Amanda Lombard

1 Introduction The ocean covers 71% of the earth's surface and is critical for planetary and human health (Costanza, 1999). Humans rely on the ocean for oxygen production, food, buffering from global temperature increases, natural resources, transportation, emotional wellbeing, and leisure, among many other uses. These activities, both terrestrial and marine, result in pressures that put substantial stress on marine organisms and ecosystems (Halpern et al., 2008, 2015; O’Hara et al., 2021).

1 INTRODUCTION Although challenging, quantifying and tracking changes in ecosystem condition is important for national and international reporting objectives and informing management decisions for marine conservation (Pavlidou et al., 2019; Yang et al., 2021). One of the biggest challenges is the complex dynamics of pressure-state relationships, which makes it difficult to assess impacts on marine ecosystems effectively (Andersen et al., 2015; Borja, 2014).