Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
UMR ESPACE-DEV 228, Université de La Réunion, IRD, La Reunion, France.
PLoS One. 2018 Jul 3;13(7):e0192582. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192582. eCollection 2018.
This study proposes and discusses a multi-scale spatial planning method implemented simultaneously at local and national level to prioritize ecosystem management actions across landscapes and seascapes. Mismatches in scale between the occurrence of biodiversity patterns and ecological processes, and the size and nature of the human footprint, and the different levels and scope of governance, are a significant challenge in conservation planning. These scale mismatches are further confounded by data resolution disparities across and amongst the different scales. To address this challenge, we developed a multi-resolution scale-linked marine spatial planning method. We tested this approach in the development of a Conservation Plan for a significant portion of South Africa's exclusive economic zone, adjacent to the east coast province of KwaZulu-Natal (the SeaPlan project). The study's dataset integrated the geographic distribution of 390 biodiversity elements (species, habitats, and oceanographic processes) and 38 human activities. A multi-resolution system of planning unit layers (PUL), with individual PUs ranging in resolution from 0.2 to 10 km, was designed to arrange and analyse these data. Spatial priorities for conservation were selected incrementally at different scales, contributing conservation targets from the fine-, medium- and large-scale analyses, and from the coast to the offshore. Compared to a basic single-resolution scale-unlinked plan, our multi-resolution scale-linked method selects 6% less conservation area to achieve the same targets. Compared to a multi-resolution scale-unlinked plan, our method requires only an additional 5% area. Overall, this method reflects the multi-scale nature of marine social-ecological systems more realistically, is relatively simple and replicable, and serves to better connect fine-scale and large-scale spatial management policies. We discuss the impacts of this study on protected area expansion planning processes in South Africa. This study showcases a methodological advance that has the potential to impact marine spatial planning practices and policies.
本研究提出并讨论了一种同时在地方和国家层面实施的多尺度空间规划方法，以便优先考虑景观和海域的生态系统管理行动。生物多样性模式和生态过程的发生、人类足迹的大小和性质以及治理的不同层次和范围之间存在的尺度不匹配，是保护规划中的一个重大挑战。这些尺度不匹配因不同尺度之间的数据分辨率差异而更加复杂。为了解决这一挑战，我们开发了一种多分辨率尺度关联的海洋空间规划方法。我们在南非东开普省（ SeaPlan 项目）附近的专属经济区的重要部分的保护计划的制定中测试了这种方法。该研究的数据集中整合了 390 个生物多样性要素（物种、生境和海洋过程）和 38 个人类活动的地理分布。设计了一个具有不同分辨率（ 0.2 至 10 公里）的规划单元层（ PUL ）的多分辨率系统，用于排列和分析这些数据。在不同的尺度上逐步选择保护的空间优先级，从精细、中尺度和大尺度分析中以及从沿海到近海为保护目标做出贡献。与基本的单一分辨率尺度不关联的计划相比，我们的多分辨率尺度关联方法选择了 6 ％的较少保护区域来实现相同的目标。与多分辨率尺度不关联的计划相比，我们的方法仅需要额外的 5 ％的面积。总体而言，这种方法更真实地反映了海洋社会 - 生态系统的多尺度性质，相对简单且可复制，并有助于更好地连接精细尺度和大尺度的空间管理政策。我们讨论了该方法对南非保护区扩张规划过程的影响。本研究展示了一种具有潜在影响海洋空间规划实践和政策的方法学进展。
