Coastal Zones at a Time of Global Change
Our mission is to produce scientific knowledge on coastal ecosystems that informs society and guides solutions for climate adaptation. This includes sustainable management of resources such as biodiversity, offshore energy, aquaculture and water quality, which are vital to the future of coastal zones.
In Topic 4, we collaborate with Hereon and UFZ to develop sustainable multi-use scenarios for coastal systems in the context of climate change to support science-based decision-making. At AWI, we contribute by generating scientific knowledge on coastal and shelf sea ecosystems, fostering dialogue with society, and promoting sustainable management of coastal zones and their ecosystem services. Our research addresses key challenges such as biodiversity changes, resource use, offshore energy, aquaculture, and water quality. From the North Sea to the Arctic and Antarctic coasts, we examine the interplay between human activities and environmental change, offering science-based ecosystem assessments to policymakers. By integrating socio-economic perspectives, we propose actionable solutions to mitigate human and climate impacts, paving the way for resilient and sustainable coastal systems.
In Topic 4 we focus on tackling the key objectives and major challenges at AWI:
- Understanding the contribution of coastal seas to global carbon, nutrient, trace element, and freshwater budgets, and predicting how climate change and human use will alter fluxes and matter transformation at land-ocean interfaces.
- Assessing the combined effects of multiple natural and anthropogenic drivers and stressors on coastal species, communities, and ecosystems.
- Identifying effective approaches to integrate research, monitoring, and societal interactions for sustainable coastal and marine resource use.
- Exploring ways to utilize coastal systems for climate change mitigation while protecting and restoring vulnerable coastal ecosystems.
Topic 4 Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Maarten Boersma
Topic 4 Deputy:
Dr. Moritz Holtappels
Beteiligte Sektionen
Subtopics
This subtopic combines observations/measurements of fluxes and concentrations of carbon, nutrients and trace elements in the field and from space with laboratory-based reaction rate measurements and the isotopic/molecular analysis of compounds, with the system understanding from numerical reactive transport modelling, in order to finally parameterize and extrapolate the findings to larger scales.
Spokespersons at AWI: Sabine Kasten, Moritz Holtappels and Susann Henkel
We use the ecological time series of Helgoland and Sylt to identify patterns and create hypotheses of the effects of stressors on communities, tests these hypotheses in experimental approaches ranging from single individual assays to mesocosms (LKII), and integrates these through modelling of ecological networks.
Spokespersons at AWI: Cedric Meunier and Sabine Horn
Scientists in subtopic 4.3 employ modelling techniques to compute forces of waves and wind on off-shore structures, and then builds those for offshore aquaculture research. All together, we strive to create forecast potential towards the impacts of the multiple stressors on our coastal seas, predict the consequences, and how we can deal with those.
Spokespersons at AWI: Bela Buck, Christiabn Buschbaum und Gesche Krause
