by Matthew Goss, Zhang Jianhua
CANBERRA, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Conserving aquatic plant communities is key to mitigating the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems, an Australian expert has said.
In an interview with Xinhua, Catherine Lovelock, an expert on coastal and marine plant communities at the University of Queensland, said that reducing human pressures on those ecosystems, such as pollution and over-exploitation, will help them adapt to climate change.
"Losses of vegetated ecosystems globally have been large, so reducing pressures on remaining cover is a first, no-brainer, step," she said.
Lovelock, who was in 2023 recognized by the Australian Academy of Science for her outstanding contribution to science with the prestigious Suzanne Cory Medal, said that healthy mangroves, saltmarshes and seagrasses provide a wide range of ecosystem benefits that could prevent adverse impacts of climate change.
One example Lovelock cited was Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef.
She told Xinhua that an increase in pulsed storms, which deliver intense rainfall in short bursts, due to climate change would likely result in more detrimental sediments and nutrients reaching the reef.
However, Lovelock said that healthy coastal and river ecosystems could reduce the impact of those storms.
"Vegetated coastal ecosystems and riparian ecosystems trap sediments and nutrients and reduce erosion. So having these ecosystems in good shape will help the reef," she said.
Australian government scientists in April reported that 73 percent of the Great Barrier Reef experienced coral bleaching in the summer of 2023-24, marking the fifth major bleaching event on the reef since 2016.
Coral bleaching is a phenomenon whereby coral expels the algae living in their tissue due to heat stress, turning the coral completely white. It is not deadly but bleached coral are more likely to die from starvation.
Lovelock said that in addition to corals being severely influenced, marine and coastal ecosystems around the world are experiencing varied impacts of climate change that are often being exacerbated by human pressures.
The long-term consequences of those impacts, she said, could include a loss of, or change in, biodiversity and diminished cultural values.
Comparing the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems in Australia and China, Lovelock, who has conducted research in collaboration with colleagues from Xiamen University, said there are similarities in the effects of warming oceans on coral reefs but differences in other cases.
"China has some very large rivers that deliver freshwater and sediments to the coast that in many ways might make mangroves and saltmarshes in China more resilient to sea level rise than they are in Australia where we have less freshwater and sediments delivered to the coast," she said.
"Sediments allow mangroves and marshes to add elevation and build soil vertically that helps them adapt to sea level rise."
Asked about how to boost collaboration between Australia and China on climate research, Lovelock said it would be great to have a coastal observatory as a collaborative location for researchers to share data, analyses and knowledge of climate change and its impacts on coastal zones. ■
