Depletion, degradation, and recovery potential of estuaries and coastal seas
Abstract
Estuarine and coastal transformation is as old as civilization yet has dramatically accelerated over the past 150 to 300 years. Reconstructed time lines, causes, and consequences of change in 12 once diverse and productive estuaries and coastal seas worldwide show similar patterns: Human impacts have depleted >90% of formerly important species, destroyed >65% of seagrass and wetland habitat, degraded water quality, and accelerated species invasions. Twentieth-century conservation efforts achieved partial recovery of upper trophic levels but have so far failed to restore former ecosystem structure and function. Our results provide detailed historical baselines and quantitative targets for ecosystem-based management and marine conservation.
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Overfishing and habitat destruction over several hundred years have greatly reduced global fish stocks and damaged aquatic ecosystems.
“Historically, fish were an abundant source of food for many civilizations, though overfishing and habitat destruction over several hundred years have greatly reduced global fish stocks and damaged aquatic ecosystems (Jackson et al., 2001;Lotze et al., 2006).”
From Wasted seafood in the United States: Quantifying loss from production to consumption and moving toward solutions (2015) · cites this paper as Lotze et al., 2006
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References 229 · Cited by 3,402
- Authors
- Lotze, H. K., Lenihan, H. S., Bourque, B. J., Bradbury, R. H., Cooke, R. G., Kay, M. C., Kidwell, S. M., Kirby, M. X., Peterson, C. H., & Jackson, J. B. C.
- Affiliations
- Australian National University (AU)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lotze, Heike K.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2006-06-23
- Volume
- 312
- Issue
- 5781
- Pages
- 1806-1809
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2067804762
- Cited by
- 3,402
- References
- 229
- Citations by year
- 2026: 153 · 2025: 177 · 2024: 212 · 2023: 220 · 2022: 235 · 2021: 230 · 2020: 203 · 2019: 189 · 2018: 220 · 2017: 236 · 2016: 180 · 2015: 188 · 2014: 189 · 2013: 169 · 2012: 131
- FWCI
- 299.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
- Smithsonian Digital Repository (Smithsonian Institution) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Coastal and Marine Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Marine and Coastal Ecosystems
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Marine and fisheries research
- Keywords
- estuarine degradation, coastal ecosystem change, human impact on coasts, seagrass decline, wetland loss, water quality degradation, biological invasions, ecosystem recovery, historical baselines, ecosystem-based management, marine conservation
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Conservation of Natural Resources, Environment, Eutrophication, Geography, Humans, Human Activities, Invertebrates, Plants, Population Density, Population Dynamics, Seawater, Vertebrates, Water, Water Pollution, Ecosystem, Biodiversity, History, 18th Century, History, 19th Century, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, History, Ancient, History, Medieval
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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