Biology subjects

Friess, D. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Friess, D. A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

An innovative approach in identifying a network of priority wetland sites in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway for a new sustainable management investment programme

The East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) is widely recognised to be the most threatened of the eight flyways in the world, with wetlands rapidly lost due to land cover change, unsustainable use, and the wider impacts of climate change. The recently established Regional Flyway Initiative aims to bring a network of priority wetlands in the EAAF under improved protection, management, and restoration in 10 Asian countries, while mobilising resources for sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, ecotourism, and other livelihoods for local communities. A major step in the development of this initiative is the identification of priority wetland sites through the application of international criteria, based on modern waterbird count data collated from wetland sites across Asia. Through existing analyses and stakeholder consultations, we short-listed 400 internationally important wetlands as candidate sites for further assessment. Count data of EAAF waterbird species was then assessed against international criteria aligned with the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention), the EAAF Partnerships Flyway Site Network and Important Bird Areas and Biodiversity for each site to iteratively identify a subset of priority sites, drawing on newly available species population thresholds. Each site was scored and ranked using a metric (Prioritisation Criterion1) calculated from the proportions of every occurring EAAF species against published population thresholds. We identified a total of 147 wetland sites of high conservation priority across the 10 countries, thereby representing the full suite of wetland landscapes and habitats in Asia, both freshwater and coastal, all critical sites for the conservation of migratory waterbirds in the flyway. At least 34 threatened species, including significant proportions of their global populations are represented in this network of 147 sites. To ensure that conservation opportunities are maximised for species and ecosystem services, there is a need to ensure that selected sites and landscapes are reconciled with the conservation and development priorities of each country, and to evaluate priority sites for their ecosystem services.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

The global fish and invertebrate abundance value of mangroves

Mangroves are a critical coastal habitat that provides a suite of ecosystem services and supports livelihoods. We undertake the first global analysis to estimate density and abundance of 37 commercially important fish and invertebrates that are known to extensively use mangroves. Geomorphic mangrove type, sea surface salinity and temperature, and length of mangrove forest edge were important in predicting the density of commercial fish and invertebrates, with deltaic systems supporting the highest densities. The model predicted high densities throughout parts of southeast Asia, the northern coast of South America, the Red Sea, and the Caribbean and Central America. Application of our model onto the global mangrove extent, estimates that mangroves support the annual abundance of nearly 800 billion young-of-year fish and invertebrates contained in our model. Our results confirm the critical role of mangroves globally in supporting fish and fisheries, and further builds the case for their conservation and restoration.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Soil carbon in the world's tidal marshes

Tidal marshes are threatened coastal ecosystems known for their capacity to store large amounts of carbon in their water-logged soils. Accurate quantification and mapping of global tidal marshes soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is of considerable value to conservation efforts. Here, we used training data from 3,710 unique locations, landscape-level environmental drivers and a newly developed global tidal marsh extent map to produce the first global, spatially-explicit map of SOC storage in tidal marshes at 30 m resolution. We estimate the total global SOC stock to 1 m to be 1.44 Pg C, with a third of this value stored in the United States of America. On average, SOC in tidal marshes 0-30 and 30-100 cm soil layers are estimated at 83.1 Mg C ha-1 (average predicted error 44.8 Mg C ha-1) and 185.3 Mg C ha-1 (average predicted error 105.7 Mg C ha-1), respectively. Our spatially-explicit model is able to capture 59% of the variability in SOC density, with elevation being the strongest driver aside from soil depth. Our study reveals regions with high prediction uncertainty and therefore highlights the need for more targeted sampling to fully capture SOC spatial variability.

ecology↗