VECTORS
Vectors of Change in Oceans and Seas Marine Life, Impact on Economic Sectors
The increasing and diversifying human activities taking place at sea, such as transport,
fishing, renewable energy extraction and leisure, are leading to new and challenging changes
for marine life and for society. VECTORS is examining how these changes may affect the
range of services provided by the oceans ecosystems, the ensuing socio-economic impacts
and some of the measures that could be developed to reduce or adapt to these changes. It
is adopting a multi-disciplinary and cross-sectorial approach in line with the objectives of
the Integrated Maritime Policy. |
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With its 38 partners from 16 countries across
Europe, VECTORS reviewed the current understanding
of drivers, pressures and vectors of
change for marine life that are affecting ecosystems
in the North Sea, Baltic Sea and western
Mediterranean Sea, and completed an overview
of the current international and European law
relating to these seas. By interviewing stakeholders
at the regional and EU level, VECTORS could
identify some barriers and drivers for successful
European marine environmental resources
management. The current status of various
modelling approaches, used to examine changes | in the distribution and productivity of fish and
other living marine resources, has been reviewed
and the results of various VECTORS modelling
applications have been analysed. The insights
gained ensure that the most advanced modelling
approaches are being adopted by VECTORS.
Data has been collated on the impacts of outbreaks
of indigenous or invasive species on biodiversity
and ecosystem functioning through three
quantitative, systematic reviews focusing on
(a) outbreaks of macroalgae (b) invasive primary
producers and (c) invasive ecosystem engineers.
Furthermore, multi-species assessment modelling |
has indicated the relative importance of mortality
due to fishing and predation for a number of
commercial species and demonstrated the potential
influence of outbreaks of predatory species.
These findings will underpin VECTORS research
to assess impacts of changes in marine ecosystems
and on their capacity to deliver ecosystem
services and economic benefits to society, now
and in the future. Future scenarios of the biogeochemistry
of three regional seas have been modelled
and incorporated into a synthesis of hypothetical
future projections. These will feed into an
analysis of the relative vulnerability of the lower
trophic level of the marine ecosystem to drivers
of change (e.g. climate change) through a modelling
study. Results in this work provide important
indicators of change in physical, environmental
and habitat conditions under simulated scenarios,
such as regional warming or changes in
productivity. These base conditions constitute a
key element of the ecosystem assessment of the
Regional Seas and inform consecutive modelling
activities including fisheries, invasive species or
socio-economic projections. |
The project is comprised of seven Work
Packages (WPs) and is focused on three regional
sea case study areas; the North Sea, the Baltic
Sea and the western Mediterranean. For each of
these seas VECTORS aims to: identify the main
pressures being experienced (WP1), develop
a mechanistic understanding of the underlying
processes causing change (WP2), evaluate the
ecological, ecosystem service and social implications
of current change (WP3), integrate information
and data across sectors into a common
modelling framework (WPs 2-5), and project
future changes to the ecosystem, its services as
well as the corresponding social and economic
consequences (WP5 and 6). |
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