Contract Number ERBTS3*CT940301

RESPONSES OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS TO DEFORESTATION-DERIVED SILTATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Objectives

The main objectives are as follows :

• To provide the scientific basis needed to regulate the sustainable development of land and coastal resources in SE Asia by building dose-response curves between siltation rate and the status and functioning of coastal ecosystems.
• To provide quantitative knowledge of the response of SE Asian coastal ecosystems to siltation allowing predictions and, therefore, efficient policy making.

Activities

The key activities envisaged are :

• Comparative analyses of components (mangroves, seagrass meadows, and fringing corals) and key processes (system metabolism, nutrient cycling, sedimentation rate, light penetration) of coastal zones along a gradation of contrasting siltation rates, using Rapid Assessment Techniques, to examine the long-term and instantaneous responses of coastal ecosystems.
• Development of empirical dose-response curves between siltation rate and the status and functioning of coastal ecosystems.
• Experimental evaluations of ecosystem response to siltation, to validate the empirical dose-response curves developed.

Expected outcome

The work carried out in this project should provide a general model of coastal ecosystem response to siltation to assist in policy making in SE Asia. The project will also identify which ecosystem components and processes are more sensitive to siltation effects, thereby providing approaches to establish an early warning of ecosystem deterioration. The knowledge and models generated should be of use at the regional (SE Asia) scale.