The North Sea

Journal of Sea Research, 2017

The authors regret that in the summary the acknowledgement is missing which should read: Acknowledgements Thanks are due to all colleagues for their input, especially the following colleagues of the department of Coastal Systems who

G. Wefer, W.H. Berger, K.-H. Behre, E. Jansen (Eds.): Climate development and history of the North Atlantic Realm, Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York, ISBN 3-540-43201-9, 486pp, 473-486, 2002

Ongoing changes in the morphology and ecology ofthe coastal zone and expected future scenarios w-ith emphasis on the southem No1th Sea were discussed and research needs identified. The lmpact of sea level rise and the effects ofresultant dyking activity need tobe considered for the entire coastal zone as manipulation in one region can havc unexpected etfocts in neighbouring areas. The extent to which the ban·ier islands can be maintained in their present state has also to be critically assessed. Anthropogenie impacts on coastal ecosystems can be direct (e.g. diking, fisheries) or subtle (pollutants). However, differentiating climate-induced from anthropogenic impacts is not always obvious. Long-term, integrnted data sets provide the best context for evaluating observations of individual phenomena. Maimenance of monitoring programmcs and introduction of new methodologies to extcnd coverage and detail is required for this purpose. The role ofpublic perception was discussed at length as coastal management is not as much management of nature as it is management of human activity. Hence it is essential that social scientists be involved to a greater extent in decision-making processes.

2000

Over the past few decades, various indicator sets have been developed in the Netherlands to measure North Sea 'ecological quality', to evaluate the effectiveness of North Sea nature and water policies, and to assist in the communication of predicted ecological impacts of major infrastructural works and other proposed developments in the North Sea. This research study focused on the development

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2008

2021

Background Anthropogenic pressures on marine ecosystems have increased over the last 75 years and are expected to intensify in the future with potentially dramatic cascading consequences for human societies. It is therefore crucial to rebuild marine life-support systems and aim for future healthy ecosystems. Nowadays, there is a reasonable understanding of the impacts of human pressure on marine ecosystems; but no studies have drawn an integrative retrospective analysis of the marine research on the topic. A systematic consolidation of the literature is therefore needed to clearly describe the scientific knowledge clusters and gaps as well as to promote a new era of integrative marine science and management. We focus on the five direct anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss defined by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES): (1) climate change; (2) direct exploitation; (3) pollution; (4) biological invasions; and (5) sea-use c...

AMBIO, 2014

We augment discussions about the Good Environmental Status of the North Sea by developing two extreme visions and assessing their societal benefits. One vision ('Then') assumes restoration of benthic functioning; we contend that trawling had already degraded the southern North Sea a century ago. Available information is used to speculate about benthic functioning in a relatively undisturbed southern North Sea. The second vision ('Now') draws on recent benthic functioning. The supply of five ecosystem services, supported by benthic functioning, is discussed. 'Then' offers confidence in the sustainable supply of diverse services but restoration of past function is uncertain and likely to be paired with costs, notably trawling restraints. 'Now' delivers known and valued services but sustained delivery is threatened by, for example, climate change. We do not advocate either vision. Our purpose is to stimulate debate about what society wants, and might receive, from the future southern North Sea.

The submerged prehistoric landscapes of the North Sea, and the archaeological sites on them, represent a common European cultural heritage, but also one that is of world-wide significance. It is from the North Sea margin that the earliest evidence of a pre-modern human presence in northern Europe has been obtained; and the region was inhabited, and also served as a pathway for human migration, for many hundreds of thousands of years. This rich, and exceptionally well-preserved, archeological resource is increasingly threatened by off-shore activitities, including aggregate extraction, wind-farm construction, hydrocarbon exploitation and fishing, besides natural processes of erosion. Due to effective collaboration with industry, combined with the requirements of the EU 'Strategic Environmental Assessment' and 'Environmental Impact Assessment' Directives, there is now a flood of new information. However, archeologists now need to stand back, to consider how future research and management should be directed. This document is a first attempt towards that. Cohen & Gibbard contribution includes up to date chronostratigraphical chart and palaeogeographical scenario maps for the southern North Sea.

Ocean and Shoreline Management

In order to ensure the maintenance of natural processes, ecosystems and wildlife, nature conservation initiatives in the North Sea must attempt to resolve the conflicts between the numerous human uses of coastal and estuarine zones. The Nature Conservancy Council's reviews of geology, maritime, marine and estuarine sites, habitats and communities provide the data bases required for the development of coastal nature conservation strategies. Nature conservation in the terrestrial environment has traditionally focused on the protection of designated sites. Conservation in the marine environment requires a more integrated approach towards the planning and management of coastal and estuarine areas.

Marine Pollution Bulletin, 1994

Deutsche Hydrographische Zeitschrift, 1999

Our understanding of the marine ecosystem is expressed in our ability to predict ecological processes. Several approaches are compared to make such predictions on plankton processes on the basis of aggregated plankton dynamics data in the German Bight, and on assembled process information aggregated in numeric simulation models.

ICES Document CM, 2002

Oceanic inflow is estimated to contribute more than 90% of the nutrient input into the North Sea (NSTF, 1993). Variability in the volume, chemical properties, biological content and source of the inflowing water is thus likely to have a considerable effect on North Sea ...

The North Sea Basin is one of the most fertile marine environments in Europe. Its relatively shallow seabed, cool-temperate climate and winter storms ensure rapid recycling of nutrients, while the presence of land masses on three sides and large rivers draining extensive catchments, such as the Thames, the Rhine and the Elbe, bring additional inputs of nutrients from land. The geographical limits of the Basin are defined to the west by the coastline of Britain, to the east by the coastlines of southern Norway, western Sweden and Denmark, and to the south by the coastlines of northern France, the Low Countries and Northwest Germany. To the north, there is a broad opening to the North Atlantic, and to the coastlines of northern Norway and Iceland. To the south there is a much narrower opening through the English Channel to the Bay of Biscay and the southern Atlantic, and to the east a narrow connection between Denmark and Sweden to the progressively more brackish waters of the Baltic (Figure 1). With populous countries on every side, the North Sea Basin is also vulnerable to the pressure of human demand on its marine resources. In the past century, and especially in recent decades, it has become a byword for overexploitation of its fish stocks. Historical records suggest that the productivity and abundance of cod (Gadus morrhua) and herring (Clupea harengus) was much greater than today, but the accuracy or wider relevance of these records is unclear (Jackson et al. 2001). Certainly the present-day stocks of some major commercial fish are under serious threat, and a complete ban on fishing for cod has recently been advocated to avoid regional extinction. Given the acute and, more recently, chronic impacts on marine ecosystems of human activities, knowledge of the frequency and scale of past impacts on marine life is not only historically informative, but is also crucial for assessing the current crisis facing ocean fisheries. The rim of the North Sea Basin has witnessed continuous occupation throughout the last 10,000 years with a succession of communities and cultures, who have variously interacted around its perimeter or across an east-west axis through colonization, trade, conquest, and competition for resources. The 'natural' baseline against which to judge present-day impacts is poorly known. Moreover, it was almost

1993

The Southern North Sea is bordered by Great-Britain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. The North Sea basin and its adjacent shorelines are intensively used. Management of the basin and the coastal zone is therefore essential. Because of the small scale of the area, the dense population and the big scale of the interactions, international cooperation is vital. In this paper an overview is given of both the morphologic-physical interactions and the administrative interactions between the bordering governments. A complicating factor in Coastal Zone Management around the Southern North Sea is that CZM is highly connected to national spatial planning and to sea defence policy. In several of the bordering countries this is not a subject of the national government, but is handled on a regional level. This makes that we are dealing with more authorities involved. At this moment international agreement exists on most aspects of active use of the North Sea basin itself (n...

Journal of Sea Research, 2018

The authors regret that in the summary the acknowledgement is missing which should read: Acknowledgements Thanks are due to all colleagues for their input, especially the following colleagues of the department of Coastal Systems who