Glossary
Adaptive management (AM)
Also known as adaptive resource management (ARM), AM is, in essence, "learning by doing." It is a structured, iterative process that incorporates monitoring and evaluation to improve decision-making in uncertain environments.
Area-based management (ABM)
Management of a network of multi- and single-use zones in two or three dimensions within a designated geographic area. Emerging as an important way to develop and implement an ecosystem-based management plan.
Biodiversity
Biological diversity or diversity in an environment or ecosystem. Biodiversity can be considered at the genetic, species and/or functional levels of organization.
Comprehensive ocean zoning
The development of a network of multi- and single-use zones within a designated geographic area. Emerging as an important way to develop and implement an ecosystem-based management plan.
Connectivity
The quality or extent of connectedness of two places. In the ocean, connectivity depends on the ability of a living organism or non-living particle (such as a larva, adult fish, spore or parcel of water) to move from one place to the other and the regularity with which it does so.
Conservation
The protection of biodiversity, ecosystem function and ecosystem services to the benefit of the natural environment, including humans that depend on it.
Cumulative impacts
The combined impact of one or multiple activities over time. For example, species removal from fishing, habitat destruction from mining, polluted runoff and temperature change, when acting together, can cumulatively cause a large impact on a single ecosystem, having numerous effects on many ecosystem services.
Ecosystem
A dynamic community of plants, animals and microbes together with their physical environment; a natural system with interacting and interdependent relationships.
Ecosystem approach to management (EAM)
Often, but not always, considered interchangeable with ecosystem-based management. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has defined EAM as a holistic, adaptive management strategy developed to improve coastal and marine ecosystem productivity.
Ecosystem-based aquaculture management
Considered to be a component of ecosystem-based management, focused on a single sector. Ecosystem-based aquaculture management considers both the impacts of the environment on cultured organisms' health and productivity and the impacts that aquaculture has on all aspects of the marine ecosystem.
Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM)
Considered to be a component of ecosystem-based management, focused on a single sector. EBFM considers both the impacts of the environment on fisheries health and productivity and the impacts that fishing has on all aspects of the marine ecosystem.
Ecosystem-based management (EBM)
Ecosystem restoration
The renewal of a degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystem through active human intervention.
Ecosystem services
The direct and indirect benefits that humans derive from ecosystem processes such as pollination, biodiversity and nutrient cycling that are not captured in traditional economic accounting, but that are vital to social, economic and spiritual well-being.
Emergent property
A new, uniquie property that predictably or unpredictably comes from a combination of two simpler constituents.
Framework
A basic structure underlying a system or concept.
Habitat
The living and non-living environment in which an organism or population lives.
Holistic management
A management system that emphasizes the importance of the whole ecosystem and the interdependence of its parts, including all living and nonliving components, including humans.
Integrated management
A management system that is structured so that all those with interest in an area’s management (such as agencies, political bodies, community groups, industry groups and raditional leaders) function cooperatively.
Natural resource management
The act of handling, directing or controlling humans according to the principles of conservation, restoration or natural resource management. Management goals can include reducing user conflict, maintaining productivity or biodiversity, and ensuring the safety of humans and wildlife.
Management framework
A set of assumptions, concepts, values and practices that guides the development of a management plan.
Management plan
An explicit set of rules governing how to apply the principles and framework of natural resource management in a given area. This plan may be adapted to various changes in the natural and social environment, or upon the basis of new information about how a system functions.
Marine protected area (MPA)
Areas designated and managed to increase the conservation of their living and nonliving resources. The level of protection of MPAs varies widely, ranging from the restriction of a single activity to the restriction of all extractive or potentially damaging activities.
Marine protected area network
A group of marine protected areas that are physically and biologically connected by ocean currents, larval transport/swimming, juvenile or adult migration, or other phenomena.
Marine spatial planning
The use of spatial planning tools to develop a network of multi- and single-use zones within a designated geographic area. Emerging as an important way to develop and implement an ecosystem-based management plan.
Marine reserve
An area in the ocean or coastal zone completely protected from all extractive human activities, including fishing, mining, collecting and dredging. Marine reserves, also referred to as “ecological reserves,” “fully-protected marine reserves” and “no-take areas,” are a specific category of marine protected areas.
Ocean health
Healthy ocean ecosystems are resilient to natural and human impacts, with rates of recovery that are generally higher than heavily impacted systems. Characteristics of a healthy ocean usually include appropriate levels of biodiversity and disturbance, low levels of pollution, and intact physical and biological habitats.
Organism
A
form of life considered as an entity. An organism could be, for example, an animal, plant, fungus, protozoan or alga.
Regional ocean governance
Working cooperatively across political boundaries to address issues relating to the improvement of coastal and ocean health and the maintenance of ecosystem services.
Resilience
The ability of an organism or ecosystem to recover readily from natural or human impacts that cause temperature changes, physical disturbance or destruction, or pollution. A system’s resilience depends on its health, the area affected and duration of the impact.
Seascape
A landscape-type approach to marine ecosystem-based management implementation.
Sector
An administratively defined distinct part, such as a jurisdiction. For example, ocean management involves sectors such as commercial fisheries, recreational fisheries, pollution, security, tourism, shipping, marine protected areas, the coastal zone, ports, estuaries and transportation. In the United States, a variety of agencies often manages different aspects of each sector. In rare cases, multiple agencies manage the same aspect of the same sector.
Stakeholder
One who has an interest in or is affected by an ecosystem or ecosystem service. Stakeholders include managers and managing agencies, governing bodies, residents, traditional leaders, scientists, conservationists, recreational users and other interested parties.
Ecosystem-based management considers humans, including economic and social structures, to be part of an ecosystem. Therefore, stakeholders should play an important role in the development and implementation of ecosystem-based management plans.
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