Impact of habitat fragmentation and loss on coastal ecosystems and implications for sustainable management under climate change

Informations

Funding country

Norway

Acronym

COASTFRAG

URL

-

Start date

1/1/2021

End date

12/31/2024

Budget

1,337,010 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

Worldwide, the environment is changing rapidly due to activities of the growing human population, with climate change being a major concern. As more and more people settle along the coast, human-induced pressures on coastal waters increase. As a result, we see habitat loss and fragmentation, contributing to a dramatic decline in biodiversity and changes to how ecosystems function worldwide. As a consequence, the wealth we can derive from the ocean (through the Blue Growth policy) is at risk and it is getting increasingly harder to achieve several of the targets defined by the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda. The rockweed beds are part of the BLUE FORESTS, which are the underwater vegetated habitats found all around the globe. Rockweeds cover the rocky shores, providing many different ecosystem services and forming the basis for several SDG targets, such as raw material for humans (including food, animal feed and fertilizers), food and shelter for a variety of species and regulation of global climate through carbon storage. We know that these ecosystems are under pressure from climate change and human activities, but we still do not fully understand the effects of these pressures. COASTFRAG is a research project that started in 2021 and will last until the end of 2024. During this period the project will work to improve our knowledge of what is needed to protect blue forests and the services they provide. The status of the work as of November 2022 is that the fieldwork has gone more or less as planned in all regions. All partners (in Norway, Estonia, Great Britain and Spain) have collected data and carried out experiments on variation and regrowth (after clearing) in biological communities associated with intertidal ecosystems under different environmental conditions and human pressures. All partners have mapped their study areas with drones, and the work to analyze the drone images is ongoing, including the development of a fragmentation index for intertidal seaweed communities. This work was done in accordance with an agreed-on protocol developed by the partners in the project, which increases the potential for ecological analyzes across regions. In 2022, we have had a lot of activities including with pupils and students. As part of the Research Council's "Nysgjerrigper" project, we brought took four classes of 10th graders (from Heistad school, Porsgrunn) out to the shore and collected data, we have held lectures and presentations, including some specially adapted for children and young people. In Norway, we currently have one Master's student on the project.