1
|
Unguendoli S, Biolchi LG, Aguzzi M, Pillai UPA, Alessandri J, Valentini A. A modeling application of integrated nature based solutions (NBS) for coastal erosion and flooding mitigation in the Emilia-Romagna coastline (Northeast Italy). THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 867:161357. [PMID: 36603618 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Worldwide, climate change adaptation in coastal areas is a growing challenge. The most common solutions such as seawalls and breakwaters are expensive and often lead to unexpected disastrous effects on the neighboring unprotected areas. In recent years, this awareness has guided coastal managers to adopt alternative solutions with lower environmental impact to protect coastal areas, defined as Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs). NBS are quite popular around the world but are often analyzed and implemented individually at pilot sites. This contribution analyzes the effectiveness of two NBS to mitigate coastal impacts (coastal flooding and erosion) under three historical storms along the Emilia-Romagna coasts and the induced improvements due to their potential integration. Through numerical simulations with XBeach, this study demonstrated that the presence of seagrass meadows of Zostera marina produces an average attenuation of 32 % of the storm peak with a maximum attenuation of 89 % in incoming wave height. Seagrass also mitigates flooded areas and maximum inundation depths by 37 % and 58 % respectively. The artificial dune leads to higher mitigation in terms of inundation of the lagoon (up to 75 %), also avoiding any morphological variations behind it. Seagrass has also been shown to be able to reduce beach erosion volumes up to 55 %. The synergic effect of the two NBS improves the capacity to mitigate both inundation (with a benefit of up to 77 % for flooded area attenuation with respect to cases without any defenses) and coastal erosion. Results of the study suggest that the two NBS will work together to produce co-benefits in terms of preservation of their efficiency, development of habitats for organisms and vegetation species, and thereby offering an important social value in terms of possible tourism, recreation and research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Unguendoli
- Hydro-Meteo-Climate Structure of the Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna, Arpae-SIMC, Bologna 40122, Italy.
| | - Luis Germano Biolchi
- Hydro-Meteo-Climate Structure of the Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna, Arpae-SIMC, Bologna 40122, Italy
| | - Margherita Aguzzi
- Hydro-Meteo-Climate Structure of the Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna, Arpae-SIMC, Bologna 40122, Italy
| | | | - Jacopo Alessandri
- Hydro-Meteo-Climate Structure of the Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna, Arpae-SIMC, Bologna 40122, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, Bologna 40127, Italy
| | - Andrea Valentini
- Hydro-Meteo-Climate Structure of the Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna, Arpae-SIMC, Bologna 40122, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Fang Y, Jiang Z, Li L, Li J, He J, Liu S, Wu Y, Cui L, Huang X. Response of tropical seagrass palatability based on nutritional quality, chemical deterrents and physical defence to ammonium stress and its subsequent effect on herbivory. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 182:105785. [PMID: 36308799 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2022.105785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Revised: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Seagrass-herbivore interactions play a principal role in regulating the structure and function of coastal food webs, which were affected by nutrient enrichment. Seawater nutrient enrichment might change seagrass palatability by altering seagrass physical and chemical traits, consequently modulating herbivory patterns, but this remains elusive. In this study, the dominant tropical seagrass Thalassia hemprichii was cultured in different ammonium concentrations to examine the response of seagrass nutritional quality, deterrent secondary metabolites, and leaf toughness, as well as the subsequent effect of the changed physical (e.g., leaf toughness) and chemical traits (e.g., nitrogen content; total phenol) on the grazing activity of the herbivorous snail Cerithidea rhizophorarum. Ammonium enrichment enhanced seagrass nutritional quality and decreased physical defence. Low ammonium enrichment increased total phenol content, while high ammonium enrichment reduced it. Both low and high ammonium enrichment enhanced the grazing intensity of C. rhizophorarum on seagrass. Interestingly, nutritional quality mostly determined the herbivory preference of C. rhizophorarum on the intact seagrass having physical structure, with a chemical deterrent (total phenol) playing a secondary role. In contrast, chemical deterrent mainly determined the grazing intensity on agar seagrass food which was made artificially to exclude physical structure. This indicated that seagrass leaf physical structure might hinder phenol compounds from deterring herbivores. Overall, the results presented here demonstrate that ammonium enrichment remarkably increased seagrass palatability and subsequently induced higher susceptibility to herbivory, which might induce seagrass loss.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yang Fang
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China
| | - Zhijian Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), 511458, PR China; Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China; Sanya National Marine Ecosystem Research Station, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, PR China; Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Biotechnology of Hainan Province, Sanya Institute of Oceanology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, PR China.
| | - Linglan Li
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China
| | - Jinlong Li
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China
| | - Jialu He
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China; Marine Development Planning and Research Center of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, 510220, PR China
| | - Songlin Liu
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), 511458, PR China; Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; Sanya National Marine Ecosystem Research Station, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, PR China; Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Biotechnology of Hainan Province, Sanya Institute of Oceanology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, PR China
| | - Yunchao Wu
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), 511458, PR China; Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; Sanya National Marine Ecosystem Research Station, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, PR China; Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Biotechnology of Hainan Province, Sanya Institute of Oceanology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, PR China
| | - Lijun Cui
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China
| | - Xiaoping Huang
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), 511458, PR China; Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China; Sanya National Marine Ecosystem Research Station, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, PR China; Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Biotechnology of Hainan Province, Sanya Institute of Oceanology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, PR China.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Pillai UPA, Pinardi N, Alessandri J, Federico I, Causio S, Unguendoli S, Valentini A, Staneva J. A Digital Twin modelling framework for the assessment of seagrass Nature Based Solutions against storm surges. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 847:157603. [PMID: 35901893 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
In this paper we demonstrate a novel framework for assessing nature-based solutions (NBSs) in coastal zones using a new suite of numerical models that provide a virtual "replica" of the natural environment. We design experiments that use a Digital Twin strategy to establish the wave, sea level and current attenuation due to seagrass NBSs. This Digital Twin modelling framework allows us to answer "what if" scenario questions such as: (i) are indigenous seagrass meadows able to reduce the energy of storm surges, and if so how? (ii) what are the best seagrass types and their landscaping for optimal wave and current attenuation? An important result of the study is to show that the landscaping of seagrasses is an important design choice and that seagrass does not directly attenuate the sea level but the current amplitudes. This framework reveals the link between seagrass NBS and the components of the disruptive potential of storm surges (waves and sea level) and opens up new avenues for future studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Nadia Pinardi
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, Bologna 40127, Italy
| | - Jacopo Alessandri
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, Bologna 40127, Italy; Hydro-Meteo-Climate Service of the Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna, Arpae-SIMC, Bologna 40122, Italy
| | - Ivan Federico
- Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, Lecce 73100, Italy
| | | | - Silvia Unguendoli
- Hydro-Meteo-Climate Service of the Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna, Arpae-SIMC, Bologna 40122, Italy
| | - Andrea Valentini
- Hydro-Meteo-Climate Service of the Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna, Arpae-SIMC, Bologna 40122, Italy
| | - Joanna Staneva
- Institute of Coastal Systems-Analysis and Modeling, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Geesthacht 21502, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Gallagher AJ, Brownscombe JW, Alsudairy NA, Casagrande AB, Fu C, Harding L, Harris SD, Hammerschlag N, Howe W, Huertas AD, Kattan S, Kough AS, Musgrove A, Payne NL, Phillips A, Shea BD, Shipley ON, Sumaila UR, Hossain MS, Duarte CM. Tiger sharks support the characterization of the world's largest seagrass ecosystem. Nat Commun 2022; 13:6328. [PMID: 36319621 PMCID: PMC9626626 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33926-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Seagrass conservation is critical for mitigating climate change due to the large stocks of carbon they sequester in the seafloor. However, effective conservation and its potential to provide nature-based solutions to climate change is hindered by major uncertainties regarding seagrass extent and distribution. Here, we describe the characterization of the world's largest seagrass ecosystem, located in The Bahamas. We integrate existing spatial estimates with an updated empirical remote sensing product and perform extensive ground-truthing of seafloor with 2,542 diver surveys across remote sensing tiles. We also leverage seafloor assessments and movement data obtained from instrument-equipped tiger sharks, which have strong fidelity to seagrass ecosystems, to augment and further validate predictions. We report a consensus area of at least 66,000 km2 and up to 92,000 km2 of seagrass habitat across The Bahamas Banks. Sediment core analysis of stored organic carbon further confirmed the global relevance of the blue carbon stock in this ecosystem. Data from tiger sharks proved important in supporting mapping and ground-truthing remote sensing estimates. This work provides evidence of major knowledge gaps in the ocean ecosystem, the benefits in partnering with marine animals to address these gaps, and underscores support for rapid protection of oceanic carbon sinks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jacob W. Brownscombe
- grid.34428.390000 0004 1936 893XDepartment of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON Canada
| | - Nourah A. Alsudairy
- grid.45672.320000 0001 1926 5090Red Sea Research Center and Computational Biosciences Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Chuancheng Fu
- grid.45672.320000 0001 1926 5090Red Sea Research Center and Computational Biosciences Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Lucy Harding
- grid.8217.c0000 0004 1936 9705Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | | | - Neil Hammerschlag
- grid.26790.3a0000 0004 1936 8606Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149 USA
| | - Wells Howe
- Beneath The Waves, PO Box 126, Herndon, VA USA
| | | | - Sami Kattan
- Beneath The Waves, PO Box 126, Herndon, VA USA
| | - Andrew S. Kough
- grid.448406.a0000 0000 9957 9219Daniel P. Haerther Center for Conservation and Research, John G. Shedd Aquarium, 1200S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL USA
| | | | - Nicholas L. Payne
- grid.8217.c0000 0004 1936 9705Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | | | | | | | - U. Rashid Sumaila
- grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Fisheries Economics Research Unit, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
| | - Mohammad S. Hossain
- grid.412255.50000 0000 9284 9319Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu Malaysia
| | - Carlos M. Duarte
- grid.45672.320000 0001 1926 5090Red Sea Research Center and Computational Biosciences Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
van Katwijk MM, van Tussenbroek BI, Hanssen SV, Hendriks AJ, Hanssen L. Rewilding the Sea with Domesticated Seagrass. Bioscience 2021; 71:1171-1178. [PMID: 34733118 PMCID: PMC8560307 DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biab092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well known that seagrass meadows sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide, protect coasts, provide nurseries for global fisheries, and enhance biodiversity. Large-scale restoration of lost seagrass meadows is urgently needed to revive these planetary ecosystem services, but sourcing donor material from natural meadows would further decline them. Therefore, we advocate the domestication and mariculture of seagrasses in order to produce the large quantities of seed needed for successful rewilding of the sea with seagrass meadows. We provide a roadmap for our proposed solution and show that 44% of seagrass species have promising reproductive traits for domestication and rewilding by seeds. The principle of partially domesticating species to enable subsequent large-scale rewilding may form a successful shortcut to restore threatened keystone species and their vital ecosystem services.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marieke M van Katwijk
- Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Brigitta I van Tussenbroek
- Reef Systems Unit, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Steef V Hanssen
- Deining Sustainable Coastal Zone Management, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - A Jan Hendriks
- Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Lucien Hanssen
- Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Oprandi A, Mucerino L, De Leo F, Bianchi CN, Morri C, Azzola A, Benelli F, Besio G, Ferrari M, Montefalcone M. Effects of a severe storm on seagrass meadows. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 748:141373. [PMID: 32805568 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2020] [Revised: 07/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Extreme environmental events can strongly affect coastal marine ecosystems but are typically unpredictable. Reliable data on benthic community conditions before such events are rarely available, making it difficult to measure their effects. At the end of October 2018, a severe storm hit the Ligurian coast (NW Mediterranean) producing damages to coastal infrastructures. Thanks to recent data collected just before the event on two Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows hit by the storm, it has been possible to assess the impact of the event on one of the most valuable habitats of the Mediterranean Sea. By means of seagrass cover and depth data gathered along four depth transects positioned within the two meadows in areas differently exposed to the storm waves, and by using models (WW3® + SWAN + XBeach 1D) to evaluate wave height and bed shear stress, we showed that meadows experienced erosion and burial phenomena according to exposure. Paradoxically, meadows in good conditions suffered more damage as compared to those already suffering from previous local anthropogenic impacts. Besides the direct effect of waves in terms of plant uprooting, a major loss of P. oceanica was due to sediment burial in the deepest parts of the meadows. Overall, the loss of living P. oceanica cover amounted to about 50%. Considering that previous research showed that the loss of the original surface of P. oceanica meadows in 160 years due to anthropogenic pressures was similarly around 50%, the present study documented that an extreme environmental event can generate in a single day a loss of natural capital equal to that produced gradually by more than a century of human impact.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Oprandi
- DiSTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, I-16132 Genova, Italy; GeoScape Soc. Coop., Via Varese 2, I-16122 Genova, Italy.
| | - L Mucerino
- DiSTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, I-16132 Genova, Italy; GeoScape Soc. Coop., Via Varese 2, I-16122 Genova, Italy
| | - F De Leo
- DiCCA (Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering), University of Genoa, Via Montallegro 1, I-16145 Genova, Italy
| | - C N Bianchi
- DiSTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, I-16132 Genova, Italy
| | - C Morri
- DiSTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, I-16132 Genova, Italy
| | - A Azzola
- DiSTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, I-16132 Genova, Italy
| | - F Benelli
- DiSTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, I-16132 Genova, Italy
| | - G Besio
- DiCCA (Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering), University of Genoa, Via Montallegro 1, I-16145 Genova, Italy
| | - M Ferrari
- DiSTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, I-16132 Genova, Italy
| | - M Montefalcone
- DiSTAV (Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences), University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, I-16132 Genova, Italy
| |
Collapse
|