StoryMaps
What are StoryMaps?
DPhil student Courtney Stuart has developed interactive StoryMaps to distil and share our latest seascape science and its applications. Courtney uses ArcGIS StoryMaps to create these visual narratives which make storytelling engaging and informative, combining live maps, text, images and interactive elements.
Seascape Restoration in the Bassin d’Arcachon
Bassin d’Arcachon is a dynamic mosaic of coastal ecosystems including saltmash, seagrass, and sand dunes, which support regional biodiversity and ecological function. The Bay is renowned for shellfish production and coastal recreation, to which a healthy marine environment is critical. However, these activities also exert extreme pressures on the seascape, driving the decline of some coastal ecosystems and underscoring the need for sustainable management and restoration.
Marine Remote Sensing and Seascape Ecology Applications
Satellite data is making critical contributions to our scientific understanding of marine habitats. This compilation of case studies and research papers provides references for various habitats, including mangroves, seagrasses, and marshlands, while showcasing how research on connectivity, scale, and species distributions can inform marine conservation and restoration efforts.
Mapping Conservation Seascapes
The 5Cs of Seascape Ecology - Context, Configuration, Connectivity, Consideration of Scale and Culture - connect seascape ecology theory to seascape conservation. The 5Cs can be applied by utilising spatial-ecological and remote sensing approaches, and is critical to the success of ongoing and future marine conservation initiatives globally.
Fieldwork Tales: Studying land-sea connections
Seabirds are globally important transporters of nutrients, feeding at sea and returning to deliver nutrients onto islands. These nutrient subsidies support productivity and biogeochemical cycling on land and in shallow reefs.
In July 2022, a team from the Oxford Seascape Ecology Lab and Oxford Ecosystems Lab set out to collect ecological data on a coral atoll in French Polynesia. This fieldwork trip was part of a novel, multidisciplinary science program that is investigating the role of seabird nutrient subsidies across islands and reefs.