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Effects and management implications of emerging marine renewable energy technologies
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Offshore renewable energy technologies are being tested and deployed around the world to mitigate climate change and to bring clean sustainable energy to remote locations. The trend is being led by the development of offshore wind, with energy from waves, tides, and large run of the river turbines also increasing. However, there are additional marine renewable energy technologies that will help to fill in gaps of availability and location for power production. These emerging technologies are generally less well known, including ocean thermal energy conversion, seawater air conditioning, power from salinity gradients, and floating solar photovoltaics (floatovoltaics). Coupled with each of these power production systems is the need for energy systems at sea to aid in storage and transport of the energy. There is little known about the potential environmental effects of these emerging technologies or undersea energy storage, or how they might best be managed. This paper describes the new technologies and explores the potential effects on the marine environment and wildlife and recommends approaches to their management.
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Assessment tool addresses implementation challenges of ecosystembased management principles in marine spatial planning processes
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Ecosystem-based marine spatial planning is an approach to managing maritime activities while ensuring human well-being and biodiversity conservation as key pillars for sustainable development. Here, we use a comprehensive literature review and a co-development process with experts to build an assessment framework and tool that integrates the fundamental principles of an ecosystem approach to management and translates them into specific actions to be undertaken during planning processes. We illustrate the potential of this tool through the evaluation of two national marine spatial plans (Spain and France), in consultation with the representatives involved in their development and implementation. To ensure more coherent future planning, socio-ecological system evolution in a climate change scenario and the future marine space needs of maritime sectors should be considered, as well as improving the governance structure and knowledge of ecosystem processes. This framework provides a consistent and transparent assessment method for practitioners and competent authorities.
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Pahon Cave, Gabon: New insights into the Later Stone Age in the African rainforest
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Although the Later Stone Age as a distinctive techno-cultural phase has disappeared, forager groups in the African rainforest persist today. However, their origins remain poorly understood. The absence of stone tool production raises questions about the pace and processes of its decline and its relationship to the emergence or adoption of metallic tools. Archaeological sequences from the Middle and Late Holocene are particularly valuable for documenting the coexistence of diverse subsistence strategies and technologies within the Central African rainforest. In this context, the Pahon Cave sequence, in Gabon, spanning a period from 7,571 cal. BP to 2,523 cal. BP, provides an opportunity to study the evolution of stone tool production in the rainforest of the Ogooué Basin. This chronological range coincides with significant broader techno-cultural and environmental changes in Central Africa. This article provides a detailed description of the lithic industry for each layer, along with the identification of faunal remains, giving insight into the exploitation of rainforest resources and hunting practices. At Pahon Cave, our findings suggest that stone tool technology remained stable over time, at least until around 2,523 cal. BP. Furthermore, the technological characteristics of the lithic industry indicate no clear cultural affiliations. These features contribute highlighting a techno-cultural diversity during the Middle and Late Holocene Later Stone Age in Atlantic Central Africa.
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Predator-prey dynamics in a latest Cretaceous marine ecosystem: mosasaur and shark attacks on the echinoid Hemipneustes striatoradiatus from the Maastrichtian type area (the Netherlands, Belgium)
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Earliest evidence for heavy metal pollution on wildlife in Midle Age Europe
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A new ‘acanthothoracid’ placoderm from the Arctic Canada (Early Devonian) and its bearing on the evolution of jaws and teeth
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Lithium isotopes in palaeozoic stem-tetrapod bioapatite: preservation, controls, ecology and oceanographic insights
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Quantitative approach for assessing risks and benefits to the supply of ecosystem services in response to human activities
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Escalating human activities threaten ecosystems and the benefits they provide, known as ecosystem services (ES). Despite the recognized importance of ES for both ecological health and human well-being, integrated methods for evaluating ES within decision-making frameworks remain limited. Current environmental assessments, such as ecological risk assessment (ERA), typically focus on risks to specific endpoints such as survival, growth and reproduction of test species without capturing broader ecosystem risks and benefits. This study introduces a novel method designed to quantitatively assess risks and benefits to ES supply by integrating ES as assessment endpoints within ERA. Using cumulative distribution functions, we establish risk and benefit thresholds and calculate the probability and magnitude of exceeding these following human interventions. The method was tested by quantifying risk and benefit metrics for a regulating ES, waste remediation, in three marine offshore case studies: an existing offshore wind farm, a hypothetical mussel longline culture, and a multi-use scenario combining both. The results enabled detailed comparisons of the probability and magnitude of creating risks and providing benefits across scenarios, demonstrating the utility of cumulative distribution functions for both visualizing and quantifying risks and benefits to ES supply. This generic and broadly applicable method can evaluate ES trade-offs regardless of the ecosystem under study, providing a valuable tool to operationalize the integration of ES into decision-making and environmental management frameworks.
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Laying out the foundations: Assessing the spatial extent and drivers of offshore wind turbine artificial reef effects on soft sediments
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With the rapid expansion of offshore energy, numerous artificial structures are being installed on the seabed, including wind turbine foundations. This study investigates the “artificial reef” (AR) effect of bottom-fixed offshore wind farms (OWFs) on soft sediment benthic communities. While previous studies have focused on distances ≥30 m from turbines, in this study, sediment and macrobenthic samples were collected at shorter distances (1 m, 7 m, 15 m and 25 m) from the scour protection layer (SPL) around a monopile and a gravitybased foundation in two Belgian OWFs, 10–13 years post-installation. Results show a localized AR footprint for both turbine foundations, with enriched benthic communities within 15 m of the SPL. In comparison to communities 25 m distanced away from the SPL, a higher average species richness (+100 %), abundance (+117 %), functional richness (+438 %), and bioturbation potential (+86 %) was prevalent, whereas the magnitude of enriched structural and functional diversity in the footprint varied respectively between 16 and 80 % and 15–110 % depending on the OWF. Beyond the AR footprint, communities resembled those at reference sites (240–570 m), with less surface dwellers, suspension feeders and a prevalence of burrowing biodiffusors that contribute little to bioturbation. While the AR effect’s magnitude depends on local conditions and foundation design, our trait-based analysis indicates that sediment fining, biofouling drop-offs and organic enrichment are consistent drivers shaping the AR footprint.
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The impact of offshore wind turbine foundations on local hydrodynamics and stratification in the Southern North Sea
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The development of offshore wind farms (OWFs) in the North Sea is a crucial component for the transition to renewable energy. However, local hydrodynamics in the vicinity of OWF turbine foundations may be affected due to their interaction with tidal currents. This study investigates the impact of offshore wind turbine foundations on local hydrodynamics and stratification in the southern North Sea. We conducted a series of measurements around a single monopile in the Belgian part of the North Sea, focusing on hydrodynamics, salinity and temperature both near the surface and over the water column, and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). Our results indicate that the foundation-induced wake significantly affects local hydrodynamics, leading to a well-defined band of colder, more saline water at the surface and warmer, less saline water near the seabed. This is quantified through the Potential Energy Anomaly (PEA), which shows a marked decrease in the wake-affected area. The wake is spatially confined, with a width of approximately 70 meters and a length of less than 400 meters downstream of the monopile. Additionally, our measurements reveal an increase in TKE within the wake, indicating enhanced turbulent mixing. This mixing reduces vertical gradients in salinity and temperature, leading to a more homogeneous water column. The findings highlight the importance of considering monopile-induced mixing in large-scale hydrodynamic and ecosystem models, as these effects can influence nutrient transport, primary production, and overall ecosystem dynamics. Furthermore, our research provides valuable data for validating and improving the models used to predict the ecological impact of OWFs.
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