Surfing the waves: Environmental and socio-economic aspects of surf tourism and recreation.

Marine ecosystems contribute to human well-being, e.g. through the promotion of nature-based recreational activities such as surfing, which is a benefit obtained from Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES).

An integrated assessment of the Good Environmental Status of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas.

Local, regional and global targets have been set to halt marine biodiversity loss. Europe has set its own policy targets to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of marine ecosystems by implementing the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) across member states. We combined an extensive dataset across five Mediterranean ecoregions including 26 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), their reference unprotected areas, and a no-trawl case study.

Contact with blue-green spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown beneficial for mental health.

There is growing evidence that ecosystem services and especially the exposure to the natural world (blue-green spaces) have potential benefits for mental health and well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures adopted to control it provide a natural experiment to investigate the links between nature exposure and mental health under extreme conditions. Using a survey distributed online, we tested the following hypotheses: 1) People will show greater symptoms of depression and anxiety under lockdown conditions that did not allow contact with outdoor nature spaces; 2) Where access to public outdoor nature spaces was strictly restricted, (2a) those with green/blue nature view or (2b) access to private outdoor spaces such as a garden or balcony will show fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety, and a more positive mood.

Pan-regional marine benthic cryptobiome biodiversity patterns revealed by metabarcoding Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures.

Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) have been applied worldwide to characterize the critical yet frequently overlooked biodiversity patterns of marine benthic organisms. In order to disentangle the relevance of environmental factors in benthic patterns, here, through standardized metabarcoding protocols, we analyse sessile and mobile (<2 mm) organisms collected using ARMS deployed across six regions with different environmental conditions (3 sites × 3 replicates per region): Baltic, Western Mediterranean, Adriatic, Black and Red Seas, and the Bay of Biscay. A total of 27,473 Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) were observed ranging from 1,404 in the Black Sea to 9,958 in the Red Sea.

Programmes of measures of the marine strategy framework directive: Are they contributing to achieving good environmental status in the Mediterranean?

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is the piece of legislation with which the EU aims to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of its seas. This Directive requires Member States (MSs) to set up and implement Programmes of Measures (PoMs) to achieve this goal. This paper presents a catalogue as well as the analysis of the 535 measures proposed by the eight Mediterranean EU MSs to combat pollution and non-indigenous species and contribute to the GES of the Mediterranean Sea.

Impacts of multiple stressors on freshwater biota across spatial scales and ecosystems.

Climate and land-use change drive a suite of stressors that shape ecosystems and interact to yield complex ecological responses (that is, additive, antagonistic and synergistic effects). We know little about the spatial scales relevant for the outcomes of such interactions and little about effect sizes. These knowledge gaps need to be filled to underpin future land management decisions or climate mitigation interventions for protecting and restoring freshwater ecosystems.

Lessons from photo analyses of Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures as tools to detect (bio-)geographical, spatial, and environmental effects.

We investigated the validity of Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) as monitoring tools for hard bottoms across a wide geographic and environmental range. We deployed 36 ARMS in the northeast Atlantic, northwest Mediterranean, Adriatic and Red Sea at 7-17 m depth. After 12-16 months, community composition was inferred from photographs, in six plate-faces for each ARMS.

A comparative analysis of metabarcoding and morphology-based identification of benthic communities across different regional seas.

In a world of declining biodiversity, monitoring is becoming crucial. Molecular methods, such as metabarcoding, have the potential to rapidly expand our knowledge of biodiversity, supporting assessment, management, and conservation. In the marine environment, where hard substrata are more difficult to access than soft bottoms for quantitative ecological studies, Artificial Substrate Units (ASUs) allow for standardized sampling.

The recovery of estuarine quality and the perceived increase of cultural ecosystem services by beach users: A case study from northern Spain.

In Europe, the quality of coastal bathing waters improved considerably in the last decades, mainly due to the more demanding legislation and the adoption of water sanitation plans. In the Nerbioi estuary (North Spain), the Wastewater Treatment Plan implemented between 1990 and 2001 resulted on an abrupt decrease in microbial concentration; thus, complying with bathing waters legislation and allowing recreational activities again in the three beaches of the estuary. However, little is known about how improvements in bathing waters influences the provision of cultural ecosystem services and human well-being.

Quantitative criteria for choosing targets and indicators for sustainable use of ecosystems.

Wide-ranging, indicator-based assessments of large, complex ecosystems are playing an increasing role in guiding environmental policy and management. An example is the EU's Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which requires Member States to take measures to reach "good environmental status" (GES) in European marine waters. However, formulation of indicator targets consistent with the Directive's high-level policy goal of sustainable use has proven challenging.

Is existing legislation fit-for-purpose to achieve Good Environmental Status in European seas?

Recent additions to marine environmental legislation are usually designed to fill gaps in protection and management, build on existing practices or correct deficiencies in previous instruments. Article 13 of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires Member States to develop a Programme of Measures (PoM) by 2015, to meet the objective of Good Environmental Status (GES) for their waters by 2020. This review explores key maritime-related policies with the aim to identify the opportunities and threats that they pose for the achievement of GES.

Good Environmental Status of marine ecosystems: what is it and how do we know when we have attained it?

The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires EU Member States (MS) to achieve Good Environmental Status (GEnS) of their seas by 2020. We address the question of what GEnS entails especially with regard to the level at which targets are set (descriptors, criteria, indicators), to scales for assessments (regional, sub-divisions, site-specific), and to difficulties in putting into practice the GEnS concept. We propose a refined and operational definition of GEnS, indicating the data and information needed to all parts of that definition.

Charging for nature: marine park fees and management from a user perspective.

User fees can contribute to the financial sustainability of marine protected areas (MPAs), yet they must be acceptable to users. We explore changes in the fee system and management of Bonaire National Marine Park (BNMP) from the perspective of users. Responses from 393 tourists indicated that 90% were satisfied with park conditions and considered current user fees reasonable.

Managing dive tourism for the sustainable use of coral reefs: validating diver perceptions of attractive site features.

It has been argued that strategies to manage natural areas important for tourism and recreation should integrate an understanding of tourist preferences for specific natural features. However, the accuracy of tourist recalled perceptions of environmental attributes, which are usually derived from post hoc surveys and used to establish management priorities, is currently unmeasured. We tested the validity of the relationship between tourist-stated preferences and actual condition of coral reefs around the Caribbean island of Bonaire.