Sofie Derous, Marijn Rabaut & Steven Degraer University of Gent Marine Biology Section MARBEF Theme 3 Workshop on Information Crete, December 2004 Some Belgian initiatives to develop decision support tools for managers: BWZee, BALANS and GAUFRE

Scientific data Information available Information required Marine scientists Managers Sustainable management of the sea ? ? Decision Support Tools / Translating tools Distributions of species Species densities Biomass e.g. Sustainable fish quota Valuable biological areas

Scientific Data Sustainable Management ? Decision Support Tools Translating tools

Scientific Data Sustainable Management ? BALANS GAUFRE

Scientific Data Biological Valuation Map (BVM) Sustainable Management BWZee Biological Valuation Criteria BALANS GAUFRE Warning System

Low biological valueHigh biological valueModerate biological value MARINE BIOLOGICAL VALUATION MAP OBJECTIVE: TO CREATE A BASELINE MAP WITHIN A NATURE CONSERVATION PERSPECTIVE FOR SPATIAL PLANNING SANDBANK AREA

BWZee – A Biological valuation map for the Belgian Continental Shelf WP4 Filling the gaps BIOLOGICAL VALUATION MAP(S) WP5 Biological valueing WP3 Spatial extrapolation DISTRIBUTION MAPS DATABASES WP2 Data collection and management  Biological Valuation Criteria for the Marine Environment WP1 Valuation criteria

What is a marine Biological Valuation Map?

BWZee – INTERNATIONAL EXPERT WORKSHOP Towards a scientifically accepted and widely applicable marine, biological valuation strategy Goals (1) To learn from international expertise on marine biological valuation (2) To contribute to the international expertise on marine biological valuation Participants Selected group of experts in marine (and terrestrial) biological valuation About 10 experts (Belgium, Canada, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, U.K. & USA)

What is a marine Biological Valuation Map?  Definition by Experts BVM A marine Biological Valuation Map is a national marine biological map showing relative ecological significance value Value Value is assigned in terms of preservation of biodiversity, both actual and potential

Selected Valuation Criteria Rarity (including uniqueness) Aggregation Fitness Consequences Biological Diversity Naturalness Proportional Importance (Resilience) First-order criteria Second-order criteria (Modifiers)

StructureMutationStructureMigrationStructureSuccessionWatermassCurrents GenotypesDifferentiat.AbundanceDispersion S.Diversity S.DiversityPredationTempTides FitnessDriftDistributRetention S. Richness Competit.SalinityDisturban. Haplotype D Flow Focal Spp Mig/ Drift S. Evenness ParasitismPropertiesGyres Stocks Nat. Select KeystoneGrowthAbundanceMutualismBoundariesRetention Inbreeding Ind. Cond. Reprod.Represent.DiseaseDepth/Pres P-B couple Mating Ind. Comp. RecruitDistinctiveProductionLightEntrain. Dir. Select UmbrellaBiomesDecomp.Stratificat. B-G cycles Stab. select PhenotypesBiocoenos.TopographSeasonal. Dis. select Fragments S-A relns. SubstrateProduct. Micro. Evol. Meta-popsTransitionsRepresent. H-A equil. ErosionFun.groupsDistinctive H-L equil. SpeciationHeterog.AnomaliesTurbulence Macro. Evol EndemismExposureMixing Alt. S.Stats PatchinessUpwelling SymbiosesNutrientsDivergence Biomass Dis. Gases Ecol.Integ. AnoxiaErosion Desiccation GENETIC Structure Process SPECIES/ POPULATION Structure Process COMMUNITY Structure Process ECOSYSTEM Structure Process The components of marine biodiversity: Adapted from Zacharias and Roff 2000

General Valuation Criteria Guideline for future Biological Valuation Specific Questions within General Valuation Criteria f.i. Biological diversity: what is the species richness/habitat diversity/ genetic diversity in an area? Aggregation: are there spawning areas situated in the area? Scoring of criteria Multi-criteria analysis: combining scores for different criteria for each region Biological Valuation Map

MARBEF Theme 3 Responsive Mode Action Work Package 2: Ecological data and biological valuation Marine biological valuation strategy tested  selected case studies with different levels of data availability Applicability in European marine waters ? Biological Valuation Goods & Services valuation Integrated view on VALUE of marine biodiversity Input of biological data from MARBEF theme 1 and 2 !!

Scientific Data Biological Valuation Map (BVM) Sustainable Management BWZee Biological Valuation Criteria to be used as a Warning System GAUFRE SPATIAL STRUCTURE PLAN Biological Valuation Map = Baseline layer

Low biological valueHigh biological valueModerate biological value MARINE BIOLOGICAL VALUATION MAP OBJECTIVE: TO CREATE A BASELINE MAP WITHIN A NATURE CONSERVATION PERSPECTIVE FOR SPATIAL PLANNING Example: planned windmill farm A C B SANDBANK AREA

Scientific Data Biological Valuation Map (BVM) Sustainable Management: Spatial planning Adaptive management BWZee Biological Valuation Criteria BALANS Warning System

BALANS Assess biological/ecological impacts Assess socio-economic impacts Model: balancing impacts What is the influence of certain management decisions? Fisheries Aggregate extraction Shipping e.g. Change of amount of fish species to be catched Change of location for extraction What are the most sustainable management decisions? Adaptive management Spatial planning  IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

Scientific Data Biological Valuation Map (BVM) Sustainable Management: Spatial planning Adaptive management BALANS Location-specific data needed unavailable = Full-coverage map of area Assess biological/ecological impacts