A Novel Framework to Represent Hypoxia in Coastal Systems

Policymakers face the challenge of increasing food and energy production while reducing nutrient pollution. Coastal hypoxic zones, often caused by human activity, are a key indicator of sustainability. The purpose of this study is to develop a novel framework that can be used by policymakers to assess strategies to reduce or eliminate hypoxic zones in coastal waters. The developed framework includes socioecological conditions by integrating the Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR) framework and multiple thinking approaches (nexus, systems, and goal-oriented) with sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their targets, the food–energy–water (FEW) nexus, agricultural conservation practices (ACPs), and the collective knowledge from the published literature and experts, all applied to hypoxia in oceans. Four categories of ACPs with potential positive effects on hypoxia were identified: conservation cropping systems, conservation drainage systems, riparian buffer systems, and wetland systems. The Gulf of Mexico, a large hypoxic zone, served as a case study. The methods from the development of this framework may be tailored to some 500 global coastal hypoxic zones, covering 245,000 km2 of oceans.