Historical and archeological information about the First Nations People of Newfoundland and Labrador is used to estimate their approximate numbers, diet, fisheries and harvesting impacts on the marine ecosystem. Estimates of First Nations numbers at first contact include approximately 700 Beothuk and 300 Inuit. It is assumed that they consumed approximately 365 tonnes of food a year, and that t...

h e l ow of ecosystem services from coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests sustains the livelihoods of billions of people worldwide. Faced with the global degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems, policy makers are increasingly focusing on ecosystem service valuation techniques to encourage conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. Here we provide a review and synthe...

Climate change is expected to modify ecological responses in the ocean, with the potential for important effects on the ecosystem services provided to humankind. Here we address the question of how rapidly multiple drivers of marine ecosystem change develop in the future ocean. By analysing an ensemble of models we find that, within the next 15 years, the climate change-driven trends in multipl...

As one of the busiest marine ecosystems in the world, the English Channel is subjected to strong pressures due to the human activities occurring within it. Effective governance is required to improve the combined management of different activities and so secure the benefits provided by the Channel ecosystem. In July 2014, a Cross-Channel Forum, entitled "Science and Governance of the Channel Ma...

[1] It is conventional knowledge that heterotrophic bacteria play a key role in the biogeochemical cycling of oceanic carbon. However, only recently has their role in marine iron (Fe) biogeochemical cycles been examined. Research during this past decade has demonstrated an inextricable link between Fe chemistry and the biota, as >99% of Fe in marine systems is complexed to organic chelates of u...

Regime shifts have been observed in marine ecosystems around the globe. These phenomena can result in dramatic changes in the provision of ecosystem services to coastal communities. Accounting for regime shifts in management clearly requires integrative, ecosystem-based management (EBM) approaches. EBM has emerged as an accepted paradigm for ocean management worldwide, yet, despite the rapid an...

The European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) is one of the most established ecosystem models for the lower trophic levels of the marine food web in the scientific literature. Since its original development in the early nineties it has evolved significantly from a coastal ecosystem model for the North Sea to a generic tool for ecosystem simulations from shelf seas to the global ocean. The ...

Marine birds are sensitive indicators of the condition of marine ecosystems in the Arctic, partly because they feed at the top of the arctic food chain. The Northern Ecosystem Initiative (NEI) recently supported four separate studies that investigated aspects of Arctic marine bird science which simultaneously addressed goals of the NEI to better understand northern ecosystems and their response...

The ‘New Normal’ Arctic ecosystem and the reliance of indigenous people on marine mammals for subsistence makes urgent the need for a comprehensive marine mammal health monitoring program linked to regional ocean observing systems. An Arctic-focused Marine Mammal Health Map (MMHM) framework could be initiated via expansion and coordination between regional Ocean Observing Systems and Community-...

Quantifying the monetary value of ecosystem services provided by coastal and marine resources can help policy makers assess the trade-offs and synergies inherent in ecosystem-based management of marine and coastal environments, thus increasing the social efficiency of decision-making processes. As shown by the valuation literature, the number of coastal and marine management settings where valu...