1. Ecosystems2. Ecosystem based adaptation3. Ecosystem restoration

Ecosystem based adaptation to climate change

David Moreno MateosBasque Centre for Climate Change – BC3

Water supplyPrimary productivity

Decomposition

Organism dispersal

Water supplyPrimary productivity

Decomposition

Organism dispersalTimber production

Recreation

Pocock et al. 2012. Science

Pocock et al. 2012. Science

Pollination

Pollination

Pest control

Pest control

Pest control

What is ecosystem based adaptation?

Support nature to increase community resilience to extreme negative effects of climate changeOther adaptation strategies:• ‘Soft’ Adaptation: Information, policy, capacity building and institutional function→ Behavioral changes (hazards, insurance)

• ‘Hard’ adaptation: Engineered, infrastructure‐based interventions

Wu. 2013. Science

Wu. 2013. Science

ManagementConservationRestoration

How?

Coastal protection

• Saving human lifes• Sustainable uses:

‐ Timber production‐ Fish nursery‐ Honey, crabs

Das et al. 2009. PNAS

Mekong river delta. Credit: AMNH/CBC

Coastal protection

10% increase in wetland continuity: from 3 to 5 properties protected per storm5% increase in vegetation roughness: from 1 to 2 properties protected per storm

Barbier et al. 2013. Climatic Change

Water supply

• Watershed protection:‐ Increase vegetation cover‐ Control water pollutants (agriculture)

1. New York city‐ $15M per year, vs. $7B upfront investment + $300M annually

2. Ethiopia‐ 40% rangeland exclosures, increased water yield by 20%‐ Crop production, from 500 kg/ha in 1995 to 2400 kg/ha in 2014

Descheemaeker et al. 2010. Physics and Chemistry of the Earthhttp://peoplefoodandnature.org

http://peoplefoodandnature.org

• Combining EbA and ‘hard’ adaptationYangtze water regulation (China). Cop with climate variability, increased floodwater retention, water purification and agricultural opportunities, and restored fish migration routes• When EbA is more cost‐effectiveNew York city watershed management• When EbA is the only alternativeCoral bleaching in Pacific Islands (Papua New Guinea). Protection against storms. Marine protected areas.

EbA integration into adaptation planning

EbA versus hard adaptation• Flexibility• Extra benefits• Negative and unforeseen impacts• Costly maintenance and short life span

Credit: Bill Hubick

Extra benefits of EbA: Ecosystem based mitigation

•Carbon storage•Radiation absorption

Warning! Ecosystem service farming

Uncertainty

• Ecosystem complexity and trajectories• Effects of climate change on ecosystems•Climate change never acts alone

Restoration

Conservation

ProductionRestoration

“Unaltered”

13%

40‐50%

25%

17%

Adapted from Vitousek et al. 1997 Science, Kareiva et al. 2006 Science, and UNEP 2008

Rancho Humo Private Natural Preserve

Ecological restoration The process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem 

that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyedSociety for Ecological Restoration 2004

Ecological EngineeringThe design of sustainable ecosystems that integrate human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both

Mitsch 2012 Ecol. Eng.

Land rehabilitationThe process of returning the land in a given area to some degree of its former state, after being damaged by human 

actions

BEFORE AFTER

Photos: E. Figueroa

Lavakas in the formerly forested region of Ambatondrazaka (Madagascar)Credit: James Aronson

Former mangroves in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

1986Restoration of a Phosphate mine, Florida

Credit: Andre Clewell

2006 Credit: Andre Clewell

Moreno Mateos. 2015. Investigacion y Ciencia

Uncertainty

Moreno Mateos. 2015. Investigacion y Ciencia

Uncertainty

The limits of restoration

Moreno Mateos et al. In prep.

Biodiversity recovery after anthropogenic impacts

Rec

over

y ra

teReference level or pre-disturbance state

Time after restoration begins (years to centuries)

70-80 %

The limits of restoration

100 years

Rec

over

y ra

te

Reference level or pre-disturbance state

Time after restoration begins (years to centuries)

70-80 %

The limits of restoration

1,000 years?

Moreno Mateos. 2015. Investigacion y Ciencia

Core messages

• Ecosystems are complex, we do not know them• Ecosystems are flexible and provide multiple benefits beyond adaptation, hard infrastructure not

• Ecosystem service farms are not ecosystems•Climate change never acts alone

david.moreno@bc3research.org