Designing “human-centric” smart cities

Strategies and innovations for city development

Book Announcement

WORLD SCIENTIFIC

 

IMAGE: COVER FOR "SMART CITY 2.0: STRATEGIES AND INNOVATIONS FOR CITY DEVELOPMENT" view more 

CREDIT: WORLD SCIENTIFIC

Policy making, technology and data are useless without the heart of the people. Much has been written and is being written about smart cities. This suggests, first, that there are no simple answers and, second, that agreement about the topic is not yet total. As smart city projects proliferate worldwide, cultural differences and preferences, which are so difficult to capture in artificial intelligence, must be respected.

A Smart City cannot rest exclusively on information technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT). The Global Innovation Forum panel’s statements confirmed that we do not want to leave all smart city decisions to corporations and to the profit motive. City officials should become more knowledgeable about the needed technologies instead of outsourcing all decisions to an IT provider.

Decision makers may understand that we need innovation for sustainability, and that this kind of innovation is the common interest of technocities and smart cities. Smart City 2.0 will need to be designed bottom-up, based on dialogs with many constituencies, rather than top-down with functions dictated by a central authority. Here, the role of different ‘actors’ in the innovative smart city system also becomes important, particularly citizens, civic society and media. Efficiency versus innovation in the smart city, and top-down versus bottom-up design and governance are two very important issues explored in >Smart City 2.0: Strategies and Innovations for City Development

>Smart City 2.0 is co-edited by TANDO Institute Fellows Deog-Seong Oh and Fred Phillips, and Monash University Professor Avvari Mohan. It contains chapters by Oh, Phillips, and TANDO Institute Fellow Sheridan Tatsuno. The editors of this volume represent three countries, and the chapter authors offer international perspectives from four continents. These authors are authorities in technology-based economic development and city planning experts. They propose additional technologies for the smart city mix. They urge readers to view smart cities as balancing efficiency, quality of life and entrepreneurial potential.

Smart City 2.0 bookends these issues between Fritz Lang’s 100-year-old film Metropolis and a 2022 piece by columnist George Will. Lang’s film argued that a city must have heart, as well as a head and hands. Will writes that new capabilities for analyzing baseball statistics have led, for the first time, to more strikeouts than on-base hits in the typical game, with base-stealing all but a lost art. He fears this makes baseball less entertaining. He means that spectators do not want to see optimized (head-oriented) baseball; instead, we go to games to see outstanding examples of human heart, acuity, and guts. Like traditional baseball, the new smart cities will balance hands, heart, and head.

Smart City 2.0: Strategies and Innovations for City Development retails for US$148 / £130 (hardcover) and is also available in electronic formats. To order or know more about the book, visit http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12871.

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About the Editors

Deog-Seong Oh is the President of Woosong University and a former President of Chungnam National University (2016–2022), both in Daejeon, South Korea. Dr. Oh is an expert in public and urban policy, economic development and technology commercialization. Dr. Oh is a member of the UNESCO High Panel on Science for Development and Organizing Committee Chair for UNESCO’s Global Innovation Forum. He is a former Secretary-General of the World Technopolis Association. He received a Master of Urban Planning in 1979 and a Master of Science in Architecture from Seoul National University, Korea, in 1981. He earned a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from Hanover University, Germany, in 1989. He did post-doctoral research at the University of Sheffield, UK, in 1993, and was visiting professor at the University of Dortmund from 2002–2004. He previously served as vice president of the Korean Planners Association (2000–2002) and Korean Urban Management Association (2010–2012). He is also the chief editor of Asian Pacific Planning Review. He has published 250 papers on urban planning and design, sustainable development and regional innovation.

Fred Young Phillips is currently on faculty at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA. He is the 2017 winner of the Kondratieff Medal, awarded by the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is the President-Elect of the Academy of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Knowledge (ACIEK), Spain, a society of innovation and entrepreneurship scholars, and he coordinates TANDO, a think tank recently spun out of the University of Texas at Austin. Fred is a Fellow of the Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET). Dr. Phillips is the Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Elsevier’s international journal Technological Forecasting & Social Change. He has consulted worldwide on technology-based regional development. He is a founder of the Austin Technology Council and was also a Board member of the Software Association of Oregon, USA. Dr. Phillips attended the University of Texas, USA and Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, earning a Ph.D. at Texas (1978) in mathematics and management science.

Avvari V Mohan is the Professor and Deputy Head of Engagement & Impact at Monash University Business School, Malaysia. Mohan received his Ph.D. in Marketing and Innovation from the Department of Management Studies of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India, following which he visited South Korea on a Research Fellowship at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Prior to joining Monash University, he was the Associate Professor of Strategy & Innovation and the Director of Research at the Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) in the University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM). He also served as a member of the Faculty of Management at Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia. His research interests are in the areas of Strategy and Innovation with special interest in sustainability-oriented Strategies. He is particularly interested in collaborations or linkages firms develop with other organizations for Innovation and Sustainable Development. He has served as a Council Member of the Consumer Forum (CFM) for the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Industry, as a recourse person in World Technopolis Association (WTA)-UNESCO workshops, and recently as Innovation Auditor for the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), Malaysia.

About World Scientific Publishing Co.

World Scientific Publishing is a leading international independent publisher of books and journals for the scholarly, research and professional communities. World Scientific collaborates with prestigious organisations like the Nobel Foundation and US National Academies Press to bring high quality academic and professional content to researchers and academics worldwide. The company publishes about 600 books and over 160 journals in various fields annually. To find out more about World Scientific, please visit www.worldscientific.com.

For more information, contact WSPC Communications at communications@wspc.com.

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DOI

10.1142/12871 

Treasure hunt in hot springs?

Success in recovering trace rare earth elements in environmental water

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OSAKA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS HAVE SUCCEEDED IN SELECTIVELY RECOVERING TRACE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS IN SYNTHETIC SEAWATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL WATER, SUCH AS HOT SPRING WATER, USING BAKER’S YEAST WITH A PHOSPHATE GROUP ADDED. view more 

CREDIT: MASAYUKI AZUMA, OSAKA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

The demand for precious metals and rare earths is expected to continue increasing in the future. Due to limited production areas, recycling from precision equipment and recovering from seawater and hot spring water are needed to ensure a stable supply.

A research group led by Professor Masayuki Azuma and Associate Professor Yoshihiro Ojima of the Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Engineering has successfully developed an adsorbent material that can selectively recover rare earth elements (REEs) using environmentally friendly and inexpensive baker’s yeast and trimetaphosphate, which is used as a food additive.

The research group conducted experiments using synthetic seawater and hot spring water to evaluate the performance of this material in a real environment. As a result, it was confirmed that the material can selectively adsorb REEs even when using hot spring water with an REE concentration of several to several tens of ppb (μg/L) and a very high content of other components.

“This new technology is expected to contribute to the realization of a metal resource-circulating society and a safe society through environmental purification. In the future, we will continue to conduct experiments on a variety of environmental water with the aim of establishing a system capable of treating large quantities of metal resources through continuous operation,” said Professor Azuma.

The results were published in the Environmental Technology & Innovation.

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About OMU 

Osaka Metropolitan University is a new public university established in April 2022, formed by merger between Osaka City University and Osaka Prefecture University. For more research news visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ or follow @OsakaMetUniv_en and #OMUScience.

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JOURNAL

Environmental Technology & Innovation

DOI

10.1016/j.eti.2023.103093 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Adsorption of rare earth ions from synthetic seawater and hot spring water using phosphorylated yeast

More structure, fewer screens makes for healthier kids in the school holidays

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Vacation care, sports programs, or performing arts – whatever your child’s interests, researchers say that adding structure to the school holiday is a great way to keep kids healthy and active over the break.

 

In the first Australian study of its kind, University of South Australia researchers found that when primary school children are on holidays, they’re less active, more likely to be on screens, and tend to have a worse diet than during the school term.

 

Assessing responses for 358 primary school students (Grade 4 and 5), researchers found that on holidays, children were likely to be 12 minutes less active each day, 27 minutes more sedentary, and have more than an hour extra of screen time.

 

During the school holidays, children (aged 9-10) spent 39 per cent more time using screens than during the school year.

 

UniSA researcher Dr Amanda Watson says children exercise less and eat more unhealthy food during the holidays, which may contribute to accelerated weight gain and poor health.

 

“Everyone is excited when school holidays come around – it’s a break from the daily routine, classrooms, and getting ready on time – but despite the obvious benefits, it can have some setback for kids,” Dr Watson says.

 

“Our study shows that during school holidays, children are more likely to display unhealthy behaviours, such as being less active, spending more time sitting, eating more junk food, and (perhaps unsurprisingly) watching a whole lot more TV or screens.

 

“Of course, it is important for children to get some quality downtime over the school break, but it’s equally important that they stay active and get enough exercise.

 

“If we add more structure to children’s days in the holidays – regular activities, planned lunch and snack breaks, as well as a limit on the amount of screen time kids have – we could encourage healthier behaviours to benefit them now and in the future.”

 

In Australia, one in four children (25 per cent) are overweight or obese, contributing to poorer health and wellbeing, as well as worse performance at school.

 

Senior researcher UniSA’s Professor Carol Maher says that screen time is one of the biggest risk factors for children’s inactivity.

 

“Managing screen time is a challenge for many parents, and not only in the holidays,” Prof Maher says.

 

“Being inactive for extended periods, either watching TV or playing games, is not good for anyone’s health, not the least children.

 

“So, when research shows us that even one extra hour of screen time a day corresponds with a 13 per cent increased risk of obesity, it is time to rethink computer time.

 

“Everyone can benefit from being more active. These holidays could be just what you need to make more positive changes to you and your children’s activity levels, overall wellbeing, and health.”

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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JOURNAL

Pediatric Obesity

DOI

10.1111/ijpo.13029 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Case study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Children's activity and diet behaviours in the summer holidays versus school year

Multi-compartment membranes for multicellular robots: Everybody needs some body

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TOHOKU UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: A SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF HOW DROPLETS EXTRACTED FROM A SPONGE SELF-ASSEMBLE INTO A MULTICELLULAR BODY STRUCTURE. view more 

CREDIT: RICHARD ARCHER / SHIN-ICHIRO NOMURA

The typical image of a robot is one composed of motors and circuits, encased in metal. Yet the field of molecular robotics, which is being spearheaded in Japan, is beginning to change that.

Much like how complex living organisms are formed, molecular robots derive form and functionality from assembled molecules. Such robots could have important applications, such as being used to treat and diagnose diseases in vivo.

The first challenge in building a molecular robot is the same as the most basic need of any organism: the body, which holds everything together. But manufacturing complex structures, especially at the microscopic level, has proven to be an engineering nightmare, and many limitations on what is possible currently exist.

To address this problem, a research team at Tohoku University has developed a simple method for creating molecular robots from artificial, multicellular-like bodies by using molecules which can organize themselves into the desired shape.

The team, including Associate Professor Shin-ichiro Nomura and postdoctoral researcher Richard Archer from the Department of Robotics at the Graduate School of Engineering, recently reported their breakthrough in the American Chemical Society's publication, Langmuir.

"Our work demonstrated a simple, self-assembly technique which utilizes phospholipids and synthetic surfactants coated onto a hydrophobic silicone sponge," said Archer.

When Nomura and his colleagues introduced water into the lipid coated sponge, the hydrophilic and hydrophobic forces enabled the lipids and surfactants to assemble themselves, thereby allowing water to soak in. The sponge was then placed into oil, spontaneously forming micron sized, stabilized aqueous droplets as the water was expelled from the solid support. When pipetted on the surface of water, these droplets quickly assembled into larger planar macroscopic structures, like bricks coming together to form a wall.

"Our developed technique can easily build centimeter size structures from the assembly of micron sized compartments and is capable of being done with more than one droplet type," adds Archer. "By using different sponges with water containing different solutes, and forming different droplet types, the droplets can combine to form heterogeneous structures. This modular approach to assembly unleashes near endless possibilities."

The team could also turn these bodies into controllable devices with induced motion. To do so, they introduced magnetic nanoparticles into the hydrophobic walls of the multi-compartment structure. Archer says this multi-compartment approach to robot design will allow flexible modular designs with multiple functionalities and could redefine what we imagine robots to be. "Future work here will move us closer to a new generation of robots which are assembled by molecules rather than forged in steel and use functional chemicals rather than silicon chips and motors."

CAPTION

An actually formed multicellular body structure (top) and its enlarged view (bottom).

CREDIT

Richard Archer / Shin-Ichiro Nomura

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JOURNAL

Langmuir

DOI

10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c02859 

ARTICLE TITLE

Scalable Synthesis of Planar Macroscopic Lipid-Based Multi-Compartment Structures

Researchers developed an AI-based method to replace chemical staining of tissue

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF TURKU

 

IMAGE: IMAGE: AN EXAMPLE OF VIRTUAL STAINING OF TISSUE. UNSTAINED TISSUE ON THE LEFT, CHEMICALLY STAINED TISSUE IN THE MIDDLE AND VIRTUALLY STAINED TISSUE ON THE RIGHT. THE EXAMPLES ARE PROSTATE TISSUE. view more 

CREDIT: PEKKA RUUSUVUORI

Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Turku, and Tampere University have developed an artificial intelligence-based method for virtual staining of histopathological tissue samples as a part of the Nordic ABCAP consortium. Chemical staining has been the cornerstone of studying histopathology for more than a century and is widely applied in, for example, cancer diagnostics.

“Chemical staining makes the morphology of the almost transparent, low-contrast tissue sections visible. Without it, analysing tissue morphology is almost impossible for human vision. Chemical staining is irreversible, and in most cases, it prevents the use of the same sample for other experiments or measurements,” says University Researcher and Vice Director of the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of Eastern Finland Leena Latonen, who led the experimental part of the study.

The artificial intelligence method developed in this study produces computational images that very closely resemble those produced by the actual chemical staining process. This virtually stained image can then be used for inspecting the morphology of the tissues. Virtual staining reduces both the chemical burden and manual work needed for sample processing while also enabling the use of the tissue for other purposes than the staining itself.

The strength of the proposed virtual staining method is that it requires no special hardware or infrastructure beyond a regular light microscopy and a suitable computer.

“The results are very widely applicable. There are plenty of topics for follow-up research, and the computational methods can still be improved. However, we can already envision several application areas where virtual staining can have a major impact in histopathology,” says Associate Professor Pekka Ruusuvuori from the University of Turku, who led the computational part of the study.

Ground-breaking research with international funding

One of the key factors enabling the study was the consortium funding obtained from the ERAPerMed joint transnational call. The ABCAP consortium consists of Nordic research groups developing artificial intelligence-based diagnostics of breast cancer towards personalised medicine and is funded by ERAPerMed, Nordic Cancer Union and the Academy of Finland. Both Latonen and Ruusuvuori lead their own subprojects.

“This research is truly cross-disciplinary. Without consortium funding, it would be very difficult to find enough resources for both the experimental laboratory work and the computational effort to enable studies like this,” acknowledge Ruusuvuori and Latonen.

This cross-disciplinary research is based on expertise in tissue biology, histological processes, bioimage informatics and artificial intelligence. The first part of the two-phase study focused on optimising the tissue sample processing and imaging steps, and was carried out by Doctoral Researcher Sonja Koivukoski from the University of Eastern Finland. Systematic assessment of histological feasibility was a unique component in the study.

“Development of computational methods using artificial intelligence often lacks proper assessment of the feasibility from the perspective of the end user. This may lead to methods being developed and published but eventually not really used in practice. Therefore, it is especially important to combine both computational and domain-based knowledge already in the development phase, as was done in our study,” state Latonen and Koivukoski.

Great potential of computational methods

Deep neural networks learning form large volumes of data have rapidly transformed the field of biomedical image analysis. In addition to traditional image analysis tasks, such as image interpretation, these methods are also well suited for image-to-image transforms. Virtual staining is an example of such a task, as was successfully shown in the two published parts of the work. The second part focused on optimising virtual staining based on generative adversarial neural networks, with Doctoral Researcher Umair Khan from the University of Turku as the lead developer.

“Deep neural networks are capable of performing at a level we were not able to imagine a while ago. Artificial intelligence-based virtual staining can have a major impact towards more efficient sample processing in histopathology,” says Khan.

In addition to the artificial intelligence algorithms, the key to success was the availability of high-performance computing services through CSC.

“In Finland, we have an excellent infrastructure for parallel high-performance computing. Computationally intensive research like this would not be possible without the capacity provided by CSC,” says Ruusuvuori.

The results of the study were published in two international peer-reviewed journals, Laboratory Investigation and Patterns.

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JOURNAL

Laboratory Investigation

DOI

10.1016/j.labinv.2023.100070 

ARTICLE TITLE

Unstained tissue imaging and virtual hematoxylin and eosin staining of histological whole slide images

Microwaves advance solar-cell production and recycling

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: DR BINESH PUTHEN VEETTIL view more 

CREDIT: MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY

A microwave technology invented at Macquarie University will improve the manufacture of solar cells and make them easier to recycle.

During the fabrication of solar panels, silicon goes through several high-temperature processes known as annealing. Currently the cells are cooked in an oven.

But in a paper published in the US Journal Applied Physics Letters, a team led by senior lecturer Dr Binesh Puthen Veettil of the School of Engineering has shown that heating using microwave radiation is nearly as efficient. Plus, it saves considerable time and energy and has other advantages.

Because microwave radiation selectively heats silicon, it leads to almost instantaneous effects with massive savings of energy. This is partly because the rest of the laminated panel of glass, plastic and aluminium is left largely unaffected. And that property that has led to an unexpected recycling benefit for which the group has a patent pending.

Recycling benefits

Under microwave treatment, the plastic (ethylene vinyl acetate) coating that protects the silicon plate from moisture and contamination softens to the point where it can be peeled off mechanically. That means the plate can be easily delaminated and its components reused without employing harsh chemicals.

“Until now it made economic sense to just dump the panels in the landfill,” says Dr Veettil. “In the rare instances when they are recycled, you crush the panels, heat them to about 1400°C and wash them with chemicals to remove the plastic — a highly energy-demanding process. But now, as the solar panels which began to be installed in vast numbers about 20-30 years ago are reaching the end of their life and being decommissioned, governments are demanding they be recycled.”

Selective annealing

Microwave annealing has several other advantages. The ability to focus microwave radiation means the heating it induces can be selective and highly tuned. Some of the newer panels, for instance, employ what is known as heterojunction technology, where crystalline and amorphous silicon are interleaved. In these cells, faster, better-directed annealing is highly advantageous.

Precise focusing also means that annealing can be directed to specific parts of the solar panel, making it ideal for annealing solar panels with more intricate internal structures fabricated for special purposes.

And, in contrast to an oven where all sorts of chemical substances are shed from the walls, microwave annealing takes place in a clean environment. “So there is less contamination,” says Dr Veettil. “And the whole process can all be undertaken at room temperature.”

New materials

There are several other projects involving solar cells and sustainable energy underway at Macquarie. One of the co-authors of the annealing paper, Associate Professor Shujuan Huang, leads a group looking at microwave annealing in perovskite solar cells. Perovskites are a group of crystalline minerals with semiconductor properties that may, in future, be used for solar cells because they are flexible, lightweight and cheap to produce.

In this case, the microwave radiation produced more efficient solar cells as compared to conventional annealing methods, but the reason is not clear. The current work is being undertaken partly to answer that question.

Dr Veettil’s research in collaboration with the school of photovoltaics at UNSW, was initiated with funding from the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics and has been further supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

Dr Binesh Puthen Veettil is an electronic engineer in the Macquarie University School of Engineering who has a particular interest in renewable energy.

Abstract: Microwave annealing of silicon solar cells

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0127896

The microwave annealing of semiconductor devices has not been extensively researched and is rarely utilized in industry, yet it has the potential to significantly reduce the time and costs associated with large-volume semiconductor processing, such as the various heating and annealing processes required in the manufacture of photovoltaic modules. In this paper, we describe microwave annealing of silicon solar cells, the effective passivation of light-induced defects and a reduction in light-induced degradation. We find that silicon solar cells are heated rapidly in a microwave field and that effective B-O defect passivation can be achieved by microwave processing in as little as two seconds. Microwave annealing yields similar results as compared to Rapid Thermal Annealing.

Binesh Puthen Veettil1, Yuchao Zhang2, David Payne1, Mattias Juhl1, Shujuan Huang1, Brett Hallam2 and Darren Bagnall1

1 School of Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia

2 School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2207, Australia

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JOURNAL

Applied Physics Letters

DOI

10.1063/5.0127896 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Microwave annealing of silicon solar cells

New reports highlight opportunities for Sustainable Blue Economy in the Caribbean

A new set of reports from the Commonwealth Secretariat have highlighted the potential for a more sustainable future in the Caribbean.

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH

A new set of reports from the Commonwealth Secretariat have highlighted the potential for a more sustainable future in the Caribbean. 

The Rapid Readiness Assessment (RRA) has been trialled in selected Caribbean islands over the last few months. The results will inform the Islands on their next steps towards becoming a sustainable ‘blue’ economy.  This means the Islands will be able to effectively tap into ocean resources and support long-term economic growth, while also protecting marine and coastal ecosystems, and ensuring societal wellbeing.

The assessment has been conducted as part of a pilot project in the Caribbean Islands of Antigua & Barbuda and Trinidad & Tobago. Through research and workshops, researchers evaluated how ready the Islands’ national systems, structures and stakeholders are to make the transition to becoming a sustainable blue economy. Building on progress already made in each country, it will help governments and stakeholders understand their current situation and identify both opportunities and gaps. 

Researchers at the University of Portsmouth have been leading the work in Antigua & Barbuda. They found these islands have significant potential for growth in areas such as sustainable fisheries, marine renewable energy, and ocean-based tourism.  However, they also identified a number of challenges that will need to be addressed in order to achieve a successful transition, including the need for more comprehensive marine planning and stronger governance frameworks. 

Antaya March from the University of Portsmouth has led the work being done in Antigua & Barbuda. She said: “This is a critical time to bring together all of the valuable, existing work in each country and identify how to harmonise approaches and avoid duplication of efforts. A sustainable blue economy presents the opportunity for Antigua & Barbuda and Trinidad & Tobago to truly tap into the wealth of resources the ocean offers, provide equitable sharing of the benefits and reduce their economies’ over reliance on tourism and oil respectively, for an equal operating system.

“By identifying key opportunities and challenges, we can begin to develop strategies that balance economic development with environmental sustainability.”

The assessments have been coordinated under the Commonwealth Blue Charter programme, with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Howell Marine Consulting and the University of Portsmouth.

Lead Advisor for the Commonwealth Blue Charter programme at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr Jeff Ardon said: “The Rapid Readiness Assessment provides a clear picture of a country’s existing policies, legal frameworks, systems and political landscape and how these would facilitate a sustainable blue economy transition. They also identify the gaps and outline recommendations for next steps, including the types of resource required.”

UNEP’s Head of Marine and Freshwater, Leticia Carvalho, said: “The utility of the Sustainable Blue Economy Transition Framework, and the available assessments, will go a long way in helping countries to take the first steps towards a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to mainstreaming biodiversity into comprehensive ocean and coastal policy as a prerequisite for sustainable, resilient and equitable blue economies.

“This framework can support countries to practically address the critical importance of marine and coastal biodiversity in the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.”

COVID lockdown allows study of tourism’s impact on Hawaii fishes

Pandemic-forced dip in visitation benefits reef fish in a high-use marine protected area 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE

 

IMAGE: MOLOKINI CRATER IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST POPULAR SNORKELING SPOTS AND THE SITE OF A LONG-RUNNING SERIES OF FISH SURVEYS. BOSS FROG/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. CC BY-SA 4.0 view more 

CREDIT: BOSS FROG/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. CC BY-SA 4.0

During August 2019, more than 40,000 tourists visited Hawaii’s Molokini island to snorkel or dive. In March 2020 the worldwide COVID lockdown dropped that number to zero.

The sudden and prolonged drop in visitors to one of the world’s most popular snorkeling spots provided scientists with a novel opportunity to study how underwater tourism impacts marine fishes. The results of their study, published in the most recent issue of PLOS One, will help resource managers better care for Molokini and other threatened marine habitats.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Kevin Weng of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, says “The COVID-related tourism freeze provided a unique natural experiment to measure the effects of decreased tourism on fish behavior in a high-use, no-take marine protected area.” Joining Weng on the study were Dr. Alan Friedlander and Whitney Goodell of the National Geographic Society and Dr. Laura Gajdzik and Russell Sparks of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. Friedlander and Goodell are also affiliated with the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.

Molokini, which lies about 3 miles off the shore of Maui, was designated as a “no-take” marine protected area or MPA in 1977 based on tour operators' concerns regarding the impacts of fishing and other “consumptive” uses. “Tour operators have always been interested in the conservation of Molokini, and have worked with the State on several measures," says Sparks. As the volume of “non-consumptive” uses such as snorkeling and SCUBA diving increased, tour operators worked with the State to establish a limited-entry permit system for tour boats and to replace anchoring with permanent moorings to protect corals.

The current study focused on the impacts of these non-consumptive uses. “Our research demonstrates that human presence alone can alter the community structure and possibly the functioning of an ecosystem,” says Weng. “This means we can improve how tourism is configured in Hawaii and around the world to reduce the impacts of human presence.”

Community structure refers to the type and numbers of species present in an ecosystem. During Hawaii’s COVID lockdown—which began at full force in March of 2020 and was then slowly lifted until visitation returned to pre-pandemic levels in May of 2021—the researchers conducted SCUBA surveys on five separate occasions to record the species, abundance, size, and location of predatory and herbivorous fishes within Molokini’s submerged crater. They also tracked the movement of the predatory species using electronic tags. Comparing these observations with data from similar surveys conducted in the years before and after the lockdown allowed them to detect differences in fish community structure caused by human presence. The researchers gathered data on human presence using logbooks kept by the 40 charter boat companies permitted to bring tourists into Molokini’s waters.

The results of this natural experiment were clear. “When tourism shut down due to COVID,” says Friedlander, “species that had been displaced from shallow habitats by high human presence moved back in on a timescale of months, increasing fish biomass as well as the proportion of larger predators." The species that mainly drove the observed increase in lockdown biomass were fast-swimming predatory fishes known as jacks, which learn to fear humans as they are often targeted by anglers. When tourism resumed, the predators moved to deeper waters, reducing fish biomass and habitat use to pre-pandemic levels. Biomass is a combined measure of fish abundance and size.

The observed changes in predator biomass were also reflected in the fishes’ behavior. Before the COVID lockdown, jacks were known to leave the inside of the crater during the morning peak in tourist visits. However, during the lockdown, they remained in the shallow, sheltered interior. These predators were quickly displaced from this shallow-water habitat whentourism resumed. Their displacement is particularly concerning because their summertime spawning season overlaps with the annual peak in marine tourism.

The human-induced displacement of predatory fishes from Molokini’s crater likely sends ripples throughout the local food web. Previous studies have shown that a drop in the abundance of predatory fishes affects not only the herbivorous fishes they count as prey, but the algae and other primary producers eaten by the herbivores. “Predators have diverse ecosystem roles,” says Friedlander, “and their loss can reduce the resistance and resilience of ecosystems to other stressors.” 

Overall, the team’s findings suggest that "Molokini is being over-used, and that management is needed to improve not only ecosystem health but the visitor experience," says Sparks. “Our findings indicate that the business-as-usual conditions of high tourism alter community structure by displacing predatory fishes to deeper environments,” adds Weng. Moreover, a 2011 study found that more than two thirds of visitors to Molokini felt crowded during their trip and supported actions that would reduce visitor numbers.

“As Hawaii formulates marine management plans and undertakes the Sustainable Hawai`i Initiative,” says Gajdzik, “lessons from Molokini can help inform managers and help facilitate an effective response. As part of this process, we need to think strategically about the scale and configuration of tourism in Hawaii to optimize earnings and employment without damaging the environment.”

“Our study indicates that the intensity of non-consumptive uses, especially in heavily visited MPAs, should be considered for the long-term health and resilience of these ecosystems,” says Weng. “Management of tourism should be guided by biological research, and include clear and well-enforced rules, adaptive management, and broad stakeholder involvement.”

The Bluefin trevally or omilu (Caranx melampygus) is one of the fast-swimming predatory fishes that increased their use of Molokini's shallow habitats during the COVID lockdown. © K. Weng/VIMS.

SCUBA divers monitor fishes within Molokini’s submerged crater during Hawaii’s COVID lockdown. Comparing these data with those from similar pre- and post-lockdown surveys allowed the researchers to detect differences in fish community structure caused by human presence.

CREDIT

Dr. Kevin Weng/Virginia Institute of Marine Science

JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0283683 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Decreased tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic positively affects reef fish in a high use marine protected area.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

12-Apr-2023