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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on July 17, 2008
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2008 65(8):1527-1533; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsn111
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© 2008 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

This article appears in the following ICES Journal of Marine Science issue: Marine Environmental Indicators: Utility in Meeting Regulatory Needs [View the issue table of contents]

Three initial OSPAR tests of ecological coherence: heuristics in a data-limited situation

Jeff A. Ardron

German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Isle of Vilm D-18581, Putbus Rügen, Germany

tel: +49 38301 86 129; fax: +49 38301 86 150; e-mail: jeff.ardron{at}gmail.com

Ardron, J. A. 2008. Three initial OSPAR tests of ecological coherence: heuristics in a data-limited situation. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1527–1533.

As marine protected area (MPA) networks become established worldwide, it will be necessary to track the progress made in meeting the networks’ underlying ecological goals. The 12 coastal European nations of the OSPAR Convention have agreed to establish an "ecologically coherent" network of MPAs within the waters of the Northeast Atlantic by 2010. However, the meaning of ecological coherence has not been explicitly defined, and it has not been explained how it can be assessed. OSPAR’s work on this topic over the past 4 years is summarized here. As the 2010 deadline approaches, the urgency to assess ecological coherence increases. Proper scientific assessment is hampered by the current lack of detailed ecological data, and policy-makers are concerned that collecting data for indicators will tax already limited resources. Unconventional approaches that can make do with what little information is available are being developed, and three initial spatial tests are presented here. A personal perspective of lessons learnt is provided.

Keywords: eco-coherence, ecological coherence, fast and frugal heuristics, marine protected area network

Received 13 December 2007; accepted 3 May 2008; advance access publication 17 July 2008.


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