The Importance of Ecosystem-Functioning Research for Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Coastal Seas

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  • HORI Masakazu
    National Research Institute of Fisheries and Environment of Inland Sea, Fisheries Research Agency
  • KAMIMURA Satomi
    National Research Institute of Fisheries and Environment of Inland Sea, Fisheries Research Agency
  • NAKAOKA Masahiro
    Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University

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Other Title
  • 内海性浅海域の生物とその生態的機能を探る　　内海性浅海域の保全・持続的利用に向けた生態系機能研究の重要性
  • ナイカイセイ センカイイキ ノ ホゼン ジゾクテキ リヨウ ニ ムケタ セイタイケイ キノウ ケンキュウ ノ ジュウヨウセイ

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The nearshore coastal sea is an important marine ecosystem that includes seagrass beds and tidal flats. These ecosystems provide many kinds of ecological functioning such as high primary production and nutrient cycling and are now facing serious deterioration due to human-induced factors such as eutrophication and land reclamation; therefore, coastal management is needed to promote conservation of these natural ecosystems. To take on increasing demand for conservation, a variety of coastal restoration programs have been undertaken, but in Japan most of these enterprises have not been as successful as expected because they sometimes disregard the ecological processes of coastal organisms and ecosystems. This paper reviews the importance of research on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning for coastal management, and emphasizes effective links among research, management, and decision-making when promoting the conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems. In any nature restoration program for a particular ecosystem, it is important to take into account biological factors such as traits of the component species, species interactions, community structure, and connectivity of adjacent ecosystems, but such biological factors have until now been inadequately considered in planning an effective restoration programs. To compensate for uncertainties in ecosystem variability and dynamics, broad-scale and long-term monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem functions in coastal ecosystems are indispensable and also should be useful for adaptive management of coastal ecosystems.

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