Focus On: Human Impact

It will come as no surprise that human impact is one of the greatest threats to marine systems. The collection of articles in this post looks at this impact in general terms, with articles listed focusing on different human activities (such as recreational diving or fishing), to create an overall picture of the impact humans have on the marine environment.

All articles below are from journals that AIMS is subscribed to, and should therefore be freely accessible by AIMS staff.

Please note the publication dates on these articles as many are older articles.

Arthur Lyon Dahl (1981) Monitoring Coral Reefs for Urban Impact, Bulletin of Marine Science, Volume 31, Number 3, 544-551(8) Link to Abstract/Full Text

Beatriz Luna, Carlos Valle Pérez, and Jose Luis Sánchez-Lizaso (2009) Benthic impacts of recreational divers in a Mediterranean Marine Protected Area, ICES J. Mar. Sci., Volume 66 Issue 3, 517-523 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Benjamin S. Halpern, Melanie Frazier, John Potapenko, Kenneth S. Casey, Kellee Koenig, Catherine Longo, Julia Stewart Lowndes, R. Cotton Rockwood, Elizabeth R. Selig, Kimberly A. Selkoe & Shaun Walbridge (2015) Spatial and temporal changes in cumulative human impacts on the world’s ocean, Nature Communications, Volume 6, 7615 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Carlos Sangil, Laura Martín-García, Sabrina Clemente (2013) Assessing the impact of fishing in shallow rocky reefs: A multivariate approach to ecosystem management, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 76, Issues 1–2, 203-213 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Derek Dapp, Randall Arauz, James R. Spotila, Michael P. O'Connor (2013) Impact of Costa Rican longline fishery on its bycatch of sharks, stingrays, bony fish and olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Volume 448, 228-239 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Eric Wolanski, Glenn De'ath (2005) Predicting the impact of present and future human land-use on the Great Barrier Reef, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Volume 64, Issues 2–3,504-508 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Federica Fava, Massimo Ponti, Alice Scinto, Barbara Calcinai, Carlo Cerrano (2009) Possible effects of human impacts on epibenthic communities and coral rubble features in the marine Park of Bunaken (Indonesia), Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Volume 85, Issue 1, 51-156 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Freya Goodsir, Helen J. Bloomfield, Adrian D. Judd, Filip Kral, Leonie A. Robinson, and Antony M. Knights (2015) A spatially resolved pressure-based approach to evaluate combined effects of human activities and management in marine ecosystems, ICES J. Mar. Sci. Link to Abstract/Full Text

Gareth J. Williams, Jamison M. Gove, Yoan Eynaud, Brian J. Zgliczynski and Stuart A. Sandin (2015) Local human impacts decouple natural biophysical relationships on Pacific coral reefs, Ecography, Volume 38, Issue 8, 751–761 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Gary P. Griffith and Elizabeth A. Fulton (2014) New approaches to simulating the complex interaction effects of multiple human impacts on the marine environment, ICES J. Mar. Sci., Volume 71 Number 4, 764-774 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Jo Foden, Stuart I. Rogers, Andrew P. Jones (2011) Human pressures on UK seabed habitats: a cumulative impact assessment, MEPS, Volume 428, 33-47 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Juan Carlos Castilla (1999) Coastal marine communities: trends and perspectives from human-exclusion experiments, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 14, Issue 7, 280-283 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Lenzi Mauro, Gennaro Paola, Volterrani Margherita, Roffilli Rugiada, Birardi Francesca, Micarelli Primo, Solari Duccio, Franchi Enrica (2013) Human impact on a small barrier reef meadow of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile on the north Tyrrhenian coast (Italy), Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 77, Issues 1–2, 45-54 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Magnus Nyström, Carl Folke, Fredrik Moberg (2000) Coral reef disturbance and resilience in a human-dominated environment, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 15, Issue 10, 413-417 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Malcolm R. Clark, Franziska Althaus, Thomas A. Schlacher, Alan Williams, David A. Bowden, and Ashley A. Rowden (2015) The impacts of deep-sea fisheries on benthic communities: a review, ICES J. Mar. Sci. Link to Abstract/Full Text

Melanie J. Bishop (2007) Impacts of boat-generated waves on macroinfauna: Towards a mechanistic understanding, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Volume 343, Issue 2, 187-196 Link to Abstract/Full Text

MJ Keough, GP Quinn (1991) Causality and the choice of measurements for detecting human impacts in marine environments, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, Volume 42, Number 5, 539-554  Link to Abstract/Full Text

P. D. Eastwood, C. M. Mills, J. N. Aldridge, C. A. Houghton, and S. I. Rogers (2007) Human activities in UK offshore waters: an assessment of direct, physical pressure on the seabed, ICES J. Mar. Sci., Volume 64, Issue 3, 453-463  Link to Abstract/Full Text

Pi-Jen Liu, Pei-Jie Meng, Li-Lian Liu, Jih-Terng Wang, Ming-Yih Leu (2012) Impacts of human activities on coral reef ecosystems of southern Taiwan: A long-term study, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 64, Issue 6, 1129-1135 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Rebecca L. Lewison, Larry B. Crowder, Andrew J. Read, Sloan A. Freeman (2004) Understanding impacts of fisheries bycatch on marine megafauna, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 19, Issue 11, 598-604 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Robert S Steneck (1998) Human influences on coastal ecosystems: does overfishing create trophic cascades? Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 13, Issue 11, 429-430 Link to Abstract/Full Text

S. Al-Jufaili, M. Al-Jabri, A. Al-Baluchi, R.M. Baldwin, S.C. Wilson, F. West, A.D. Matthews (1999) Human Impacts on Coral Reefs in the Sultanate of Oman, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Volume 49, Supplement 1, 65-74 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Sara M. Maxwell, Elliott L. Hazen, Steven J. Bograd, Benjamin S. Halpern, Greg A. Breed, Barry Nickel, Nicole M. Teutschel, Larry B. Crowder, Scott Benson, Peter H. Dutton, Helen Bailey, Michelle A. Kappes, Carey E. Kuhn, Michael J. Weise, Bruce Mate, Scott A. Shaffer, Jason L. Hassrick, Robert W. Henry, Ladd Irvine, Birgitte I. McDonald, Patrick W. Robinson, Barbara A. Block & Daniel P. Costa (2013) Cumulative human impacts on marine predators, Nature Communications, Volume 4, 2688 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Serafim E. Poulos, Vasilios Kapsimalis, Christos Tziavos, Theodora Paramana (2008) Origin and distribution of surface sediments and human impacts on recent sedimentary processes. The case of the Amvrakikos Gulf (NE Ionian Sea), Continental Shelf Research, Volume 28, Issue 20, 2736-2745 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Simon F. Thrush, Kari E. Ellingsen, and Kathryn Davis (2015) Implications of fisheries impacts to seabed biodiversity and ecosystem-based management, ICES J. Mar. Sci. Link to Abstract/Full Text  

Sylvaine Giakoumi, Benjamin S. Halpern, Loïc N. Michel, Sylvie Gobert, Maria Sini, Charles-François Boudouresque, Maria-Cristina Gambi, Stelios Katsanevakis, Pierre Lejeune, Monica Montefalcone, Gerard Pergent, Christine Pergent-Martini, Pablo Sanchez-Jerez, Branko Velimirov, Salvatrice Vizzini, Arnaud Abadie, Marta Coll, Paolo Guidetti, Fiorenza Micheli and Hugh P. Possingham (2015) Towards a framework for assessment and management of cumulative human impacts on marine food webs, Conservation Biology, Volume 29, Issue 4, 1228–1234 Link to Abstract/Full Text

T.R. McClanahan (2011) Human and coral reef use interactions: From impacts to solutions, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Volume 408, Issues 1–2, 3-10 Link to Abstract/Full Text

V. Stelzenmüller, J. Lee, A. South, S. I. Rogers (2010) Quantifying cumulative impacts of human pressures on the marine environment: a geospatial modelling framework, MEPS, Volume 398, 19-32 Link to Abstract/Full Text

William Gladstone, Belinda Curley, Mohammad Reza Shokri (2013) Environmental impacts of tourism in the Gulf and the Red Sea, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 72, Issue 2, 375-388 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Z.B. Wang, D.S. Van Maren, P.X. Ding, S.L. Yang, B.C. Van Prooijen, P.L.M. De Vet, J.C. Winterwerp, H.J. De Vriend, M.J.F. Stive, Q. He (2015) Human impacts on morphodynamic thresholds in estuarine systems, Continental Shelf Research, In Press, Accepted Manuscript Link to Abstract/Full Text 

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