Highlights:

• ECNU Hosts the 2nd International Mega–Delta Meeting to Advance Delta Sustainability
• FEC Lagoons for Life Working Group Successfully Migrates Website to the Official FEC Website
• International Symposium of the United Nations Regular Process on strengthening the ocean science-policy interface
• SKLEC Opens Opportunities for Global Scientists
• FEC Official Journal, Anthropocene Coasts Calls for Papers
• The Young Coastal Scientist and Engineer’s Journal Club
• A multi-sensor approach to monitor the ongoing restoration of edaphic conditions for salt marsh species facing sea level rise: An adaptive management case study in Camargue, France
• Local Adaptation to Climate Change in South India
• Updates from FEC Affiliated Projects: Resilient Lagoon Network, Coastal Pollution Toolbox
• Updates from FEC Supported Networks: The Early Career Ocean Professional (ECOP) Network Programme
• Updates from FEC Fellows: Daniel Onyedikachi Ugwu

November 6th saw the grand opening of the 2nd International Mega–Delta Meeting hosted by ECNU in Shanghai. Under the theme “Delta Sustainability – Seeking Solutions for Sustainable Development”, the conference brought together over 200 experts and scholars from 17 countries, including China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Tanzania, the Netherlands, Norway, Croatia, Russia, the United States, Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay. The participants engaged in in-depth discussions on research findings from over 20 river delta regions worldwide, offering valuable insights and recommendations for the future development of deltaic areas.

During the opening ceremony, the latest academic achievement of the “Mega–Delta Programme”: Delta Sustainability: A Report to the Mega-Delta Programme of the UN Ocean Decade, was officially released. “Seventy-four researchers from 13 countries contributed to this report, which took two years to compile. The editorial team overcame multiple adverse challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and is delighted to present the report to the public today,” explained Prof. Weiguo Zhang, the lead editor of the Report and professor of the State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, ECNU.

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Dates: 12-13 December 2023

Venue: IOC-UNESCO Headquarters, Paris

SKLEC Opens Opportunities for Global Scientists

The State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research (SKLEC) at East China Normal University is a leading institute in marine science, specializing in the Land-Sea interface. SKLEC focuses on estuarine, coastal, and marine systems, addressing challenges from natural and anthropogenic pressures. As the key organization for the UN Ocean Decade's Mega-Delta Programme, SKLEC invites global scientists to join its team. The Talented Young Scientist Program (TYSP), funded by the Chinese government, offers financial support of 12,500 RMB per month. The program emphasizes river delta research, covering topics such as sediment dynamics, coastal hazards, engineering, wetland restoration, carbon sequestration, and sustainable development. Applications are accepted year-round, with evaluations in January, April, July, and October. 

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FEC Official Journal, Anthropocene Coasts Calls for Papers

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The Young Coastal Scientist and Engineer’s Journal Club meet once a month online to discuss a short article or journal paper. The friendly, peer-led group was set up during the COVID-19 pandemic to help connect early-career coastal researchers, with an aim to broaden our knowledge of the field, as well as improve critical thinking skills and kindle friendly debate. There are over 100 members representing diverse backgrounds in academia, industry, and government.



Use this link to join the journal club: http://forms.office.com/r/5jsGBa3SDG.

Alice Newton

Abstract

The Camargue or Rhône delta is a coastal wetland in southern France of which parts formerly devoted to salt production are undergoing a renaturation process. This study assessed a multi-sensor approach to investigate the link between sediment size distribution, habitat development mapped with Worldview 2, flooding durations estimated with time series of SENTINEL 2 images and elevation modelled with a LIDAR point cloud in former saltworks. A Random Forest classification algorithm was used to map the vegetation distributions of Sarcocornia fruticosa and Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, main representatives of the NATURA 2000 “Mediterranean and thermo-Atlantic halophilous scrubs (Sarcocornetea fruticosi)” habitat on the site. The best habitat map was obtained when considering the species separately. The random forest Out-of-bag errors were 1.43 % for S. fruticosa and 2.18 % for A. macrostachyum. Both species were generally distributed on different elevation and flooding duration zones considering mean values. Flooding duration was estimated with the Water In Wetland index (WIW) based on 15 Sentinel-2 scenes. Two models related to sediment grain size distribution were developed: one predicting the flooding duration and one predicting the halophilous scrub distribution. Maps of flooding duration, sediment grain size distribution and elevation highlighted two main zones in the study area: a western section with coarser sediments, shorter flooding durations and higher elevations under sea influence; an eastern section with finer sediments, longer hydroperiods and lower elevations under a historic river influence. This multidisciplinary approach offers perspectives for using space-based data over large scales to monitor changes in edaphic conditions of coastal areas facing natural and anthropogenic forcings. The results call for further investigations to predict the dynamic distribution of other coastal habitats following climate change impacts, such as sea level rise.

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Devendraraj Madhanagopal 

Abstract

This book critically discusses the vulnerabilities and local adaptation actions of the traditional marine fishers of the tsunami-hit coastal regions of South India to climate change and risks, with an emphasis on their local institutions. Thereby, it offers a comprehensive account of the ways in which marine fishers live and respond to climate change.

The Coromandel coastal regions of South India are known for their rich sociocultural history and enormous marine resources, as well as their long history of vulnerability to climate change and disasters, including the 2004 tsunami. By drawing cases from the tsunami-hit fishing villages of this coast, this book demonstrates that indigenous knowledge systems, climate change perceptions, sociocultural norms, and governance systems of the fishers influence and contest the local adaptation responses to climate change. By foregrounding the real picture of vulnerability and adaptation actions of marine fishers in the face of climate change and disasters, this book also challenges the conventional understanding of local institutions and fishers' knowledge systems. Underlining that adaptation to climate change is a sociopolitical process, this book explores the potentials, limits, and complexities of local adaptation actions of marine fishers of this coast and offers novel insights and climate change lessons gleaned from the field to other coasts of India and around the world.

This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and policymakers in climate change, fisheries, environmental sociology, environmental anthropology, sustainable livelihoods, and natural resource management.

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Updates from FEC Affiliated Projects

Updates from FEC Supported Networks

Updates from FEC Fellows

○ Alarcón Borges, R. Y., Pérez Montero, O., Tejera, R. G., Silveira, M. T. D., Montoya, J. C., Hernández Mestre, D., ... & Milanes, C. B. (2023). Legal Risk in the Management of Forest Cover in a River Basin San Juan, Cuba. Land, 12(4), 842. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12040842

○  Alice Newton, Michele Mistri, Angel Pérez-Ruzafa and Sofia Reizopoulou. (2023). Editorial: Ecosystem services, biodiversity, and water quality in transitional ecosystems, Front. Ecol. Evol., Volume 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1136750

○  Bezerra, Moisés & Goyanna, Felipe & Lacerda, Luiz. (2023). Risk assessment of human Hg exposure through consumption of fishery products in Ceará state, northeastern Brazil. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 189. 114713. 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114713

○  Botero, C. M., Palacios, M. A., Souza Filho, J. R., & Milanes, C. B. (2023). Beach litter in three South American countries: A baseline for restarting monitoring and cleaning after COVID-19 closure. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 191, 114915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114915

○  Brempong, E. K., Almar, R., Angnuureng, D. B., Mattah, P. A. D., Jayson-Quashigah, P.-N., Antwi-Agyakwa, K. T., & Charuka, B. (2023). Coastal Flooding Caused by Extreme Coastal Water Level at the World Heritage Historic Keta City (Ghana, West Africa). Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 11(6), 1144. MDPI AG. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse11061144.

○ Brendel, Andrea & Ferrelli, Federico & Echeverria, María & Piccolo, Maria & Perillo, Gerardo. (2022). PROCESAMIENTO DE DATOS SATELITALES ÓPTICOS Y DE RADAR PARA LA DETECCIÓN DE CAMBIOS MORFOMÉTRICOS: EL CASO DE LA DESEMBOCADURA DEL RÍO SAUCE GRANDE (ARGENTINA). Caminhos de Geografia. 23. 85-94. https://doi.org/10.14393/RCG238658189 

○ Carmen E. Elrick-Barr, Julian Clifton, Michael Cuttler, Craig Perry, Abbie A. Rogers, Understanding coastal social values through citizen science: The example of Coastsnap in Western Australia, Ocean & Coastal Management, Volume 238, 2023, 106563, ISSN 0964-5691, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2023.106563

○  Castiglioni, Eduardo & Gaucher, Claudio & Perillo, Gerardo & Sial, Alcides. (2022). Marine deposits of the Chuy Formation (Late Pleistocene) and isostatic readjustments in the area of Laguna de Rocha (Uruguay). Agrociencia Uruguay. 26. https://doi.org/10.31285/AGRO.26.799

○  Celliers, Louis & Manez Costa, Maria & Rölfer, Lena & Aswani Canela, Shankar & Ferse, Sebastian. (2023). Social innovation that connects people to coasts in the Anthropocene. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures. 1. 1-22. 10.1017/cft.2023.12. https://doi.org/10.1017/cft.2023.12

○  Charuka, B., Angnuureng, D. B., Brempong, E. K., Agblorti, S. K., & Agyakwa, K. T. A. (2023). Assessment of the integrated coastal vulnerability index of Ghana toward future coastal infrastructure investment plans. Ocean & Coastal Management, 244, 106804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2023.106804

○  Chen, Y., Deng, B., Zhang, G., Zhang, W., & Gao, S. (2023). Response of Shallow Gas‐Charged Holocene Deposits in the Yangtze Delta to Meter‐Scale Erosion Induced by Diminished Sediment Supply: Increasing Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 128(1), e2022JF006631. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JF006631

○  Datta, Satabdi & Roy, Joyashree. (2022). Exploring adaptive capacity: Observations from the vulnerable human-coastal environmental system of the Bay of Bengal in India. Frontiers in Climate. 4. 1007780. https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.1007780 

○  Davranche, A., Arzel, C., Pouzet, P., Carrasco, A. R., Lefebvre, G., Lague, D., ... & Poulin, B. (2023). A multi-sensor approach to monitor the ongoing restoration of edaphic conditions for salt marsh species facing sea level rise: An adaptive management case study in Camargue, France. Science of the Total Environment, 168289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168289

○  Day, J. W., Hall, C. A., Klitgaard, K., Gunn, J. D., Ko, J. Y., & Burger, J. R. (2023). The coming perfect storm: Diminishing sustainability of coastal human-natural systems in the Anthropocene. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures, 1, e35. https://doi.org/10.1017/cft.2023.23

○  Elegbede, I. O., Lawal-Are, A., Oloyede, R., Sanni, R. O., Jolaosho, T. L., Goussanou, A., & Ngo-Massou, V. M. (2023). Proximate, minerals, carotenoid and trypsin inhibitor composition in the exoskeletons of seafood gastropods and their potentials for sustainable circular utilisation. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 13064. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38345-w

○  Elegbede, I., Lawal-Are, A., Favour, O. et al. Chemical compositions of bivalves shells: Anadara senilis, Crassostrea gasar, and Mytilus edulis and their potential for a sustainable circular economy. SN Appl. Sci. 5, 44 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-022-05267-7

○  Elegbede, I., Zurba, M., Hameed, A., & Campbell, C. (2023). Gaps and Challenges in Harnessing the Benefits and Opportunities of Indigenous Certification for a Sustainable Communal Commercial Lobster Fishery. Environmental Management, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-023-01852-7

○  Elliott M. (2023). Marine Ecosystem Services and Integrated Management: "There's a crack, a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in"!. Marine pollution bulletin, 193, 115177. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115177

○  Elrick-Barr CE, Clifton J, Cuttler M, Perry C & Rogers AA (2023). Understanding coastal social values through citizen science: The example of Coastsnap in Western Australia. Ocean & Coastal Management, 238, 106563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2023.106563

○  Foley, Aideen & Moncada, Stefano & Mycoo, Michelle & Nunn, Patrick & Tandrayen-Ragoobur, Verena & Evans, Christopher. (2022). Small Island Developing States in a post‐pandemic world: Challenges and opportunities for climate action. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change. 13. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.769 

○  Gallo Velez, David & Restrepo, Juan & Newton, Alice. (2023). Assessment of the Magdalena River delta socio-ecological system through the Circles of Coastal Sustainability framework. Frontiers in Earth Science. 11. 10.3389/feart.2023.1058122. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2023.1058122

○  Guzmán, D. H., Mier, R. L., Vergara, A., & Milanes, C. B. (2023). Marine protected areas in Colombia: A historical review of legal marine protection since the late 1960 s to 2023. Marine Policy, 155, 105726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105726

○  Harvey N & Smith TF, 2023, 'Key lessons from new perspectives on Australian coastal management', Ocean & Coastal Management, Volume 239, 15 May 2023, 106581 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2023.106581

○  Hawkins, S. J., Todd, P. A., Russell, B. D., Lemasson, A. J., Allcock, A. L., Byrne, M., ... & Swearer, S. E. (2023). Review of the Central and South Atlantic Shelf and Deep-Sea Benthos: Science, Policy, and Management. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An annual review. Volume 61, 61, 127-218.

○  Huddleston, P., Smith, T. F., White, I., & Elrick-Barr, C. (2023). What influences the adaptive capacity of coastal critical infrastructure providers?. Urban Climate, 48, 101416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101416

○ Lange, M., Cabana, D., Ebeling, A., Ebinghaus, R., Joerss, H., Rölfer, L., & Celliers, L. (2023). Climate-smart socially innovative tools and approaches for marine pollution science in support of sustainable development. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures, 1, E23. https://doi.org/10.1017/cft.2023.11

○  Laubenstein T, Smith TF, Hobday AJ, Pecl GT, Evans K, Fulton EA & O'Donnell T, 2023, 'Threats to Australia's oceans and coasts: a systematic review', Ocean & Coastal Management, 231 (published online 29 Oct 2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106331

○  Li, Yingjie & Robinson, Samuel & Nguyen, Lan & Liu, Jianguo. (2023). Satellite prediction of coastal hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Remote Sensing of Environment. 284. 113346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.113346 

○  Mabon L and Kawabe M (2022) 'Bring Voices from the Coast into the Fukushima Treated Water Debate' PNAS 119 (45) e2205431119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2205431119

○  Madhanagopal, D. (2023). Local Adaptation to Climate Change in South India: Challenges and the Future in the Tsunami-hit Coastal Regions. Taylor & Francis.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003187691

○  Mestanza-Ramón, C., Monar-Nuñez, J., Guala-Alulema, P., Montenegro-Zambrano, Y., Herrera-Chávez, R., Milanes, C. B., ... & Toledo-Villacís, M. (2023). A Review to Update the Protected Areas in Ecuador and an Analysis of Their Main Impacts and Conservation Strategies. Environments, 10(5), 79. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments10050079

○  Newton A, Mistri M, Pérez-Ruzafa A and Reizopoulou S (2023) Editorial: Ecosystem services, biodiversity, and water quality in transitional ecosystems. Front. Ecol. Evol. 11:1136750. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1136750

○  Ollivier, M. E. L., Newton, A., & Kelsey, H. (2023). Social-Ecological analysis of the eutrophication in Chesapeake Bay, United States of America. Frontiers in Marine Science.

○  Pauli, Natasha & Clifton, Julian & Elrick-Barr, Carmen. (2023). Evaluating marine areas in Fiji. Nature Sustainability. 10.1038/s41893-023-01136-2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01136-2

○  Peng, Ya & Sengupta, Dhritiraj & Yuanqiang, Duan & Chunpeng, Chen & Tian, Bo. (2022). Accurate mapping of Chinese coastal aquaculture ponds using biophysical parameters based on Sentinel-2 time series images. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 181. 113901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113901 

○  Pereira CI, Botero CM, Ricaurte-Villota C, Coca O, Morales D, Cuker B, Milanes CB. Grounding the SHIELD Model for Tropical Coastal Environments. Sustainability. 2022; 14(19):12317. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912317

○  Pickering K, Pearce T, Manuel L, Doran B & Smith T, 2023, 'Socio-ecological challenges and food security in the 'salad bowl' of Fiji, Sigatoka Valley'. Regional Environmental Change, 23, 61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-023-02059-6

○  Rölfer, L., Abson, D. J., Costa, M. M., Rosendo, S., Smith, T. F., & Celliers, L. (2022). Leveraging governance performance to enhance climate resilience. Earth's Future, 10. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003012

○  Rölfer, Lena & Celliers, Louis & Abson, David. (2022). Resilience and coastal governance: knowledge and navigation between stability and transformation. ECOLOGY AND SOCIETY. 27. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-13244-270240 

○  Sengupta, D., Choi, Y. R., Tian, B., Brown, S., Meadows, M., Hackney, C. R., ... & Zhou, Y. (2023). Mapping 21st century global coastal land reclamation. Earth's Future, 11(2), e2022EF002927. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF002927

○  Smith, T., Elrick-Barr, C., Thomsen, D., Celliers, L., & Le Tissier, M. (2023). Impacts of tourism on coastal areas. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures, 1, E5. https://doi.org/10.1017/cft.2022.5

○  Taryn Laubenstein, Timothy F. Smith, Alistair J. Hobday, Gretta T. Pecl, Karen Evans, Elizabeth A. Fulton, Tayanah O'Donnell, Threats to Australia's oceans and coasts: A systematic review, Ocean & Coastal Management, Volume 231, 2023, 106331, ISSN 0964-5691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106331

○  Valenzuela, V. P. B., Esteban, M., & Onuki, M. (2023). Middle-class risk perception of disasters and land reclamation in Metro Manila, Philippines. Anthropocene Coasts, 6(1), 13.

○  van Onselen, V., Bayrak, M. M., & Lin, T. Y. (2023). Assessment of Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies in Coastal Environments of Taiwan. Journal of Disaster Research, 18(7), 700-707. https://doi: 10.20965/jdr.2023.p0700

○  Wolff M, Ferse SCA, Govan H (eds) (2023) Challenges in Tropical Coastal Zone Management - Experiences and Lessons Learned. Springer International Publishing, Cham, Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17879-5

○  Yingjie Li, Samuel V.J. Robinson, Lan H. Nguyen, Jianguo Liu, Satellite prediction of coastal hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 284, 2023, 113346, ISSN 0034-4257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44218-023-00028-4

Anthropocene Coasts

special column

Special Collection: Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Changjiang Delta

GUEST EDITORS: 

Maotian Li, East China Normal University, China

Hualong Luan, Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute, China

Ling Ding, Shanghai Investigation, Design & Research Institute, China

Lou Fei, CCCC-Shanghai Waterway Engineering Design and Consulting Co., Ltd, China

The Changjiang Delta is China's most economically active region, having extensive international links and a history of rapid innovation and development. However, this sustained high-intensity development has led to the degradation of the region's resources, environment, and ecology and now threatens the continued growth and development of the region. Understanding the interaction of human activities with the natural environment is central to being able address these problems and move forward in a more sustainable way. To support this endeavor, we are organizing a Special Collection entitled "Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Changjiang Delta". For this special collection we are interested in papers that address emerging issues behind the conservation and restoration of the Changjiang Delta, alongside the continued use and development of the region. We envisage that this collection will inform the debate on the sustainable development of the Changjiang Delta region, as well as providing insights that are relevant to the sustainable development of deltas around the world.

The submissions should address any of the following aspect of the river-estuarine-coastal system.

1. Eco-geomorphological response and disasters to multiple stresses.

2. Resource allocation to deliver a balanced approach to protection, development and utilisation.

3. Measures to support ecological protection and restoration.

4. Engineering and planning for sustainable development within the delta.

5. Observations, monitoring and early warning systems to support sustainable development.

6. Modelling (physical and numerical) and forecasting for delta regions.

7. Management, assessment and policy analysis to promote sustainable development.

8. Use of artificial intelligence / machine learning to support any of the above needs.

Keywords: estuarine coast; resource environment; ecological protection; disaster prevention and mitigation; engineering and planning; observation and early warning; simulation and prediction; assessment and management.

Manuscript Submission Option: Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Changjiang Delta

Anthropocene Coasts is especially interested in studies that bridge basic theoretical research and management sciences. We encourage submissions from all over the world. The page charges for this Special Collection are covered by East China Normal University.

Milestones

• Oct. 7th 2023: Call for Paper Opens; submit manuscripts for 2x independent review
• Mar. 31th 2024: Manuscript submission deadline

Milestones

• Nov.10th 2022: Decision to proceed / not proceed with SI
• Dec. 1st 2022: Open call for abstracts Opens
• Jun. 30th 2023: Open call for abstracts closes; submit MS for 2x independent review
• Oct. 30th 2023: Manuscript submission deadline

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Special Issue: Coastal hazard risk in the Anthropocene

GUEST EDITORS: 

Bruce Glavovic, Massey University, New Zealand

Robert J. Nicholls, University of East Anglia, UK

For this Special Issue, Anthropocene Coasts invites manuscripts that focus on coastal hazard risk in the Anthropocene, including ecological, cultural, social, economic, and governance (including political, administrative, policy and legal) considerations.

UPDATED MILESTONES

• Dec. 1st 2023: Open call for abstracts closes; submit MS for 2x independent review
• June 30th 2024: Manuscript submission deadline

Click here to find more

Most of our subscribers are coasts-related researchers. If you would like to put some recruitment information or share some latest news about coastal research in FEC monthly newsletter, please feel free to contact us through [email protected].