine and terrestrial characteristics that make their study particularly challenging, knowledge of coastal ecosystem services (ESs) falls short compared to that of their terrestrial counterparts. In fact, assessing multiple ESs in coastal areas requires researchers to contend with terrestrial and aquatic domains and to integrate the services provided by both, resulting in increased complexity. Additionally, coastal areas are extremely vulnerable to global environmental change and are already severely affected, requiring robust management interventions. Several coastal and marine policies and directives at EU and Global levels already integrate ES assessment and mapping into their frameworks, to which scientific research aims to contribute supporting information. Hence, the lack of concrete and robust scientific knowledge hampers its use by decision-makers. Advances in ES science could substantially contribute to the development of new management approaches that consider the multiple benefits provided by coastal ecosystems; moreover, such advances could contribute to enhancing their adaptive capacity in the face of global change. This Special Issue aims to foster the advancement of ES science in coastal areas, welcoming contributions that address, but are not limited to, the following key topics:
- ES indicators and assessment frameworks tailored to the coastal system.
- Assessment, mapping and valuation methods adapted to general and particular features of coastal systems.
- The impacts of climate change and anthropogenic changes on coastal ESs.
- The contributions of ESs to key management challenges in coastal areas and to the implementation of relevant directives (e.g., the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the EU Maritime Spatial Planning Directive, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the CBD Aichi Targets).
Dr. Silvia Rova
Dr. Miguel Inácio
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- ecosystem services
- coastal ecosystems
- mapping
- management
- climate change
- valuation
