Linking the impacts of changes in climate and biodiversity on Delta grasslands’ vegetation and functioning across scales
Climate change and biodiversity loss will affect the ecosystem services that are necessary for human wellbeing. Unfortunately, most current knowledge on the effect of climate change and biodiversity loss on ecosystem services is based on local and small-scale studies. They do not readily translate to the large spatial and temporal scales that are most relevant to policy and conservation. The ‘Linking the impacts of changes in climate and biodiversity on Delta grasslands’ vegetation and functioning across scales.’ seed money project of the Water, Climate & Future Deltas hub aims at understanding the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss on ecosystem services across spatial scales. It will develop a reliable predictive model based on remote sensing technics. It will allow cost-effective monitoring and the possibility to anticipate changes in ecosystem servicesat temporal and spatial scales that are relevant for policy and decision making.
Current situation
Deltas’ grasslands around the world provide critical ecosystem services that regulate and support the environment we live in, such as erosion control, water storage, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration. Deltas are also of international importance as they provide a biotope rich in plant species that is home to many insects, birds, and mammals. However, delta’s biodiversity and associated services are under threat due to human activities. In particular, changes in precipitation (drought and flood; salt intrusion) and fast-rising global temperatures are predicted to cause vegetation impoverishment, loss of plant, insect, bird and mammal diversity and shifts in the plant composition of delta’s grasslands. This deterioration may impair the provision of essential deltas’ services and reduce the value of ecosystem services for more than one billion people globally.
The challenge
During the last decades, we have accumulated relevant knowledge about ecological processes linking biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and stability at small spatial and temporal scales. However, traditional field ecological data do not translate readily to large spatial and temporal scales that are most relevant for policy and conservation. Remote sensing (RS) techniques at high spatial and spectral resolution could provide the data necessary for ecological and conservation applications, but they need to be more solidly grounded into ecological theory. Here, we propose to combine disciplines and expertise from ecology and remote sensing within a single integrated multidisciplinary approach, spanning from experimentally controlled environments to natural ecosystems. By determining how changes in climate and biodiversity will impact the delta vegetation and associated functioning from the local to landscape scale we plan to build the multiscale knowledge that is required for enhancing the effective sustainable management of deltas.
Opportunities for management and policy
The proposed research will deliver a flexible and ready to go remote sensing application for monitoring ecosystem functioning and identifying the vegetation spots that are vulnerable to climate change. Our collaborators and partners form the Water Authorities, land managers, and ecological consultancy agencies can use this application as part of their strategies for informed management in support of diversity, as well as to inform policy makers to foster adaptation and mitigation strategies against biodiversity loss and climate change.