Conserving Freshwater and Coastal Resources in a Changing Climate

CHAPTER
4
Adaptation of Aquatic Ecosystems
to Climate Change
What is Adaptation
In climate change literature, the term “adaptation” is
used in a number of ways, including adjustments in human
behavior to reduce vulnerability of societies and
natural systems to climate change (Toman & Bierbaum,
1996). This report defines adaptation as measures taken
to prevent or moderate the effects of climate change on
freshwater and coastal ecosystems.
Why Adapt
Not only is climate already changing, it will continue to
change for decades because past emissions will persist
in the atmosphere – even if efforts to reduce future emissions
are successful. Though biological systems have
the ability to adapt naturally to environmental changes,
there is a high probability that human-induced climate
change will alter conditions at a rate much faster than
species may be able to adapt. In addition, this natural
ability to adapt will be hindered by human-developed
barriers that are already causing stress on ecosystems
such as habitat loss and fragmentation (Easterling,
2004).
Adaptation Planning
Before adaptation strategies can be pursued, a clear picture
of the anticipated effects of a changing climate in
specific places is often necessary. Differences in species
distributions or topography can vastly change the
expected climate effects and any adaptation plan must
be developed accordingly. Analyses to support adaptation
strategies include understanding current conditions
(e.g. topography, hydrodynamics, vegetation or
species distribution) and the anticipated impacts from
climate change (e.g. change of temperature, precipitation
change, sea-level rise). Geographic analyses are key
to gaining this understanding.
A variety of technological tools for gathering and
evaluating data are useful for the analysis of climate
change. This chapter provides a brief overview of data
gathering, modeling and mapping tools that have proven
useful in gaining this understanding.
Remote Sensing
Remote sensing techniques (such as taking photographs
from airplanes and gathering data from satellites)
are often used to obtain spatially explicit information
(Conway, 1997). Two that are particularly relevant
are Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) and satellite
imagery.
Figure 4. Satellite image of New York captured from Landsat
Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey
27 Conserving Freshwater and Coastal Resources in a Changing Climate