Tidal flats of the Yellow Sea: a review of ecosystem status and anthropogenic threats
Murray, Nicholas J., Ma, Zhijun, and Fuller, Richard A. (2015) Tidal flats of the Yellow Sea: a review of ecosystem status and anthropogenic threats. Austral Ecology, 40 (4). pp. 472-481.
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Abstract
Tidal flats provide ecosystem services to billions of people worldwide, yet their changing status is largely unknown. In the Yellow Sea region of East Asia, tidal flats are the principal coastal ecosystem fringing more than 4000km of the coastlines of China, North Korea and South Korea. However, widespread loss of areal extent, increasing frequency of algal blooms, hypoxic dead zones and jellyfish blooms, and declines of commercial fisheries and migratory bird populations suggest that this ecosystem is degraded and declining. Here, we apply the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Ecosystems criteria to the Yellow Sea tidal flat ecosystem and determine that its status is endangered. Comparison of standardized remotely sensed habitat data and historic topographic map data indicated that in the last 50 years, a decline of more than 50% but less than 80% of tidal flat extent has occurred (criterion A1). Although restricted to a narrow band along the coastline, Yellow Sea tidal flats are sufficiently broadly distributed to be classified as least concern under criterion B. However, widespread pollution, algal blooms and declines of invertebrate and vertebrate fauna across the region result in a classification of endangered (C1, D1). Owing to the lack of long-term monitoring data and the unknown impacts of severe biotic and abiotic change, the ecosystem was scored as data deficient for Criterion E and several subcriteria. Our assessment demonstrates an urgent need to arrest the decline of the Yellow Sea tidal flat ecosystem, which could be achieved by (i) improved coastal planning and management at regional and national levels, (ii) expansion of the coastal protected area network, and (iii) improved managed of existing protected areas to reduce illegal land reclamation and coastal exploitation.
| Item ID: | 60302 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1442-9993 |
| Keywords: | Coastal wetland, Ecosystem decline, IUCN Red List of Ecosystem, Risk assessment habitat loss, Wetland status |
| Copyright Information: | This is an open access article under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License, which permits use, distributionand reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Funders: | Australian Research Council (ARC), Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Commonwealth Department of Environment, Queensland Water Study Group, Port of Brisbane Corporation |
| Projects and Grants: | ARC Linkage grant LP100200418 |
| Date Deposited: | 01 Oct 2019 22:57 |
| FoR Codes: | 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050202 Conservation and Biodiversity @ 40% 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050204 Environmental Impact Assessment @ 30% 06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0602 Ecology > 060205 Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl Marine Ichthyology) @ 30% |
| SEO Codes: | 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960501 Ecosystem Assessment and Management at Regional or Larger Scales @ 40% 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960503 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Coastal and Estuarine Environments @ 60% |
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