• Home
• Section I: Tools and Skills
  • Chapter 1.2: Critiquing The Statistics You Encounter
  • Chapter 1.3: Experimental Design and Sampling
  • Chapter 1.4: Describing and Visualizing Data
  • Chapter 1.5: Examining Relationships: Correlations
  • Chapter 1.6: Testing for Differences Between Means: t-tests and ANOVA`s
  • Chapter 1.7: Making Predictions: Regression Analyses
  • Chapter 1.8: Chi-square (ᵡ2) Test
  • Chapter 1.9: Carbon Footprints
  • Chapter 1.10: Ecological Footprints
  • Chapter 1.11: Cost Benefit Analyses
  • Chapter 1.12: Environmental Risk Assessments
  • Chapter 1.13: Life Cycle Assessments
  • Chapter 1.14: Geospatial Analyses
  • Chapter 1.15: Communicating Like a Professional
• Section II: Global Water Resources Case Studies
  • Case Study 2.2: The Everglades: Changing Hydrology
  • Case Study 2.3: Mediterranean Sea: One System, Many Stressors
  • Case Study 2.4: Gulf of Mexico: Dead Zone
  • Case Study 2.5: Restoration: A Tale of Two Rivers
  • Case Study 2.6: Ocean Acidification
  • Case Study 2.7: Ground Water: What Lies Beneath
  • Case Study 2.8: China`s Three Gorges Dam (TGD): Costs vs. Benefits
• Section III: Air Quality and Atmospheric Science Case Studies
  • Chapter 3.2: Ozone Depletion
  • Chapter 3.3: Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
  • Chapter 3.4: Particulate Matter Pollution (PM)
  • Chapter 3.5: Industrial Smokestack Pollution
  • Chapter 3.6: Household Air Pollution (HAP)
  • Chapter 3.7: Climate Change
• Section IV: Human Impacts on the Global Landscape Case Studies
  • Chapter 4.2: Bark Beetle Infestation
  • Chapter 4.3: Alberta`s Tar Sands
  • Chapter 4.4: Desertification
  • Chapter 4.5: The Amazon Rain Forests
  • Chapter 4.6: Electronic Waste (e-waste)
  • Chapter 4.7: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
• Section V: Looking Ahead
• Buy Now!

Case Study 2.3: Mediterranean Sea: One System, Many Stressors



The Mediterranean Sea is an invaluable international marine resource in trouble.  Home to an unusually diverse flora and fauna, the Mediterranean is impacted by a wide variety of stressors. In this case study, we’ll focus on three very different threats to the Mediterranean ecosystem: a chemical pollutant (mercury); invasive alien species; and the physical impacts of the changing climate.  We’ll conclude by considering the possibilities and challenges faced by those trying to protect this resource.

Before you start, review some of the Background Materials on the Mediterranean Sea presented here.

Background Materials:

Follow these links to view several videos on the Mediterranean. Note the segment on the bluefin tuna in the National Geographic clip (http://www.hulu.com/watch/350334) and the amazing shots of underwater life at https://vimeo.com/33161598.

A web site giving general background on the Mediterranean basin is maintained by the European Commission at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/info/pubs/docs/biogeos/Mediterranean.pdf.

For a brief overview of the challenges facing the Mediterranean, visit http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/the_mediterranean_a_biodiversity_hotspot_under_threat_factsheet_en.pdf

For a more in-depth look at pollution in the Mediterranean basin and how countries are working together to develop coordinated approaches, visit these web sites:
http://www.unepmap.org/
http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/programmes/unpro/mediterranean/
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/horizon-2020-mediterranean-report

For a brief overview of invasive species in marine ecosystems, view the National Geographic report at http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-marine-invasive-species/.

For a more detailed review of this issue, visit IUCN’s comprehensive review at
https://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/guide_on_monitoring_invasive_species_in_amp.pdf

Textbook References and Links:
 
Exercise 1:  Mission Blue Global exploration website:  http://mission-blue.org/google-earth/

Exercise 8:  Muhling et al. article “Predicting the effects of climate change on bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) spawning habitat in the Gulf of Mexico:  http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/03/14/icesjms.fsr008.full

Downloadable data and files:
Exercise 8:  Muhling 2011.pdf