TY - JOUR
T1 - Joint analysis of stressors and ecosystem services to enhance restoration effectiveness
AU - Allan, J. David
AU - McIntyre, Peter B.
AU - Smith, Sigrid D.P.
AU - Halpern, Benjamin S.
AU - Boyer, Gregory L.
AU - Buchsbaum, Andy
AU - Burton, G. A.
AU - Campbell, Linda M.
AU - Chadderton, W. Lindsay
AU - Ciborowski, Jan J.H.
AU - Doran, Patrick J.
AU - Eder, Tim
AU - Infante, Dana M.
AU - Johnson, Lucinda B.
AU - Joseph, Christine A.
AU - Marino, Adrienne L.
AU - Prusevich, Alexander
AU - Read, Jennifer G.
AU - Rose, Joan B.
AU - Rutherford, Edward S.
AU - Sowa, Scott P.
AU - Steinman, Alan D.
PY - 2013/1/2
Y1 - 2013/1/2
N2 - With increasing pressure placed on natural systems by growing human populations, both scientists and resource managers need a better understanding of the relationships between cumulative stress from human activities and valued ecosystem services. Societies often seek to mitigate threats to these services through largescale, costly restoration projects, such as the over one billion dollar Great Lakes Restoration Initiative currently underway. To help inform these efforts, we merged high-resolution spatial analyses of environmental stressors with mapping of ecosystem services for all five Great Lakes. Cumulative ecosystem stress is highest in nearshore habitats, but also extends offshore in Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Michigan. Variation in cumulative stress is driven largely by spatial concordance among multiple stressors, indicating the importance of considering all stressors when planning restoration activities. In addition, highly stressed areas reflect numerous different combinations of stressors rather than a single suite of problems, suggesting that a detailed understanding of the stressors needing alleviation could improve restoration planning. We also find that many important areas for fisheries and recreation are subject to high stress, indicating that ecosystem degradation could be threatening key services. Current restoration efforts have targeted high-stress sites almost exclusively, but generally without knowledge of the full range of stressors affecting these locations or differences among sites in service provisioning. Our results demonstrate that joint spatial analysis of stressors and ecosystem services can provide a critical foundation for maximizing social and ecological benefits from restoration investments.
AB - With increasing pressure placed on natural systems by growing human populations, both scientists and resource managers need a better understanding of the relationships between cumulative stress from human activities and valued ecosystem services. Societies often seek to mitigate threats to these services through largescale, costly restoration projects, such as the over one billion dollar Great Lakes Restoration Initiative currently underway. To help inform these efforts, we merged high-resolution spatial analyses of environmental stressors with mapping of ecosystem services for all five Great Lakes. Cumulative ecosystem stress is highest in nearshore habitats, but also extends offshore in Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Michigan. Variation in cumulative stress is driven largely by spatial concordance among multiple stressors, indicating the importance of considering all stressors when planning restoration activities. In addition, highly stressed areas reflect numerous different combinations of stressors rather than a single suite of problems, suggesting that a detailed understanding of the stressors needing alleviation could improve restoration planning. We also find that many important areas for fisheries and recreation are subject to high stress, indicating that ecosystem degradation could be threatening key services. Current restoration efforts have targeted high-stress sites almost exclusively, but generally without knowledge of the full range of stressors affecting these locations or differences among sites in service provisioning. Our results demonstrate that joint spatial analysis of stressors and ecosystem services can provide a critical foundation for maximizing social and ecological benefits from restoration investments.
KW - Cumulative impact
KW - Fresh water
KW - Laurentian Great Lakes
KW - Marine spatial planning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84871992693&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84871992693&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1213841110
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1213841110
M3 - Article
C2 - 23248308
AN - SCOPUS:84871992693
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 110
SP - 372
EP - 377
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 1
ER -