Identify what dysfunction in the natural system is implied in relation to the Policy Issue.

Subtask Description:
Identify what dysfunction in the natural system is implied in relation to the Policy Issue.

Action points of the implementation:

Analyze the available information on the ecological cause-&-effect chain from Human Activities to impact and evaluate the importance of these different Human Activities and impacts in relation to the Policy Issue.
Agree what ecological indicators you will use in comparing the outcomes of the management options.

Area:
Mar Piccolo, Taranto, Italy

Policy Issue:
Sustainable use of the Mar Piccolo resources in order to include mussel culture.

Human Activities:
Urban and industrial activity, mussel culture, urbanization, shipping, maritime transport.

General Information:
The area is a field of many conflicting activities but also has always been one of the most important mussels farming areas in the country. In particular, fishing, distribution, catering, tourism, transport, import and export are activities directly connected to aquaculture, bringing an economic improvement and therefore a greater social welfare. However externalities, such as social problems or illegal aquaculture plants that over-exploit the existing natural resources, are causing damage to the ecosystem. During the last years, data from the local market evidenced quantity and quality reduction of the harvested mussels. The major stakeholder concerns are connected to the sustainable development and welfare of the activity.

Example of Implementation:
In Mar Piccolo, the Study Site team, after agreeing on the Policy Issue with their stakeholders, constructed the following table, in order to identify more efficiently the ecological dysfunctions imposed to the system from the Human Activities that are related to the coastal zone and the policy issue. Furthermore, they identified the important variables in order to link these human activities to the impacts in the ecosystem and, going one step further they identified the impacts in the ecosystem’s goods and services.

Table 1 : List of the main Human Activities, Dysfunctions and Impacts for Mar Piccolo in Taranto.

Human Activities	Ecological dysfunction	Key variables linking forcing to impact	Impacts on ecosystems goods and services
Mussel culture	Reduction of the mussel productivity and health	Mussel recruitment, employment, local jobs	Reduction of the local market, loss of jobs
Urbanization	Eutrophication effects	Anoxia, benthic habitat, diversity loss, toxic and harmful algal blooms	Change of trophic structure
Heavy industry	Biochemical pollution	Heavy metals, PAHs PCBs	Contaminated mussels, stress on organisms
Agriculture	Eutrophication and toxic substances	Fertilizer use, field drainage, crops, pesticide use, surface water transport	Change of trophic structure, ground-water contamination, ammonia emissions
Navy docks, large ship traffic	Physical habitat destruction	Shoreline development, resuspension from large ship traffic	Reduction of mussels recruitment, perceived, environmental quality
Transport	Diversity loss and invasive species	Bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton, phytobenthos and zoobenthos, nekton	Perceived environmental quality, water transparency

Comments:
This approach provides transparency through the cause and effect chain of every important human activity in the area. The column of the “impacts on ecosystem goods and services” provides also an insight to the probable interconnections between the ecological, economic and social systems.

Contact:
Carmela Caroppo, Carmela.Caroppo@iamc.cnr.it