TDA-IME Project Final Report June, 2013 Research gaps under research area (a) include the many practical issues associated with mangrove restoration/rehabilitation and the need to improve on seedling survival and other indicators of ecological quality achievement. 1. Factors that control species distributions, zonation, forest structure and growth. 2. Phenotypic and genetic differences within species populations growing in different 61 localities (hence the importance of in situ genetic conservation). 3. Studies on reproductive phenology and fecundity to identify vulnerable species in relation to climate change. (Knowledge of the reproductive phenology of all mangrove species in a range of environments will be critical to understanding the impact of climate change on species diversity and the likely future distribution of mangroves.) 4. Also related to climate change, research is needed to understand (a) the relationship between mangrove root architecture and soil erosion control; (b) the resilience of different mangrove root systems to climate change, specifically the ability of mangrove aerial roots to supply oxygen to the below ground roots under different sea level rise scenarios. 5. Site-specific methodologies and monitoring systems to achieve long-term, costeffective mangrove restoration/rehabilitation. In relation to research area (b), the key transboundary research priorities were identified as follows: 1. Comprehensive valuations of all mangrove-related goods and services, including indirect and non-use (existence and bequest) values, applied on a transboundary scale using standardized methodologies. 2. Transboundary scale analyses of the relationship between mangroves and coastal to offshore fisheries, from both an ecological and economic perspective. 3. Studies on the migration and coastal-habitat dependency of endangered aquatic species (dophins, dugongs, sea turtles). Mangroves and Climate Change Introduction The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has assembled and evaluated considerable evidence of global climate change, and has predicted the probable course of climate change throughout the present century. The evidence, conclusions, and predictions are presented in detail in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) (Solomon et al., 2007). The predictions are based on our current understanding of the mechanisms that determine the world’s climate, as well as on a range of possible future courses of human action that will impact on climate change. The Fifth Assessment report (AR5) Climate Change 2013: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability will be released in March 2014. Without anticipating the conclusions of AR5, it is already apparent that the predictions of AR4 are being fulfilled: for example, average sea level rise is tracking the highest projections of AR4 (Hoegh- Guldberg and Bruno 2010; Nichols and Cazenave 2010). Whatever the detailed scenario, the general predictions are: A rise in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide; acidification of the oceans (lower seawater pH); a rise in global average temperature; an increase in extreme high water events and storms; changes in the patterns of precipitation; a rise in sea level.
Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis of Indochina Mangrove Ecosystems
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