in focus: coastal habitats

Topic CO of the research programme MARCOPOLI

The term ‘coast’ refers to the transition zone between continent and open sea. The coast includes water sheds, estuaries and marine inlets, as well as tidal areas and coastal plains. Geologically, coastal regions represent only a brief snapshot, because ocean currents and tides, together with powerful surf, are continually eroding coastlines, and consequently changing their course. In addition, coasts are being shaped by eustatic sea level changes going back to glacial climate change and rising atmospheric temperatures. Furthermore, vertical movements of land masses, triggered by isostatic and tectonic processes, play an important role. Human activities, such as harbours, settlements, transport of goods and economic use, are also among the factors influencing coastal areas.

The coast represents a sensitive landscape embedded in a complex ecosystem. Among its special attributes are high productivity and biological diversity. For many marine organisms, as well as birds, the coast is a unique biotope with multiple food resources. And also for humans, the coast represents an attractive living environment, as well as business location and recreational area. Throughout the past decade, human population densities and utilisation of coastal zones have risen tremendously: Already more than half of the world’s humans live within a 100 km strip along the coast, and numbers continue to rise. Economic power within coastal regions has also increased over the past decade. However, there is a cost to all of this: many coastal regions, e.g. in the North and Baltic Seas, are no longer considered natural ecosystems. Oil and gas exploration, shipping industry, offshore wind power, mariculture and tourism, as well as the utilisation of marine resources, all contribute to coastal regions losing stability. Some of the consequences are severe algal blooms and oil spills which contaminate the sea water and endanger plants and animals of coastal environments. In addition, recent experiences have taught us how sensitive coastal zones are to the powers of nature. The 2004 tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia is a particular case in point. Such monster waves can also be caused by global climate change. Existing data indicate that, with climate change continuing, natural catastrophic events such as weather extremes, storm tides and floods will occur ever more frequently. The human population along coasts, its economic activities, as well as the whole coastal ecosystem will be affected and endangered.

With this in mind, and aiming for simultaneous use and restoration of the system, the preservation and protection of coastal areas becomes particular important: Exploring and understanding the ecosystem, including all its complexity, is imperative. Sustainable use of coastal areas requires sensible management that balances a variety of human activities with natural processes, through democratically framed policies. The Alfred Wegener Institute is meeting this challenge by pursuing the main goal of developing an integrated coastal management scheme within a framework of sustainability. For this purpose, the Alfred Wegener Institute, together with the GKSS Institute for Coastal Research, is developing realistic numerical models of various environments, using statistical analyses of environmental data, and investigating the occurrence and behaviour of chemical substances in the environment. As both global and regional environmental conditions affect changes in coastal regions, the reconstruction of environmental conditions prevalent throughout past decades will provide the basis for predictions and scenarios concerning future changes. Topic CO, the coastal programme, of the MARCOPOLI research project of the Helmholtz Association, focuses on the German coasts of the North Sea and Baltic Sea. Both seas are undergoing changes that should be viewed in a global context: compared to similar types of coasts in other parts of the world, commonly occurring problems can be related to one another. Additional research activities concerning polar coasts are pursued within the programme Topic POL. Questions relating to shallow ocean regions, as well as global climate aspects, are investigated under the Topic MAR programme.

Coastal management

The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research provides the necessary Know-how by offering crucial knowledge about the functioning of coastal systems and associated opportunities to politicians and the general public. As scientists of the Alfred Wegener Institute continue to improve their understanding of the relevant dynamic processes, observe and interpret environmental indicators and document long-term changes, they are able to establish scenarios of possible future developments. The research programme Topic CO provides the scientific platform for an integrated coastal management concept. Within its framework, existing research results will continue to be completed. But not only that: Under Topic CO, the Alfred Wegener Institute intends to present society and politics with a clear and comprehensible scheme of the coastal region and its significance within the global ecosystem. For this reason, basic ecology, as well as morphological, physical and chemical studies, are integrated into the CO subject field, because merely the knowledge of fundamental processes is insufficient.

The CO topic is integrated into the German contribution as ‘Land-ocean interactions in the coastal zone’ (LOIC-II), which is part of the international geosphere-biosphere programme. Investigated subjects include ‘River basins and human dimensions’, ‘Destiny and transformation of materials in coastal oceans and shallow seas’ and ‘Sustainability and resource management’. The subject ‘Coastal changes and humans’, new to the programme, covers almost all aspects of CO. Likewise, CO applies to the BALTEX programme which, aside from energy dynamics and water flow within the Baltic Sea catchment area, also examines long-term climate changes in Northern Europe.

Research in the coastal zone – the goals

At the Alfred Wegener Institute, coastal zones are viewed from a variety of perspectives: scientists are, for instance, investigating the predominating natural dynamics in coastal regions and consider the consequences of human activities. They also examine the potential for improved use of coastal fringes, as well as effective protective measures. The focus is on integrated studies, incorporating both, aspects of the land-ocean interchange, as well as human interactions. The research and development programme CO has the following goals:

• Evaluating the biochemical and physical processes in the North Sea, Baltic, and other shallow seas, as well as adjacent land areas
• Creating scenarios for coastal developments over the next decades
• Understanding how changing coastal environments affect ecosystems and biodiversity
• Improving knowledge about the flora and fauna of coastal oceans.
• Developing strategies and arguments for the use of marine resources in mariculture