Information Manual on Coastal Ecosystems
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Coastal ecosystems Information Manual 10 Published by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility 2016 ISBN: 978-0-9946053-9-9 © 2016 Australian copyright law applies. For permission to reproduce any part of this document, please approach the authors. Please cite this Manual as: Paice, R., and Chambers, J., 2016: Climate change adaptation planning for protection of coastal ecosystems. CoastAdapt Information Manual 10, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast. Acknowledgement This work was carried out with financial support from the Australian Government (Department of the Environment and Energy). We thank Alistair Hobday and David Rissik for their review and input. Disclaimer The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Commonwealth or NCCARF, and neither the Commonwealth nor NCCARF accept responsibility for information or advice contained herein. Climate change adaptation planning for protection of coastal ecosystems Information Manual 10 Robyn Paice and Jane Chambers Environmental and Conservation Sciences VLS Murdoch University IM10: Coastal ecosystems Contents Preface ..................................................................................................................................................................1 1 Introduction to this manual .......................................................................................................................2 Conceptual ecosystem model for temperate climates ...........................................................................4 Ecosystem Model 1A: Temperate ecosystem components, processes and connectivity (Section 2.1) .......................................................................................4 Ecosystem Model 1B: Temperate social value - ‘ecosystem services’ (Section2.2) and human-use stressors (Section 2.5) .....................................................................5 Ecosystem Model 1C: Potential climate change impacts on natural temperate ecosystems (Section 3) .................................................................................................6 Ecosystem Model 1D: Potential adaptation options for temperate ecosystems (Section 4) .................................................................................................7 Conceptual ecosystem model for tropical climates ................................................................................8 Ecosystem Model 2A: Tropical ecosystem components, processes and connectivity (Section 2.1) .......................................................................................8 Ecosystem Model 2B: Tropical social value - ecosystem services (Section 2.2) and human-use stressors (Section 2.5) ..........................................................................................9 Ecosystem Model 2C: Potential climate change impacts on tropical ecosystems (Section 3) .......10 Ecosystem Model 2D: Potential adaptation options for tropical ecosystems (Section 4) .........11 2 Understanding ecosystems .....................................................................................................................12 2.1 How ecosystems work ..................................................................................................................12 2.2 Ecosystem Services ......................................................................................................................14 2.3 Climate adaptation services ..........................................................................................................14 2.4 Management of ecosystems for adaptation .................................................................................16 2.5 Ecosystem services and resulting pressures ...............................................................................16 3 Potential impacts of climate change ......................................................................................................19 3.1 Major climate change projections and general impacts .............................................................19 3.2 Specific impacts for coastal ecosystems .....................................................................................22 3.3 Invasive species .............................................................................................................................26 4 Adaptation options ..................................................................................................................................27 4.1 Coastal freshwater ecosystems ....................................................................................................29 4.2 Wave-dominated estuaries ...........................................................................................................30 4.3 Tidal rivers and wetlands and mangrove ecosystems .................................................................31 4.4 Coastal interface ecosystems ........................................................................................................32 4.5 Seagrass meadows ........................................................................................................................34 4.6 Temperate reefs and macroalgal forests ......................................................................................35 4.7 Coral reefs ......................................................................................................................................36 5 Using this information .............................................................................................................................38 5.1 Using the information ....................................................................................................................38 5.2 Implementation and monitoring ..................................................................................................38 5.3 Adapting to climate change should not be delayed ....................................................................38 6 References ................................................................................................................................................39 IM10: Coastal ecosystems Tables Table 1.1: The components of the conceptual ecosystem models used in this manual ..............................2 Table 1.2: Types of marine, estuarine and coastal interface ecosystems that are, or will be, affected by climate change impacts in the coastal zone, which are included in this manual. .................11 Table 2.1: Comparative organic carbon storage in different ecosystems in Australia ................................15 Table 2.2: Potential stakeholders, their use of coastal ecosystems and goals for future management ..........17 Table 4.1: Generic managed adaptation approaches for climate change response ...................................28 Figures Figure 2.1: Interactions between natural ecosystems, use of ecosystem services and human use ..........12 Figure 2.2a: Outer reefs dissipate wave energy, protecting the coast. ...........................................................14 Figure 2.2b: Saltmarsh stabilises shore and buffers flooding .........................................................................14 Figure 3.1: Main effects of climate change which will impact coastal ecosystems .....................................19 Figure 3.2: Projected CO2 concentrations ......................................................................................................21 Figure 3.3: Ocean acidification ........................................................................................................................21 Figure 3.4: The Murray River mouth at the Coorong.. ...................................................................................23 Figure 3.5: Australia fur seal colony, Montague Island, NSW .......................................................................24 Figure 3.6: Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef ...................................................................................25 Figure 4.1: Crayweed (Phyllospora comosa) macroalgae transplantation trial ...........................................35 IM10: Coastal ecosystems Preface Preface In 2014, the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) was commissioned by the Australian Government to produce a coastal climate risk management tool in support of coastal managers adapting to climate change and sea-level rise. This online tool, known as CoastAdapt, provides information on all aspects of coastal adaptation as well as a decision support framework. It can be accessed at www.coastadapt.com.au. Coastal adaptation encompasses many disciplines ranging from engineering through to economics and the law. Necessarily, therefore, CoastAdapt provides information and guidance at a level that is readily accessible to non-specialists. In order to provide further detail and greater insights, the decision was made to produce a set of Information Manuals, which would provide the scientific and technical underpinning and authoritativeness of CoastAdapt. The topics for these Manuals were identified in consultation with potential users of CoastAdapt. There are ten Information Manuals, covering all aspects of coastal adaptation, as follows: 1. Building the knowledge base for adaptation action 2. Understanding sea-level rise and climate change, and associated impacts on the coastal zone 3. Available data, datasets and derived information