Eight habitats, 38 threats and 55 experts: Assessing ecological risk in a multi-use marine region.

ABSTRACT: Identifying the relative risk human activities pose to a habitat, and the ecosystem services they provide, can guide management prioritisation and resource allocation. Using a combination of expert elicitation to assess the probable effect of a threat and existing data to assess the level of threat exposure, we conducted a risk assessment for 38 human-mediated threats to eight marine habitats (totalling 304 threat-habitat combinations) in Spencer Gulf, Australia. We developed a score-based survey to collate expert opinion and assess the relative effect of each threat to each habitat, as well as a novel and independent measure of knowledge-based uncertainty. Fifty-five experts representing multiple sectors and institutions participated in the study, with 6 to 15 survey responses per habitat

SUBMITTER: Doubleday ZA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5425208 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature