Alexandria Digital Research Library

A Regional-Scale Ocean Health Index for Brazil

Author:
Elfes, Cristiane Taguchi
Degree Grantor:
University of California, Santa Barbara. Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology
Degree Supervisor:
Steve Gaines
Place of Publication:
[Santa Barbara, Calif.]
Publisher:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Creation Date:
2015
Issued Date:
2015
Topics:
Environmental Health, Environmental Management, Biology, Oceanography, Biology, Ecology, and Chemical Oceanography
Keywords:
Brazil
Fisheries
Oceans
Human well-being
Habitats
Conservation Science
Genres:
Online resources and Dissertations, Academic
Dissertation:
M.A.--University of California, Santa Barbara, 2015
Description:

Brazil has one of the largest and fastest growing economies and one of the largest coastlines in the world, making human use and enjoyment of coastal and marine resources of fundamental importance to the country. Integrated assessments of ocean health are needed to understand the condition of a range of benefits that humans derive from marine systems and to evaluate where attention should be focused to improve the health of these systems. Here we describe the first such assessment for Brazil at both national and state levels. We applied the Ocean Health Index framework, which evaluates ten public goals for healthy oceans. Despite refinements of input data and model formulations, the national score of 60 (out of 100) was highly congruent with the previous global assessment for Brazil of 62. Variability in scores among coastal states was most striking for goals related to mariculture, protected areas, tourism, and clean waters. Extractive goals, including Food Provision, received low scores relative to habitat-related goals, such as Biodiversity. This study demonstrates the applicability of the Ocean Health Index at a regional scale, and its usefulness in highlighting existing data and knowledge gaps and identifying key policy and management recommendations. To improve Brazil's ocean health, this study suggests that future actions should focus on: enhancing fisheries management, expanding marine protected areas, and monitoring coastal habitats.

Physical Description:
1 online resource (79 pages)
Format:
Text
Collection(s):
UCSB electronic theses and dissertations
ARK:
ark:/48907/f3w37th6
ISBN:
9781321695953
Catalog System Number:
990045119330203776
Rights:
Inc.icon only.dark In Copyright
Copyright Holder:
Cristiane Elfes
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