Biodiversity and Ecosystem Informatics - BDEI - Planning Workshop on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Informatics for the Indian River Lagoon, Florida

This proposal solicits funding to organize and conduct a planning workshop that will establish and facilitate research on the informatics needed to address complex issues of biodiversity and ecosystem processes within the Indian River Lagoon. This workshop will provide the opportunity and resources for collaboration and discussion among scientists from diverse fields of biodiversity, ecological sciences, remote sensing, geographic information systems, computer science and intelligent systems. The topics to be discussed will include investigation of novel computational intelligence techniques for modeling, prediction, analysis and database management of the disparate and complex data for the Indian River Lagoon. The explicit products of the proposed workshop will be a white paper and technical report, a formal research agenda that incorporates informatics into existing and planned research, and preparation of a competitive proposal based on the recommendations and preliminary work defined by the workshop

Do bacteria thrive when the ocean acidifies? Results from an off-­shore mesocosm study

Marine bacteria are the main consumers of the freshly produced organic matter. In order to meet their carbon demand, bacteria release hydrolytic extracellular enzymes that break down large polymers into small usable subunits. Accordingly, rates of enzymatic hydrolysis have a high potential to affect bacterial organic matter recycling and carbon turnover in the ocean. Many of these enzymatic processes were shown to be pH sensitive in previous studies. Due to the continuous rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration, seawater pH is presently decreasing at a rate unprecedented during the last 300 million years with so-far unknown consequences for microbial physiology, organic matter cycling and marine biogeochemistry. We studied the effects of elevated seawater pCO2 on a natural plankton community during a large-scale mesocosm study in a Norwegian fjord. Nine 25m-long Kiel Off-Shore Mesocosms for Future Ocean Simulations (KOSMOS) were adjusted to different pCO2 levels ranging from ca. 280 to 3000 µatm by stepwise addition of CO2 saturated seawater. After CO2 addition, samples were taken every second day for 34 days. The first phytoplankton bloom developed around day 5. On day 14, inorganic nutrients were added to the enclosed, nutrient-poor waters to stimulate a second phytoplankton bloom, which occurred around day 20. Our results indicate that marine bacteria benefit directly and indirectly from decreasing seawater pH. During both phytoplankton blooms, more transparent exopolymer particles were formed in the high pCO2 mesocosms. The total and cell-specific activities of the protein-degrading enzyme leucine aminopeptidase were elevated under low pH conditions. The combination of enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis of organic matter and increased availability of gel particles as substrate supported higher bacterial abundance in the high pCO2 treatments. We conclude that ocean acidification has the potential to stimulate the bacterial community and facilitate the microbial recycling of freshly produced organic matter, thus strengthening the role of the microbial loop in the surface ocean

The management of coral reef resource systems

Coral reefs, Resource management, Conferences

Importance of fisheries for food security across three climate change vulnerable deltas

Deltas are home to a large and growing proportion of the world's population, often living in conditions of extreme poverty. Deltaic ecosystems are ecologically significant as they support high biodiversity and a variety of fisheries, however these coastal environments are extremely vulnerable to climate change. The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (Bangladesh/India), the Mahanadi (India), and the Volta (Ghana) are among the most important and populous delta regions in the world and they are all considered at risk of food insecurity and climate change. The fisheries sector is vital for populations that live in the three deltas, as a source of animal protein (in Bangladesh and Ghana around 50–60% of animal protein is supplied by fish while in India this is about 12%) through subsistence fishing, as a source of employment and for the wider economy. The aquaculture sector shows a rapid growth in Bangladesh and India while in Ghana this is just starting to expand. The main exported species differ across countries with Ghana and India dominated by marine fish species, whereas Bangladesh exports shrimps and prawns. Fisheries play a more important part in the economy of Bangladesh and Ghana than for India, both men and women work in fisheries, with a higher proportion of women in the Volta then in the Asian deltas. Economic and integrated modelling using future scenarios suggest that changes in temperature and primary production could reduce fish productivity and fisheries income especially in the Volta and Bangladesh deltas, however these losses could be mitigated by reducing overfishing and improving management. The analysis provided in this paper highlights the importance of applying plans for fisheries management at regional level. Minimizing the impacts of climate change while increasing marine ecosystems resilience must be a priority for scientists and governments before these have dramatic impacts on millions of people's lives

Poverty and Reefs: Volume 1 A Global Overview

The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) provided legal support to the CBFM-2 project and in particular to the 130 Community Based Organisations established under the project. The project was implemented against an uncertain legal background due to many changes in the way that wetlands and fisheries in Bangladesh have been managed over recent decades. Many of the key interventions, such as sanctuaries have yet to receive legal recognition. Many currently accepted norms and practices have come about through gazette notifications or individual decisions rather than being supported by Acts or clear policies. This paper outlines the legal background for community managed fisheries in Bangladesh and the challenges faced during implementation of the project. It also suggests what needs to happen if community managed fisheries are to become more widespread in Bangladesh

The importance of campfires to effective conservation

The knowledge base for contemporary fire management in Australia, and indeed Internationally, is not static. However, knowledge generation, for the most part, is dominated by western technical scholarship and constructs of planning, management and analysis. Annual and increasing catastrophic wildfire events leave no doubt that Australia has a fire management problem. There are many ways of knowing about and understanding fire within contemporary fire management practice, and research and Indigenous Australian knowledge systems make a valuable contribution to contemporary fire management. Indeed, some consider that the fire management practices of Indigenous people over 80,000 years shaped the current biota in Australia. This research project provides valuable insight into the depth of fire management knowledge that was held by two senior Kuku Thaypan Awu Alaya speaking Elders and fire knowledge holders, Dr George and Dr Musgrave. The Elders wanted to document and demonstrate their Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and their cultural practice of fire, their traditional cultural fire knowledge (TCFK) in the landscape for the management of their country and to maintain their cultural obligations. The Kuku Thaypan Elders also desired to increase opportunities that enabled them to be involved in and have an impact on contemporary fire management, particularly in caring for their country in Cape York Peninsula. Documentation of the Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the Elders classification system as it relates to fire management required analysis of the different ways of knowing and managing fire in Cape York and Australia, more broadly. It was necessary to analyse the political and institutional frameworks and current ways of understanding and practicing fire that exist. This includes discussion on state practice of fire management and Indigenous cultural fire knowledge (ICFK) and its practice. This analysis provides discussion on the theory of Traditional Ecological knowledge in documenting cultural fire knowledge and its practice. Documenting the TCFK of the Elders required the development of a methodology that would enable different ways of communicating that TCFK and its use for fire management. The methodology that was developed for this purpose and is described in this thesis is the CAMPFIRES methodology. The methodology is designed to support agencies, researchers, fire managers and practitioners to 'see and act' in the World differently, while also providing a research practitioner model informed by Indigenous people to assist them in enabling their voice, speaking their knowledge and leading the application, documentation and analysis of their cultural fire knowledge in contemporary fire management and research. This thesis provides discussion on the multiple ways in which Indigenous Australians are engaging in contemporary fire management practice and its research and provides considerations for institutional reform required to fully realise the benefits of Indigenous peoples' involvement in contemporary fire management through the application of their traditional cultural fire knowledge (TCFK)

The adaptation continuum: groundwork for the future

The focus of the program was to understand the challenges posed by climate change and climate variability on vulnerable groups and the policies needed to support climate adaptation in developing countries. The aim of the book is to share this experience in the hope that it will be helpful to those involved in shaping and implementing climate change policy