Ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea ... - Naturvårdsverket

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SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Report 5873 • Ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak Economic Marine Information Interactions with other ecosystem services The prerequisite for cost-beneficial bioprospecting is biodiversity. In that, the ability of the marine environment to provide consumers and industries with valuable substances and models – now and in the future – is dependent on all supporting ecosystem services. If sustainably used, this service does not impact other services. In contrast, where large monocultures are farmed (in the case of macroalgae) or too many individual harvested, impacts could become detrimental. Status, threats and consequences Status Sustainability of use Level of threat Expected consequences Unknown Sustainable Moderate Unknown Provision of pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnological resources is subject to the same threats as biodiversity (chapter S4). Environmental sustainability of bioprospecting activities can only be determined from case to case. Naturally, it is dependent on the abundance, distribution and vulnerability of the species in question, as well as the habitat in which it is harvested or farmed. When it comes to blue mussels (used in glue development), for example, they are widely distributed, readily farmed and their collection leads to the mitigation of eutrophication. Hence no conflicts arise. Despite often used in small quantities, or even synthesized in the final product, bioprospecting and manufacturing could in fact involve large-scale collection. An example from the UN Atlas of the oceans describes how 1 600 kg of sea hare was gathered only to isolate just 10 mg of the desired compound (52). Most macroalgae are important habitat providers and over-extraction can become detrimental. Danish agar was previously produced from a detached form of Furcellaria fastigata, collected in Denmark. Now stocks are exhausted and all carrageen produced in Denmark comes from foreign sources. In order to respond to current demand for Irish moss, exploitation requires a more sustainable resource use. In Kattegat-Skagerrak Irish moss and dulse are considered sensitive to disturbance and are typically only found in relatively healthy habitats (195). As for the recent demand for cockleshells by nursing mothers, it cannot be met by Sweden given that the distribution and abundance of cockles became significantly limited already in the 80s and 90s, possibly due to an alteration in phytoplankton composition related to coastal eutrophication. Indeed an example of how loss of 119
SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Report 5873 • Ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak Economic Marine Information biodiversity, though only subject to local or ecological extinction, may compromise the provision of an ecosystem service. Worldwide, the pace of current extinction is dramatic. There is only limited knowledge about the potential of marine organisms to provide us with ingredients for e.g. life-supporting medicines or green technology. With each extinction chemical and genetic diversity is lost, the use of which will never be investigated. In Sweden, 216 species are threatened by extinction (chapter S4). To protect these species is a major challenge. How to ensure future availability of marine resources for chemical purposes The technological advances in the pharmaceutical- and food production rely heavily on the conservation of natural genetic diversity of plants, animals, and microorganisms. The best we can do to safeguard future development potential within affected industries is to consider ecosystem processes and functions in all aspects of human activity (measures to strengthen diversity are further discussed in chapter S4). Commercially interesting species could be used as umbrella species to motivate the protection of entire habitats or ecosystems. In the work with the marine sponge Geodia baretti, for example, commercial interest and conservational concern go hand in hand. So far, exploitation of our seas has resulted in noticeable impacts on this organism’s distribution and on the distributions of others alike. Concurrent with the research in its anti-fouling properties, research is also carried out in respect to its general ecology. This way its habitat and its other inhabitants may gain increased protection and the door will remain open for discoveries to come. Examples of knowledge gaps In the field of pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnological use of marine organisms there is little we know compared to what we do not know. For instance, the identification of hotspots of diversity, and thus of potential interest to bioprospecting, may be a valuable tool in marine planning and resource management. 120
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Ecosystem services provided by the
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Ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea ... - Naturvårdsverket

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