Coastal Habitats

The coastal zone of the Black Sea has great numbers of human activities and demand use of the
coastal space . But coast has a special role in protecting the ecosystems. Human use has a profound
influence on the environmental state of the coastal waters. The habitats of many plant and animal
species in the coastal zone are more numerous than other places in the sea. Additionally, the coast is
the area where people come into contact with the sea. Coastal habitat loss is great problem for
ecosystem and social activities of the coastal city citizens . During the last decades, South Eastern
Black Sea coastal side has a big road structuring. After road structure, region has lost its 60-80%
natural coast. Trabzon Provience lost approximately 75% of 113km total coast. This loss is especially
affected coastal habitat and ecosystem. In the region, poor planning has destroyed much of the
aesthetic resources of the coastlines. For coastal rehabilitation and conservation of habitat in the
region, decision-making process should focused on coastal zone management.

The latest LIFE Nature Focus publication highlights the issues threatening Europe’s coastal habitats and how the LIFE programme has addressed them. Coastal regions generate 40% of our GDP, but development must be sustainable and must recognise the natural value of our varied coastlines. Only 13% of coastal species are in a 'favourable' conservation status, while 73% of coastal habitats are assessed as being 'bad' or 'inadequate'.
It is in the interests of all business sectors, from tourism to shipping and fisheries, to safeguard and improve the health of our coastal ecosystems. Adopting an ecosystem approach to their management fosters, rather than hinders, growth and jobs.
The 96-page brochure, LIFE and coastal habitats, outlines the scope of innovative and best practices measures carried out by LIFE projects to improve the status of Europe’s coastal habitats and management of Natura 2000 network sites – from dune habitat conservation in the Baltic to coastal lagoon protection in the Black Sea. It features sections on all the different types of habitats targeted by the programme and concludes with a focus on the cross-cutting management issues facing coastal regions.

The mismatch between the conceptual understanding of the Ecosystem Services (ES) in science, and their practical application, remains. Among the many issues under discussion is the link between knowledge and implementation. Base knowledge built over cases studies exist, but their usefulness for site-specific management purposes is limited. The goal of this work is to illustrate how gap analysis at the local level may contribute to the development of ES research and knowledge transfer. A review of coastal ES was performed, based on peer-reviewed journals, grey literature and other sources, allocating the information per European Nature Information System aquatic habitat coupled with the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services. Then, a multicriteria decision-making approach was applied to find ES research hotspots, i.e., habitats for which ES research should be prioritized. Three criteria were used: abundance of ES, evidence for the supply of ES, and strength of evidence. The criteria were considered suitable for coastal areas where profound gaps in ES research exist. The Atlantic coastal region adjacent to the Mondego River was used as case study. 231 current and potential ES were listed and mapped for 21 coastal habitats. Cultural services arose as the dominant category. Saltworks emerged as the most recommended habitat for ES research. Results are in accordance with local decision-makers trends of management; we consider the approach to be appropriate as a first step towards the operationalization of the ES concept and flexible enough to be readapted to focus on critical questions that characterize ES research.

The effectiveness and accuracy of biomonitoring programs, based on benthic macroinvertebrates, isstrictly related to the sampling design and effort, whereas the feasibility depends on the economic sus-tainability of sample collection and processing methodologies. In the last decade, how to improve theRapid Bioassessment Protocols (RBPs) maintaining the accuracy of the results has been a topic recur-rently debated among researchers. It is well known that the sample unit size (i.e., surface of the sampledarea, SUS) and the sieve mesh size (SMS), selected to collect and to retain benthic macroinvertebratesfrom soft-bottom samples, may affect the evaluation of the aquatic ecosystem ecological status; however,studies analyzing the combined influence of SUS and SMS on assessment tools are lacking, in particu-lar for transitional water ecosystems. Even if the Water Framework Directive (WFD) suggests rapid andcost-effectiveness sampling effort and procedures, the identification of optimal SUS and SMS is a basicstep to improve the RBPs and to meet WFD suggestions. Therefore, this research analyses the effects offour soft-bottom sample unit sizes (0.0225 m2, 0.0450 m2, 0.0675 m2, 0.0900 m2), and three sieve meshsizes (4 mm2, 1 mm2, 0.25 mm2) on the selection of benthic macroinvertebrates and, thus, on assessmenttools, in a Mediterranean lagoon. A sampling survey was performed in September 2009 at a perturbedand an unperturbed study site in the Lesina lagoon (SE Italian coastline); three replicates were taken foreach SUS and SMS using an Ekman–Birge grab (15 cm × 15 cm). The samples were sieved on a column ofthree sieves, with decreasing mesh size. Benthic macroinvertebrates were sorted, identified, measured,weighted and included in twelve datasets (4 SUS × 3 SMS). Sampling effort (SE) was calculated for eachSUS and SMS combination as: SE = [SUS m2× (1/SMS mm2)] × 100. Four simple community descriptors(numerical density, taxonomic richness, biomass density, individual body-size) and four ecological indi-cators (AMBI, BENTIX, BITS, M-AMBI) were compared for each combination of SUS and SMS in both studysites. Simple community descriptors and ecological indicators varied significantly between perturbedand unperturbed study site. The results showed that SMS had significant effects on simple communitydescriptors and ecological indicators, except for BITS index. Conversely, no significant differences wereobserved for different SUS analyzing simple community descriptors and ecological indicators, exceptfor taxonomic richness and M-AMBI index. The response of the ecological indicators was only slightlyaffected by the SMS, whereas SUS choice did not influence the ecological status assessment. Anyway,using the larger SMS (4 mm2), all ecological indicators showed either the same ecological quality statusas the 1 mm2and 0.25 mm2SMS or, in some cases, one class higher, except for the AMBI index.

Coastal habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves, seagrasses, and algae are important to fisheries management since these serve as indicators of fish stock, the health status of the coastal environment, and others. The suitability of Landsat 7 ETM+ data for mapping these coastal habitats was evaluated by the study. The study areas are two bays located in the provinc e of Palawan in the Philippines, namely Puerto Princesa Bay and Honda Bay. Although adjacent to one another, the two bays actually represent different environmental conditions. Typical algorithms for the correction for the effects of water depth, radiome try, the atmosphere, and scene orientation were applied to the image. The resulting satellite image map was evaluated for visual interpretability of the coastal habitats under consideration. The appearance of these habitats, as well as that of some coast al landforms, in selected combinations of Landsat 7 ETM+ bands, is shown in the paper. Limitations in the level of habitat classification that are possible with Landsat 7 ETM+ data are also enumerated. The preprocessed satellite image was also subjected to digital classification techniques using field and other data gathered during site visits conducted in November 2000 and April 2001. Results of the classification are also discussed in the paper.

As the effects of the Global Climate Changes on the costal regions of Central and South Americas advance, there is proportionally little research being made to understand such impacts. This commentary puts forward a series of propositions of strategies to improve performance of Central and South American science and policy making in order to cope with the future impacts of the Global Climate Changes in their coastal habitats.

Kıyı alanları çok dinamik sahalardır ve bu alanlar deniz ve kara etkileşiminin olduğu, ekolojik açıdan benzersiz ve değişime karşı kırılgan bölgelerdir. Kıyıların değişimi kıyıdaki hidrodinamik süreçler ve kıyı dolguları, kıyı yapıları ve kum çıkarılması şeklindeki  insan etkileri ile gerçekleşir. Özellikle Güneydoğu Karadeniz Bölgesi’nde, Trabzon ili ve çevresindeki kıyı bölgelerinde insan etkileri ve kıyılara baskı çok yüksektir. Doğu Karadeniz’ın 570 km’lik kıyısından 442 km’sinde sahil yolu inşa edildikten sonra bölge doğal kıyılarının büyük bir kısmını kaybetmiştir. Daha öncede kıyılarla ilgili  yapılan çalışmalarda  daha çok mühendislik yapıları odaklı yapılmış, fakat doğa üzerindeki etkileri dikkate alınmamıştır.
Bu çalışmada, uzaktan algılama ve Coğrafi Bilgi Sistemi yöntemleri kullanılarak 1957 – 2015 yılları arasında elli yıllık süre içinde Trabzon kıyılarında meydana gelen kıyı çizgisi, kıyı ve habitat değişiklikleri, kayıpların belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmada öncelikle 1957 yılından 1970 yılına ait basılı haritalar sayısallaştırılarak Trabzon iline ait eski kıyı çizgisi elde edilmiştir. 2011 yılına ait Trabzon yeni kıyı çizgisi tespitinde KTÜ GIS LAB verileri kullanılmıştır. Trabzon kıyı batimetrisine ait veriler sayısallaştırılmış haritalar kullanılarak analize katılmıştır. Ayrıca Trabzon’a ait fotoğraf arşivleri, geçmişte ve mevcut olan kıyıların durumu görsel analiz de kullanılmıştır.
Yapılan çalışmalarda yaklaşık 119 km’lik Trabzon’un kıyı değişimi incelenmiştir. Sonuç olarak, Trabzon’un 1957 – 2015 yılları arasındaki kıyı değişimi incelendiğinde, yaklaşık 954,74 hektarlık değişimin olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Trabzon kıyılarında habitat kaybı açısından bakıldığında toplam 9.543.603 m2 yada 954,36 ha yüzeysel yada bentik alan tahrip edilmiştir. Ayrıca 27.885.019 m3 su hacmi (epipelajik bölge) kaybedilmiş olduğu  tespit edilmiştir. Kıyı çizgisi ve habitat değişimi konusunda diğer ilçelere göre en büyük değişimin Trabzon Merkez’de olduğu görülmüştür. Bu değişim, bölgedeki littoral zonun kaybedilmesine yol açmaktadır. Yapılan arazi çalışmaları sonucunda dolgu alanlarında karayolu, ulaşım, işletme, spor, rekreasyon, dinlenme tesislerin bulunduğu tespit edilmiştir. Bazı dolgular boş arazi halinde iken, belediyeler tarafından yeni dolgu alanları ile ilgili projeler planlanmakta ve yeni dolgu yapılması halen devam etmektedir.