Pathways to an integrated understanding of marine environments and ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific Region

The Asia-Pacific Region (APR) encompasses a vast geographical area rich in marine biodiversity that plays critical roles in global ecological stability and climate regulation, but it also faces daunting challenges in maintaining these roles under global change. Environmental dynamics in the APR manifest regularly over a range of timescales, including storms, earthquakes, floods, and extreme heat events. Further, coastal and marine ecosystems, including extensive commercial fisheries and coral reefs, are under threat from intense resource extraction and increasingly frequent marine heatwaves. Knowledge gaps for understanding these complex systems are aggravated by substantial barriers to cross-national efforts caused by the region’s vast diversity of cultures, languages, socioeconomics, politics, and management practices. Effective management of marine resources in the APR will necessitate multidisciplinary research based on continuous, region-wide observations supported by robust collaborations. In 2023, we gathered APR researchers across disciplines to discuss these issues and find solutions during a thematic seminar and workshop program at Tohoku University in Japan. Based on the results of this program, we present a review of the current state of APR marine ecosystems, raise key questions addressable through multidisciplinary approaches, and identify future priorities for the region. We conclude that sustaining biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and climate resilience in the APR will depend on stronger interdisciplinary collaboration, better integration of biological and geophysical data, and broader access to marine observations. These efforts are both urgent and essential for supporting better science-based policy decisions to address the escalating effects of global change on marine systems across the region.

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Publication Details

Journal
Frontiers in Marine Science
Published
2025-10-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1680145
Primary Topic
Coastal and Marine Management
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Pathways to an integrated understanding of marine environments and ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific Region

Toshio Suga, Takako Masuda, Teruhisa Shimada, S. Lan Smith et al.
Frontiers in Marine Science
Coastal and Marine Management
article

Pathways to an integrated understanding of marine environments and ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific Region

Toshio Suga, Takako Masuda, Teruhisa Shimada, S. Lan Smith, Åke Brännström, Peter G. Strutton, Toyonobu Fujii, Elisa Lahcene, Michio Kawamiya, Gaku Nishihira, Lauren Sallan, Hanani Adiwira, Sekar Adiningsih, Jamie M. Kass, Sayaka Yasunaka, Charina Lyn Amedo-Repollo, Emma Gairin, Anindya Wirasatriya, Ulf Dieckmann, David Armitage, Cheryl Lewis Ames, Charles Plessy, Filip Husník, Ayşe Haruka Oshima Açıkbaş, Yanxiao Li, Paula Peñalver-Pereira, Florence Mila Purnomo Sie, Hovaldo B. C. Ilham
article en

Abstract

The Asia-Pacific Region (APR) encompasses a vast geographical area rich in marine biodiversity that plays critical roles in global ecological stability and climate regulation, but it also faces daunting challenges in maintaining these roles under global change. Environmental dynamics in the APR manifest regularly over a range of timescales, including storms, earthquakes, floods, and extreme heat events. Further, coastal and marine ecosystems, including extensive commercial fisheries and coral reefs, are under threat from intense resource extraction and increasingly frequent marine heatwaves. Knowledge gaps for understanding these complex systems are aggravated by substantial barriers to cross-national efforts caused by the region’s vast diversity of cultures, languages, socioeconomics, politics, and management practices. Effective management of marine resources in the APR will necessitate multidisciplinary research based on continuous, region-wide observations supported by robust collaborations. In 2023, we gathered APR researchers across disciplines to discuss these issues and find solutions during a thematic seminar and workshop program at Tohoku University in Japan. Based on the results of this program, we present a review of the current state of APR marine ecosystems, raise key questions addressable through multidisciplinary approaches, and identify future priorities for the region. We conclude that sustaining biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and climate resilience in the APR will depend on stronger interdisciplinary collaboration, better integration of biological and geophysical data, and broader access to marine observations. These efforts are both urgent and essential for supporting better science-based policy decisions to address the escalating effects of global change on marine systems across the region.

Frontiers in Marine ScienceVol. 12
Diponegoro University (ID), University of Tasmania (AU), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JP), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (AT), Australian Research Council (AU), Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (JP), Hirosaki University (JP), The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI (JP), Tohoku University (JP), Fundación Centro Tecnológico de la Información y la Comunicación (ES), Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (JP), Duro Felguera (Spain) (ES), Biogas Fuel Cell (Spain) (ES), University of the Philippines Diliman (PH), Umeå University (SE)
European Commission, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Strategic International Collaborative Research Program, Co-creation place formation support program
Openalex Percentile: Top 59%
Coastal and Marine Management
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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