From global to regional and back again: common climate stressors of marine ecosystems relevant for adaptation across five ocean warming hotspots
- Popova, Ekaterina, Yool, Andrew, Byfield, Valborg, Cochrane, Kevern, Coward, Andrew C, Salim, Shyam S, Gasalla, Maria A, Henson, S.A, Hobday, Alistair J, Pecl, Gretta T, Sauer, Warwick H H, Roberts, Michael J
- Authors: Popova, Ekaterina , Yool, Andrew , Byfield, Valborg , Cochrane, Kevern , Coward, Andrew C , Salim, Shyam S , Gasalla, Maria A , Henson, S.A , Hobday, Alistair J , Pecl, Gretta T , Sauer, Warwick H H , Roberts, Michael J
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124514 , vital:35623 , https://doi.10.1111/gcb.13247
- Description: Ocean warming ‘hotspots’ are regions characterized by above-average temperature increases over recent years, for which there are significant consequences for both living marine resources and the societies that depend on them. As such, they represent early warning systems for understanding the impacts of marine climate change, and test-beds for developing adaptation options for coping with those impacts. Here, we examine five hotspots off the coasts of eastern Australia, South Africa, Madagascar, India and Brazil. These particular hotspots have underpinned a large international partnership that is working towards improving community adaptation by characterizing, assessing and projecting the likely future of coastal-marine food resources through the provision and sharing of knowledge. To inform this effort, we employ a high-resolution global ocean model forced by Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 and simulated to year 2099. In addition to the sea surface temperature, we analyse projected stratification, nutrient supply, primary production, anthropogenic CO2-driven ocean acidification, deoxygenation and ocean circulation. Our simulation finds that the temperature-defined hotspots studied here will continue to experience warming but, with the exception of eastern Australia, may not remain the fastest warming ocean areas over the next century as the strongest warming is projected to occur in the subpolar and polar areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Additionally, we find that recent rapid change in SST is not necessarily an indicator that these areas are also hotspots of the other climatic stressors examined. However, a consistent facet of the hotspots studied here is that they are all strongly influenced by ocean circulation, which has already shown changes in the recent past and is projected to undergo further strong change into the future. In addition to the fast warming, change in local ocean circulation represents a distinct feature of present and future climate change impacting marine ecosystems in these areas.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Popova, Ekaterina , Yool, Andrew , Byfield, Valborg , Cochrane, Kevern , Coward, Andrew C , Salim, Shyam S , Gasalla, Maria A , Henson, S.A , Hobday, Alistair J , Pecl, Gretta T , Sauer, Warwick H H , Roberts, Michael J
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124514 , vital:35623 , https://doi.10.1111/gcb.13247
- Description: Ocean warming ‘hotspots’ are regions characterized by above-average temperature increases over recent years, for which there are significant consequences for both living marine resources and the societies that depend on them. As such, they represent early warning systems for understanding the impacts of marine climate change, and test-beds for developing adaptation options for coping with those impacts. Here, we examine five hotspots off the coasts of eastern Australia, South Africa, Madagascar, India and Brazil. These particular hotspots have underpinned a large international partnership that is working towards improving community adaptation by characterizing, assessing and projecting the likely future of coastal-marine food resources through the provision and sharing of knowledge. To inform this effort, we employ a high-resolution global ocean model forced by Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 and simulated to year 2099. In addition to the sea surface temperature, we analyse projected stratification, nutrient supply, primary production, anthropogenic CO2-driven ocean acidification, deoxygenation and ocean circulation. Our simulation finds that the temperature-defined hotspots studied here will continue to experience warming but, with the exception of eastern Australia, may not remain the fastest warming ocean areas over the next century as the strongest warming is projected to occur in the subpolar and polar areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Additionally, we find that recent rapid change in SST is not necessarily an indicator that these areas are also hotspots of the other climatic stressors examined. However, a consistent facet of the hotspots studied here is that they are all strongly influenced by ocean circulation, which has already shown changes in the recent past and is projected to undergo further strong change into the future. In addition to the fast warming, change in local ocean circulation represents a distinct feature of present and future climate change impacting marine ecosystems in these areas.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Marine robots for coastal ocean research in the Western Indian Ocean
- Palmer, Matthew R, Shagude, Yohana W, Roberts, Michael J, Popva, Ekaterina, Wihsgott, Juliane U, Aswani, Shankar, Coupland, Jack, Howe, John A, Bett, Brian J, Osuka, Kennedy E, Abernethy, Colin, Alexiou, Sofia, Painter, Stuart C, Kamau, Joseph N, Nyandwi, Ntahondi, Sekadende, Baraka
- Authors: Palmer, Matthew R , Shagude, Yohana W , Roberts, Michael J , Popva, Ekaterina , Wihsgott, Juliane U , Aswani, Shankar , Coupland, Jack , Howe, John A , Bett, Brian J , Osuka, Kennedy E , Abernethy, Colin , Alexiou, Sofia , Painter, Stuart C , Kamau, Joseph N , Nyandwi, Ntahondi , Sekadende, Baraka
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403445 , vital:69962 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-cristal-v10-n1-a7"
- Description: Marine robots have the potential to enhance WIO marine research to improve regional adaptation to the challenges presented by climate change by providing enhanced research capacity that bypasses the requirement for expensive infrastructure, such as large research vessels. This paper tests this potential and assesses the readiness of WIO communities to adopt autonomous technologies to meet its marine research priorities. We apply a range of analyses to a marine robots case study undertaken in waters around the island of Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago, in Tanzania in 2019. The campaign formed part of a multinational project focused on increasing WIO capacity to meet food security and ocean sustainability challenges. A community engagement programme with six Tanzanian coastal communities resulted in positive changes in attitudes towards marine robots with reported increases in understanding and acceptance of such technologies. Suspicion of the robots was reduced and a lower risk of removing operational equipment was recorded following the provision of educational material. Cost, risk and benefit analysis shows that marine robots are perceived to provide high level benefits, but come at a high cost that is difficult to achieve using national or regional funding. An assessment of the capacity of WIO marine institutes to adopt such technologies shows that prior to this work, few skills or infrastructure related to marine robots were available to researchers and further confirmed that funding opportunities were perceived to be largely unavailable at institutional, national, regional or international levels. Responses from regional partners following completion of the case study however, revealed an uplift in perceived capacity, particularly related to access to infrastructure and expertise as well as support and opportunities for funding at each level. The presented case study is shown to have been a valuable demonstrator of the benefits of using marine robots to meet WIO coastal ocean research requirements and regional capacity was shown to be substantially increased within the broad range of marine institutes surveyed throughout the case study period. This study demonstrates that taking early steps towards adopting marine autonomous robots has increased WIO regional marine research capacity and increased the confidence and willingness of local researchers to seek alternative solutions to ongoing marine research challenges. Recommendations for future action that will continue to increase the capacity and readiness for regional adoption of marine robots include investment at local, national and regional levels to provide accessible training opportunities and to facilitate regional and international collaborations; investment in a regional hub, or centre of excellence for marine robotic technology; early adoption of newly emerging smaller, cheaper autonomous technologies; investment in local skills and support facilities to aid local buy-in and acceptance while supporting regional capacity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Palmer, Matthew R , Shagude, Yohana W , Roberts, Michael J , Popva, Ekaterina , Wihsgott, Juliane U , Aswani, Shankar , Coupland, Jack , Howe, John A , Bett, Brian J , Osuka, Kennedy E , Abernethy, Colin , Alexiou, Sofia , Painter, Stuart C , Kamau, Joseph N , Nyandwi, Ntahondi , Sekadende, Baraka
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403445 , vital:69962 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-cristal-v10-n1-a7"
- Description: Marine robots have the potential to enhance WIO marine research to improve regional adaptation to the challenges presented by climate change by providing enhanced research capacity that bypasses the requirement for expensive infrastructure, such as large research vessels. This paper tests this potential and assesses the readiness of WIO communities to adopt autonomous technologies to meet its marine research priorities. We apply a range of analyses to a marine robots case study undertaken in waters around the island of Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago, in Tanzania in 2019. The campaign formed part of a multinational project focused on increasing WIO capacity to meet food security and ocean sustainability challenges. A community engagement programme with six Tanzanian coastal communities resulted in positive changes in attitudes towards marine robots with reported increases in understanding and acceptance of such technologies. Suspicion of the robots was reduced and a lower risk of removing operational equipment was recorded following the provision of educational material. Cost, risk and benefit analysis shows that marine robots are perceived to provide high level benefits, but come at a high cost that is difficult to achieve using national or regional funding. An assessment of the capacity of WIO marine institutes to adopt such technologies shows that prior to this work, few skills or infrastructure related to marine robots were available to researchers and further confirmed that funding opportunities were perceived to be largely unavailable at institutional, national, regional or international levels. Responses from regional partners following completion of the case study however, revealed an uplift in perceived capacity, particularly related to access to infrastructure and expertise as well as support and opportunities for funding at each level. The presented case study is shown to have been a valuable demonstrator of the benefits of using marine robots to meet WIO coastal ocean research requirements and regional capacity was shown to be substantially increased within the broad range of marine institutes surveyed throughout the case study period. This study demonstrates that taking early steps towards adopting marine autonomous robots has increased WIO regional marine research capacity and increased the confidence and willingness of local researchers to seek alternative solutions to ongoing marine research challenges. Recommendations for future action that will continue to increase the capacity and readiness for regional adoption of marine robots include investment at local, national and regional levels to provide accessible training opportunities and to facilitate regional and international collaborations; investment in a regional hub, or centre of excellence for marine robotic technology; early adoption of newly emerging smaller, cheaper autonomous technologies; investment in local skills and support facilities to aid local buy-in and acceptance while supporting regional capacity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Modelling transport of inshore and deep-spawned chokka squid (Loligo reynaudi) paralarvae off South Africa: the potential contribution of deep spawning to recruitment
- Downey-Breedt, Nicola, Roberts, Michael J, Sauer, Warwick H H, Chang, N
- Authors: Downey-Breedt, Nicola , Roberts, Michael J , Sauer, Warwick H H , Chang, N
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125183 , vital:35742 , https://doi.10.1111/fog.12132
- Description: The South African chokka squid, Loligo reynaudi, spawns both inshore (≤70 m) and on the mid-shelf (71–130 m) of the Eastern Agulhas Bank. The fate of these deep-spawned hatchlings and their potential contribution to recruitment is as yet unknown. Lagrangian ROMS-IBM (Regional Ocean Modelling System-Individual-Based Model) simulations confirm westward transport of inshore and deep-spawned hatchlings, but also indicate that the potential exists for paralarvae hatched on the Eastern Agulhas Bank deep spawning grounds to be removed from the shelf ecosystem. Using a ROMS-IBM, this study determined the transport and recruitment success of deepspawned hatchlings relative to inshore-hatched paralarvae. A total of 12 release sites were incorporated into the model, six inshore and six deep-spawning sites. Paralarval survival was estimated based on timely transport to nursery grounds, adequate retention within the nursery grounds and retention on the Agulhas Bank shelf. Paralarval transport and survival were dependent on both spawning location and time of hatching. Results suggest the importance of the south coast as a nursery area for inshore-hatched paralarvae, and similarly the cold ridge nursery grounds for deep-hatched paralarvae. Possible relationships between periods of highest recruitment success and spawning peaks were identified for both spawning habitats. Based on the likely autumn increase in deep spawning off the Tsitsikamma coast, and the beneficial currents during this period (as indicated by the model results) it can be concluded that deep spawning may at times contribute significantly to recruitment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Downey-Breedt, Nicola , Roberts, Michael J , Sauer, Warwick H H , Chang, N
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125183 , vital:35742 , https://doi.10.1111/fog.12132
- Description: The South African chokka squid, Loligo reynaudi, spawns both inshore (≤70 m) and on the mid-shelf (71–130 m) of the Eastern Agulhas Bank. The fate of these deep-spawned hatchlings and their potential contribution to recruitment is as yet unknown. Lagrangian ROMS-IBM (Regional Ocean Modelling System-Individual-Based Model) simulations confirm westward transport of inshore and deep-spawned hatchlings, but also indicate that the potential exists for paralarvae hatched on the Eastern Agulhas Bank deep spawning grounds to be removed from the shelf ecosystem. Using a ROMS-IBM, this study determined the transport and recruitment success of deepspawned hatchlings relative to inshore-hatched paralarvae. A total of 12 release sites were incorporated into the model, six inshore and six deep-spawning sites. Paralarval survival was estimated based on timely transport to nursery grounds, adequate retention within the nursery grounds and retention on the Agulhas Bank shelf. Paralarval transport and survival were dependent on both spawning location and time of hatching. Results suggest the importance of the south coast as a nursery area for inshore-hatched paralarvae, and similarly the cold ridge nursery grounds for deep-hatched paralarvae. Possible relationships between periods of highest recruitment success and spawning peaks were identified for both spawning habitats. Based on the likely autumn increase in deep spawning off the Tsitsikamma coast, and the beneficial currents during this period (as indicated by the model results) it can be concluded that deep spawning may at times contribute significantly to recruitment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
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