From evidence to policy: developing pelagic biodiversity indicators for marine conservation

Ecological time-series data are essential for informing management and policy, particularly in supporting the new generation of marine legislative drivers, which take a holistic ecosystem approach to management. In Europe,... [ view full abstract ]

Ecological time-series data are essential for informing management and policy, particularly in supporting the new generation of marine legislative drivers, which take a holistic ecosystem approach to management. In Europe, for example, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) seeks to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of European seas through the implementation of such a management approach. From a pelagic habitats perspective, regional scale management approaches such as the MSFD must recognise the importance of plankton communities in marine ecosystems; ecological data at the appropriate spatial, temporal and taxonomic scales are therefore required for implementation. At the base of the marine food web, plankton time-series play an important role in delivering good environmental status through the development and informing of biodiversity indicators, the setting of targets against a background of climate change and the provision of supporting information used to interpret change in non-plankton indicators. Efforts must be made to preserve long-term ecological time series, which supply vital ecological information used to inform evidence-based environmental policy.