EP13F-01:
EVALUATING REDUCTION OF SEDIMENT POLLUTION AS A STRATEGY FOR CONSERVATION OF CORAL REEF IN HIGH C02 WORLD
Monday, 15 December 2014: 1:40 PM
Joseph M Maina, Wildlife Conservation Society Kenya, Mombasa, Kenya, Hans de Moel, Institute for Environmental Studies, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Camilo Mora, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Geography, Honolulu, HI, United States, Philip Ward, Free University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands and James Watson, University of Queensland, School of Geography, planning and Environmental Management, St Lucia, Australia
Abstract:
One of the key strategies for coral reef conservation in a high CO2 world is reduction of sediment and nutrient pollution. However, the reduction of sediment is a complicated planning issue as a result of the competing land uses from the demands to satisfy food production needs and from economic development, among others. Moreover, despite the significance of sedimentation as a threat to coral reefs, historical baseline and future estimates of sediment discharge on coral reefs remains poorly quantified. Therefore, the effectiveness of this strategy hinges upon (i) identifying the future sediment discharge on coral reefs relative to historical baseline, and (ii) on identifying spatially where sediment reduction actions are urgently needed and where they are likely to succeed. We provide this understanding by simulating sediment dynamics for historical and future time scales using models of land use and climate, for coastal watersheds adjacent coral reefs where they are found globally.
