Ecosystem based adaptation for climate change (BC3 Summer School _July 2015)
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Transcript of Ecosystem based adaptation for climate change (BC3 Summer School _July 2015)
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