A model for the future: Ecosystem services provided by the aquaculture activities of Veta la Palma, Southern Spain

Abstract

The lack of space and opportunity for development have been identified as key reasons behind the stagnation of the European aquaculture industry. With the historical loss and degradation of current European wetlands there is an opportunity for harnessing the commercial investment of the aquaculture industry in construction of dual purpose wetlands that incorporate both conservation and extensive aquaculture activities. These wetlands can be used to expand the area available to suitable aquaculture into ecologically sensitive areas, such as Natura 2000 sites. Veta la Palma (VLP) situated in the Doñana Natural Park (and a Natura 2000 site) is an example of such an aquaculture development and a possible model for future opportunities. In the current study some of the important ecosystem services that are provided by VLP are assessed. The provisioning services of VLP were the economic rationale for the investment and more than 820 tonnes yr -1 of fish and shrimp is produced, through a mixture of semi-extensive and extensive aquaculture. The regulating services include nutrient absorption, and the flow of river water through VLP and high primary production results in the absorption of 377 tonnes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen yr -1 , and 516 tonnes of C yr -1 . Supporting services include the provision of habitat for more than 94 bird and 21 fish species. The primary production that supports the birds, extensive and semiextensive aquaculture production was also estimated to be 167,000 t, 50,000 t and 133,000 t yr -1 , respectively. The losses to birds are substantial and these estimates indicate that almost half of the primary production supports the wetland birds which directly consume 249 tonnes of fish and 2578 tonnes of invertebrates per annum. However it is the ecological credentials of the farm that enable premium prices and hence ensure the economic viability of the farm. The study demonstrates the possibility of using aquaculture to mitigate the historical loss of wetlands, provide significant ecosystem services and contribute to achievement of the European environmental legislative goals, and furthers the opportunity for the expansion of aquaculture into sensitive but impacted habitats.

Interspecific variability in phosphorus‐induced lipid remodelling among marine eukaryotic phytoplankton

“…Alternatively, the New Phytologist coastal distribution of I. galbana in very highly eutrophic waters could have selected for its lower PL lipid profile. Isochrysis galbana used in this study was isolated from highly eutrophic estuarine waters with elevated N : P ratios (76 : 1 to 156 : 1) but with phosphate concentrations between 1.6 and 3.2 lM (Walton et al, 2015). The DGCC decrease concomitant with a DGTS increase and DGTA stability (with an invariant total BL content) in P-deprived D. vlkianum has no analogy in any other microalga.…”

Phylogenetic relatedness of co‐occurring waterbird communities: a test of Darwin's competition‐relatedness hypothesis

“…At an even broader scale in which Doñana is compared to other wetlands in the Iberian Peninsula (Martí and del Moral ), it is likely that all waterbird species are present in Doñana irrespective of their phylogeny. In fact, Veta la Palma collectively is very important for waterbirds (Kloskowski et al , Walton et al ) and we are not aware of any waterbird species native to the Iberian Peninsula that have not been recorded from this pond complex in previous years (Sebastián‐González and Green ). At an even finer scale, it remains possible that the CRH could still apply but that our study scale could not detect the signal.…”

“…These fish ponds, created in the early 1990s, are managed for extensive pisciculture. Nevertheless, they are highly important for waterbirds, which are monitored regularly (Kloskowski et al , Walton et al ). The ponds have a common, shared hydrology in which water is circulated from the Guadalquivir estuary, and were made by constructing dykes on each site which enable flooding to a standard depth.…”

Reduction of avian diversity in created versus natural and restored wetlands

“…Several of them were created exclusively as bird habitat (Supplementary material Appendix 1, Table A1). Although many sites were semi‐natural fish ponds, these are large, shallow ponds which were created on top of a former marsh, partly to promote ecotourism through birds and to support the bird populations in Doñana (Walton et al ). These artificial wetlands are unquestionably important for some waterbird species (Supplementary material Appendix 1, Table A4, see also Rendón et al , Ramo et al ) and are not subject to higher disturbance than the natural or restored ones.…”