Abstract
This review examines the substantial changes that have taken place in marine habitats and resources of the Gulf over the past decade. The habitats are especially interesting because of the naturally high levels of temperature and salinity stress they experience, which is important in a changing world climate. However, the extent of all natural habitats is changing and their condition deteriorating because of the rapid development of the region and, in some cases from severe, episodic warming episodes. Major impacts come from numerous industrial, infrastructure-based, and residential and tourism development activities, which together combine, synergistically in some cases, to cause the observed deterioration in most benthic habitats. Substantial sea bottom dredging for material and its deposition in shallow water to extend land or to form a basis for huge developments, directly removes large areas of shallow, productive habitat, though in some cases the most important effect is the accompanying sedimentation or changes to water flows and conditions. The large scale of the activities compared to the relatively shallow and small size of the water body is a particularly important issue. Important from the perspective of controlling damaging effects is the limited cross-border collaboration and even intra-country collaboration among government agencies and large projects. Along with the accumulative nature of impacts that occur, even where each project receives environmental assessment or attention, each is treated more or less alone, rarely in combination. However, their combination in such a small, biologically interacting sea exacerbates the overall deterioration. Very few similar areas exist which face such a high concentration of disturbance, and the prognosis for the Gulf continuing to provide abundant natural resources is poor.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 13-38 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Marine Pollution Bulletin |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Arabian Gulf
- Climate stresses
- Coral reefs
- Development
- Fisheries
- Gulf War
- Mangroves
- Oil pollution
- Persian Gulf
- Pollution
- Sea grass
- Sedimentation
- Temperature rise
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oceanography
- Aquatic Science
- Pollution
Cite this
The Gulf : A young sea in decline. / Sheppard, Charles; Al-Husiani, Mohsen; Al-Jamali, F.; Al-Yamani, Faiza; Baldwin, Rob; Bishop, James; Benzoni, Francesca; Dutrieux, Eric; Dulvy, Nicholas K.; Durvasula, Subba Rao V.; Jones, David A.; Loughland, Ron; Medio, David; Nithyanandan, M.; Pilling, Graham M.; Polikarpov, Igor; Price, Andrew R.G.; Purkis, Sam; Riegl, Bernhard; Saburova, Maria; Namin, Kaveh Samimi; Taylor, Oliver; Wilson, Simon; Zainal, Khadija.
In: Marine Pollution Bulletin, Vol. 60, No. 1, 01.01.2010, p. 13-38.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The Gulf
T2 - A young sea in decline
AU - Sheppard, Charles
AU - Al-Husiani, Mohsen
AU - Al-Jamali, F.
AU - Al-Yamani, Faiza
AU - Baldwin, Rob
AU - Bishop, James
AU - Benzoni, Francesca
AU - Dutrieux, Eric
AU - Dulvy, Nicholas K.
AU - Durvasula, Subba Rao V.
AU - Jones, David A.
AU - Loughland, Ron
AU - Medio, David
AU - Nithyanandan, M.
AU - Pilling, Graham M.
AU - Polikarpov, Igor
AU - Price, Andrew R.G.
AU - Purkis, Sam
AU - Riegl, Bernhard
AU - Saburova, Maria
AU - Namin, Kaveh Samimi
AU - Taylor, Oliver
AU - Wilson, Simon
AU - Zainal, Khadija
PY - 2010/1/1
Y1 - 2010/1/1
N2 - This review examines the substantial changes that have taken place in marine habitats and resources of the Gulf over the past decade. The habitats are especially interesting because of the naturally high levels of temperature and salinity stress they experience, which is important in a changing world climate. However, the extent of all natural habitats is changing and their condition deteriorating because of the rapid development of the region and, in some cases from severe, episodic warming episodes. Major impacts come from numerous industrial, infrastructure-based, and residential and tourism development activities, which together combine, synergistically in some cases, to cause the observed deterioration in most benthic habitats. Substantial sea bottom dredging for material and its deposition in shallow water to extend land or to form a basis for huge developments, directly removes large areas of shallow, productive habitat, though in some cases the most important effect is the accompanying sedimentation or changes to water flows and conditions. The large scale of the activities compared to the relatively shallow and small size of the water body is a particularly important issue. Important from the perspective of controlling damaging effects is the limited cross-border collaboration and even intra-country collaboration among government agencies and large projects. Along with the accumulative nature of impacts that occur, even where each project receives environmental assessment or attention, each is treated more or less alone, rarely in combination. However, their combination in such a small, biologically interacting sea exacerbates the overall deterioration. Very few similar areas exist which face such a high concentration of disturbance, and the prognosis for the Gulf continuing to provide abundant natural resources is poor.
AB - This review examines the substantial changes that have taken place in marine habitats and resources of the Gulf over the past decade. The habitats are especially interesting because of the naturally high levels of temperature and salinity stress they experience, which is important in a changing world climate. However, the extent of all natural habitats is changing and their condition deteriorating because of the rapid development of the region and, in some cases from severe, episodic warming episodes. Major impacts come from numerous industrial, infrastructure-based, and residential and tourism development activities, which together combine, synergistically in some cases, to cause the observed deterioration in most benthic habitats. Substantial sea bottom dredging for material and its deposition in shallow water to extend land or to form a basis for huge developments, directly removes large areas of shallow, productive habitat, though in some cases the most important effect is the accompanying sedimentation or changes to water flows and conditions. The large scale of the activities compared to the relatively shallow and small size of the water body is a particularly important issue. Important from the perspective of controlling damaging effects is the limited cross-border collaboration and even intra-country collaboration among government agencies and large projects. Along with the accumulative nature of impacts that occur, even where each project receives environmental assessment or attention, each is treated more or less alone, rarely in combination. However, their combination in such a small, biologically interacting sea exacerbates the overall deterioration. Very few similar areas exist which face such a high concentration of disturbance, and the prognosis for the Gulf continuing to provide abundant natural resources is poor.
KW - Arabian Gulf
KW - Climate stresses
KW - Coral reefs
KW - Development
KW - Fisheries
KW - Gulf War
KW - Mangroves
KW - Oil pollution
KW - Persian Gulf
KW - Pollution
KW - Sea grass
KW - Sedimentation
KW - Temperature rise
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=74149087243&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=74149087243&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.10.017
DO - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.10.017
M3 - Article
VL - 60
SP - 13
EP - 38
JO - Marine Pollution Bulletin
JF - Marine Pollution Bulletin
SN - 0025-326X
IS - 1
ER -