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Valuation of ecosystem services in marine protected areas: A comprehensive review of methods and needed developments
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Effectively managing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) requires recognising and understanding the fundamental services offered by marine ecosystems and the socio-economic consequences that their changes will have. A systematic literature review was performed to generate a first in-detail screening and assessment of monetary and non-monetary methods for the valuation of ecosystem services (ES) and their application in MPAs and MPA networks. A total of 100 peer-reviewed papers on ES valuation within MPAs and MPA networks were identified and analysed. Valuation methods can be classified into nine monetary and seven non-monetary methodologies. There is a predominant use of monetary valuation methodologies, especially stated preference methods. However, combining monetary with non-monetary valuation approaches can provide deeper insights into the underlying reasons for assigning values to ES and offer enhanced opportunities to capture the value of services that may be challenging to express solely in monetary terms. Besides, the review underscores the gaps in assessment methodologies, particularly in addressing supporting and regulating ES, as well as non-use and option values related to MPAs, underscoring the need for innovative approaches to overcome challenges in capturing these essential components of marine ecosystems.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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Variability of pterygoid teeth in three species of Podarcis lizards and the utility of palatal dentition in lizard systematics
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Belgian Journal of Zoology
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Bibliographic References
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Variability of the inherent and apparent optical properties in a highly turbid coastal area: impact for the calibration of remote sensing algorithms
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Variation in ecosystem services within biogenic reefs: The role of reef-building species under distinct hydrodynamic conditions
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To enhance the climate resilience of coastlines, measures are being implemented to protect and restore coastal ecosystems, such as biogenic reefs and dunes. These measures, known as Nature-based Solutions (NbS), provide protection against storms, coastal erosion, and flooding. They are also recognised for increasing biodiversity and delivering a range of ecosystem services (ES). This study investigated the ES provided by biogenic reefs composed of two reef-building species (Mytilus edulis and Lanice conchilega) under distinct hydrodynamic conditions. Three ES were assessed at two sites in the Belgian part of the North Sea: (1) coastal protection, (2) carbon sequestration, and (3) water quality regulation. The two sites have different hydrodynamic conditions due to their relative locations in relation to local sandbanks, making one site more exposed and the other more sheltered. The ES were quantified and monetised using in-situ measurements and literature data based on the SUstainable Marine Ecosystem Services (SUMES) model. The results suggest that the provision of ES in biogenic reefs is determined by multiple factors, including environmental conditions (e.g. hydrodynamics) and reefbuilding species. (1) Sediment accumulation was only observed under low hydrodynamic conditions, due to the higher settlement success of M. edulis and the presence of L. conchilega. (2) M. edulis “produces” carbon under both low and high hydrodynamic conditions, due to high respiration and biocalcification rates. However, low hydrodynamic conditions are more conducive to carbon burial, thus enhancing carbon sequestration. (3) M. edulis patches exhibited higher denitrification rates under low hydrodynamic conditions than under high hydrodynamic conditions or in L. conchilega patches, due to divergent macrobenthic functional diversity. In conclusion, the level of ES provision is determined by location and associated environmental conditions, as well as temporal and spatial variation in biogenic reefs and the physiological characteristics of reef builders. Therefore, both aspects need to be carefully considered when planning coastal protection measures and determining the provision of ES. Finally, when implementing NbS along high-energy coastlines, sheltered sites should be prioritised.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Variations spatiales des communautés de macroarthropodes du sol et de vers de terre d'un pré de fauche en réponse à des variations du régime de fertilisation minérale
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Vegetation controls on channel network complexity in coastal wetlands
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Channel networks are key to coastal wetland functioning and resilience under climate change. Vegetation affects sediment and hydrodynamics in many different ways, which calls for a coherent framework to explain how vegetation shapes channel network geometry and functioning. Here, we introduce an idealized model that shows how coastal wetland vegetation creates more complexly branching networks by increasing the ratio of channel incision versus topographic diffusion rates, thereby amplifying the channelization feedback that recursively incises finer-scale side-channels. This complexification trend qualitatively agrees with and provides an explanation for field data presented here as well as in earlier studies. Moreover, our model demonstrates that a stronger biogeomorphic feedback leads to higher and more densely vegetated marsh platforms and more extensive drainage networks. These findings may inspire future field research by raising the hypothesis that vegetation-induced self-organization enhances the storm surge buffering capacity of coastal wetlands and their resilience under sea-level rise.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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Vers of bewerkt? Archeologisch onderzoek naar de bewaarvormen van vis
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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Vers un inventaire des écureuils arboricoles, porteurs de Monkeypox en RD Congo
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
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Vertebrate Palaeoecology of the Pisco Formation (Miocene, Peru): Glimpses into the Ancient Humboldt Current Ecosystem
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Vertebrate predation in the Late Devonian evidenced by bite traces and regurgitations: implications for an early tetrapod freshwater ecosystem.
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The terrestrialization process by vertebrates occurred during the Devonian period, with fully land-dwelling tetrapods recorded in the Carboniferous. Thus, the Late Devonian is an important period for deciphering the ecological pressures that applied during the water-to-land transition. Higher predation pressures in the underwater environment have been suggested as an influential biotic evolutionary factor in this key habitat shift. Direct evidence of ancient predation on Palaeozoic vertebrates is seen in the form of rare traces preserved on fossils, and these range from trauma observed on the skeleton (such as attack marks) to ingested food remains (bromalites). The late Famennian freshwater ecosystem of Strud (Belgium) consists of a rich assemblage of many coeval gnathostomes or jawed fishes (placoderms, ‘acanthodians’, actinopterygians, and various sarcopterygian groups including tetrapods). Here we analyse the record of direct evidence for predation in the Strud vertebrate fossil assemblage. We recognize 12 regurgitalites and 13 bite traces, including a rare case of a tooth embedded in its original prey body target. Fossils from regurgitalites were imaged using scanning electron microscopy and chemically analysed to test for their possible ingestion signature by comparison with other isolated skeletal remains from the same locality. From this evidence, tristichopterid tetrapodomorphs are inferred to be the highest consumers of the trophic network, targeting small placoderms, and porolepiforms, and probably congeners. We observe two possible prey patterns in regurgitalites, for sarcopterygians and actinopterygians, both of which are associated with acanthodians. In Strud, no trophic position can be deduced for tetrapods from direct fossil evidence of predation.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
