A Novel Framework to Represent Hypoxia in Coastal Systems

Aavudai Anandhi (), Ruth Book and Gulnihal Ozbay
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Aavudai Anandhi: Biological Systems Engineering, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, FL 32307, USA
Ruth Book: Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Gulnihal Ozbay: Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Delaware State University, Dover, DE 19901, USA

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-31

Abstract: 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 km 2 of oceans.

Keywords: nexus; goal-oriented thinking; food–water–; best management practice; BMP; agricultural conservation practice; sustainable development goal; SDG; Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR); collective knowledge; Gulf of Mexico (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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