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Oct 30

Ben Halpern

National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis                                  

Assessing the state of the oceans: mapping the cumulative impacts of human activities on marine ecosystems

Abstract

The impact of human activities on the oceans has been studied and documented for several individual activities (such as fishing), but our understanding of how human activities cumulatively affect the oceans is only recently emerging.  Such information, especially when presented as maps of the distribution and intensity of cumulative impacts, is critical for any kind of marine resource management and conservation, but in particular ecosystem-based management and ocean zoning.  In this talk I will present results from recently published and ongoing research showing global and regional-scale maps of the cumulative impact of human activities on marine ecosystems and discuss how they can be and are already being used to redefine marine conservation priorities.

Bio

Dr. Ben Halpern focuses his research on spatial population dynamics, trophic interactions in community ecology, and the interface between marine ecology and human dynamics, all with the ultimate aim to inform and facilitate conservation and resource management efforts in marine systems. Ben received his Ph.D. in marine ecology from UC Santa Barbara and is currently an Associate Research Biologist at UC Santa Barbara and the project lead for a research initiative to evaluate and better inform efforts to do ecosystem-based management in marine ecosystems around the world.

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Updated Thu, Oct 2, 2008