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

SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Report 5873 • Ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak
Economic Marine Information
lular organisms, approximately 50 000 species. This project, designed to run
for 20 years, will result in a considerable improvement of the infrastructure of
Swedish taxonomy.
Sustainability To meet the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Definition from the
1987 Brundtland report.
Synergy effects Two or more discrete influences or agents acting together
create an effect greater than that predicted by knowing only the separate
effects o the individual agents.
Threshold A breakpoint between two regimes or states of a system.
Top-down versus bottom-up control In some ecosystems the structure is
controlled by the top predators (top-down). In others the ecosystem is regulated
by the primary producers (bottom-up).
Top predator As adults, top predators are not normally preyed upon in the
wild in significant parts of their ranges.
Trophic cascades Effects on various levels of the food chain due to the alteration
at one level.
Umbrella service Like the umbrella species, the umbrella service is one,
which if carefully managed can result in the maintenance of others.
Umbrella species A wide-ranging species whose requirements include those
of many other species. Thereby the protection of umbrella species automatically
extends protection to other species.
VMS or Vessel Monitoring System uses electronic transmitters, placed on
fishing vessels that transmit information about the vessel’s position to enforcement
agencies via satellite. This allows someone on land, monitoring
such transmissions, to determine if a vessel is in a closed area.
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