Spatial and temporal changes in cumulative human impacts on the world's ocean
- PMID: 26172980
- PMCID: PMC4510691
- DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8615
Spatial and temporal changes in cumulative human impacts on the world's ocean
Abstract
Human pressures on the ocean are thought to be increasing globally, yet we know little about their patterns of cumulative change, which pressures are most responsible for change, and which places are experiencing the greatest increases. Managers and policymakers require such information to make strategic decisions and monitor progress towards management objectives. Here we calculate and map recent change over 5 years in cumulative impacts to marine ecosystems globally from fishing, climate change, and ocean- and land-based stressors. Nearly 66% of the ocean and 77% of national jurisdictions show increased human impact, driven mostly by climate change pressures. Five percent of the ocean is heavily impacted with increasing pressures, requiring management attention. Ten percent has very low impact with decreasing pressures. Our results provide large-scale guidance about where to prioritize management efforts and affirm the importance of addressing climate change to maintain and improve the condition of marine ecosystems.
Figures
![Figure 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4510691/bin/ncomms8615-f1.gif)
![Figure 2](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4510691/bin/ncomms8615-f2.gif)
![Figure 3](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4510691/bin/ncomms8615-f3.gif)
![Figure 4](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4510691/bin/ncomms8615-f4.gif)
Similar articles
-
Recent pace of change in human impact on the world's ocean.Sci Rep. 2019 Aug 12;9(1):11609. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-47201-9. Sci Rep. 2019. PMID: 31406130 Free PMC article.
-
The tropical Pacific Oceanscape: Current issues, solutions and future possibilities.Mar Pollut Bull. 2021 May;166:112181. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112181. Epub 2021 Mar 3. Mar Pollut Bull. 2021. PMID: 33676108
-
Pollution, habitat loss, fishing, and climate change as critical threats to penguins.Conserv Biol. 2015 Feb;29(1):31-41. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12349. Epub 2014 Aug 7. Conserv Biol. 2015. PMID: 25102756 Review.
-
Accelerated warming and emergent trends in fisheries biomass yields of the world's large marine ecosystems.Ambio. 2009 Jun;38(4):215-24. doi: 10.1579/0044-7447-38.4.215. Ambio. 2009. PMID: 19739556
-
Antarctic Futures: An Assessment of Climate-Driven Changes in Ecosystem Structure, Function, and Service Provisioning in the Southern Ocean.Ann Rev Mar Sci. 2020 Jan 3;12:87-120. doi: 10.1146/annurev-marine-010419-011028. Epub 2019 Jul 23. Ann Rev Mar Sci. 2020. PMID: 31337252 Review.
Cited by
-
Gaps and opportunities in modelling human influence on species distributions in the Anthropocene.Nat Ecol Evol. 2024 Jul;8(7):1365-1377. doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02435-3. Epub 2024 Jun 12. Nat Ecol Evol. 2024. PMID: 38867092 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Physiological responses of Atlantic cod to climate change indicate that coastal ecotypes may be better adapted to tolerate ocean stressors.Sci Rep. 2024 Jun 5;14(1):12896. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-62700-0. Sci Rep. 2024. PMID: 38839894 Free PMC article.
-
Global biogeography of microbes driving ocean ecological status under climate change.Nat Commun. 2024 May 31;15(1):4657. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-49124-0. Nat Commun. 2024. PMID: 38822036 Free PMC article.
-
3D ocean assessments reveal that fisheries reach deep but marine protection remains shallow.Nat Commun. 2024 May 21;15(1):4027. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47975-1. Nat Commun. 2024. PMID: 38773096 Free PMC article.
-
Alien Algae Species Invasions in Humic Rivers within Weakly Human Impact Basin.Life (Basel). 2023 Dec 29;14(1):61. doi: 10.3390/life14010061. Life (Basel). 2023. PMID: 38255675 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Crowder L. B. et al. Sustainability—resolving mismatches in US ocean governance. Science 313, 617–618 (2006). - PubMed
-
- Halpern B. S. et al. A global map of human impact on marine ecosystems. Science 319, 948–952 (2008). - PubMed
-
- Kappel C. V. Losing pieces of the puzzle: threats to marine, estuarine, and diadromous species. Front. Ecol. Environ 3, 275–282 (2005).
-
- Butchart S. H. M. et al. Global biodiversity: indicators of recent declines. Science 328, 1164–1168 (2011). - PubMed
-
- Ban N. & Alder J. How wild is the ocean? Assessing the intensity of anthropogenic marine activities in British Columbia, Canada. Aquat. Conserv. 18, 55–85 (2008).
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical