Climate change, marine policy and the valuation of Mediterranean intertidal ecosystems

This commentary describes a gap in the qualitative and quantitative knowledge of the provision of benefits to humans from the intertidal ecosystems of the Mediterranean and offers a framework for quantification of the benefits provided by these systems. The identification of such benefits, understanding their spatial distribution and their subsequent quantification will be critical to the design of policy responses to future climate change, sea level rise and seawater acidification. A baseline understanding of the current state of ecosystem functions, as well as of the provision of related ecosystem services, is therefore needed. Further, researchers must strive to generate forecasts of the changes in these functions and services conditional on policy responses and the range of expectations for climate change.