Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 108 (2012) 1–2
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Editorial
Preface
In June 2009 the Wadden Sea was declared by UNESCO a World Heritage site; a significant proclamation for one of the most unique and diverse marine ecosystems in the world. To commemorate this proclamation an international conference was held from 3–6 May 2010 under the auspices of the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association (ECSA) at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in List, Sylt, Germany. The title of the conference was “The Wadden Sea: Changes and Challenges in a World Heritage Site”, and consisted of four main themes namely: 1. Geological development of the Wadden Sea: Climate Change and Sea Level Rise, 2. Perspectives on Changes in the Biodiversity of the Wadden Sea and other Coastal Seas; 3. Tidal Ecosystems: An Assessment of Change, and 4. Present and Future of Marine Heritage Sites. The conference was attended by senior administrators and managers, and scientists from Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, France, Poland, South Africa, USA, Bangladesh, the UK, and Ireland. A total of 7 policy/management and 44 scientific presentations were given during the course of the conference. This volume contains selected peer-reviewed papers based on presentations given at the conference and covers the whole spectrum of scientific disciplines. The volume includes articles ranging from topics on sediment and phosphorus dynamics, pelagic and benthic community structure, biodiversity, and spatial and temporal variability, to ecosystem structure and function, to ecosystem modeling and the application of ecological network analytical protocols, while some of the papers reflect results from cooperative German and French research programs along the Wadden Sea and Atlantic coast (COMPECO-project and Procope). The COMPECO programme (Comparison of properties of semienclosed soft-bottom littoral ecosystems), aims to make intersystem comparisons using ecological and physico-chemical properties. The Wadden Sea ecosystem is indeed a complex one, with heterogeneous habitats with variability in productivity and biodiversity between them. This volume by no means gives justice to the immense amount of information available on current and past research endeavors by the many research institutes and universities active in the Wadden Sea ecosystem. However, the volume is a glimpse on some current thinking on issues very relevant to the Wadden Sea and includes perspectives on its future. The Wadden Sea is a global and regional treasure, thus its status as a World Heritage site. In the words of UNESCO, “The Wadden Sea is the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in 0272-7714/$ – see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2012.05.015
the world, with natural processes undisturbed throughout most of the area. It encompasses a multitude of transitional zones between land, the sea and freshwater environment, and is rich in species specially adapted to the demanding environmental conditions”. Its management and future development is closely tied to international and national legislation and guardianship, which is clearly imbedded in the protective philosophies of the bordering countries. A short description of the Wadden Sea and of the management mechanisms currently in place follows in order to provide a necessary back ground for the purpose of this volume. The Wadden Sea is about 450 km long, with a surface area of 8935 km2, and stretches from the Marsdiep at Den Helder in the Netherlands to Blåvandshuk on the west coast of Denmark. Approximately 5035 km2 of the Wadden Sea is located in Germany, 2885 km2 in the Netherlands and 1015 km2 in Denmark. The Wadden Sea consists of diverse habitats such as salt marshes, intertidal and subtidal areas, and includes sand banks and parts of the islands. An additional area of the North Sea coast also belongs to the region, and at present about 66% of the total Wadden Sea is part of the World Heritage Site. The present Wadden Sea owes its existence to its geological past, and has been in the making since the end of the last glacial age. The Wadden Sea as we know it today began to develop about 8000 years ago, while extensive literature exists on the geological history and the geomorphological characteristics of the Wadden Sea. In contrast to its harsh environmental conditions the Wadden Sea is rich in biodiversity and unique habitats where still a multitude of plant and animal species occur. The Wadden Sea is an indispensable region as nursery ground for numerous fish species, as a transition zone for estuarine fish, such as eel, salmon and houting, which lives in salt water during certain stages of their life cycle. The Wadden Sea provides food and roosting space for about 41 species of native and migrating birds. This area also has a high production of plants and animals so that the biological wealth of the Wadden Sea exceeds the adjacent North Sea coastal zone in many aspects. The Wadden Sea is protected and regulated by suite of laws, treaties, directives and agreements which are interconnected on a global basis by, for example OSPAR and RAMSAR, and by European and national agreements. The “Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation” (TWSC) treaty between those countries (The Netherland, Germany and Denmark) bordering the Wadden Sea are responsible for the formulation and oversight of the protective policy for the Wadden Sea. The co-operation between these countries is supported by the “Common Wadden Sea Secretariat” (CWSS) whose function includes the initiating, coordinating, and execution of the activities and
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Editorial / Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 108 (2012) 1–2
directives of the TWSC. The CWSS also prepared the documentation for the nomination of the Wadden Sea as a World heritage site to UNESCO. The “Trilateral Wadden Sea Plan” (TWSP) contains the general concepts for the management of the Wadden Sea, and forms the basis for the protection and management of the Wadden Sea. The TWSP is monitored by the “Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Program” (TMAP), which aims to assess the status of the implementation of the trilateral “Targets of the Wadden Sea Plan”, and to provide scientific assessments of the status of and developments in the Wadden Sea ecosystem. TMAP covers the entire Wadden Sea and provides basic information for the “Quality Status Report” (QSR) which evaluates recent developments and activities in the region and which gives recommendations for policy and management of the Wadden Sea. In addition to the overarching bodies mentioned above, Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark have developed their own national policies for the protection and management of the Wadden Sea along their respective coasts. In Germany and Denmark the Wadden Sea is protected by National Park laws. In Germany national parks are situated in every federal state along the North Sea coast and the management of these is covered by relevant Federal, State and nature conservation organizations. In Denmark additionally to the entire Wadden Sea area even the islands and most of the marsh areas of the mainland behind the dykes are included in the National Park legislation. The “Key Planning Decision Wadden Sea, 23rd Policy Document Wadden Sea” (PKB) and the “Ecological Main Structure” (EMS) forms the basis for the protection and management of the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands. The exploitation of the natural resources and human activities in the Wadden Sea are contained in the policy of the PKB and the EMS, and in legislation contained in, for example, the Nature Conservation Act and the Flora and Fauna Act. Management of the Dutch Wadden Sea falls under the auspices of the Federal State, Provinces, Municipalities, and private nature organizations. Several organizations, research institutes and universities are intimately involved in research over all disciplines in the Wadden Sea ecosystem. The recently founded Wadden Academy aims to identify gaps in our knowledge of the Wadden Sea region, advance and conduct research, and disseminate the outcome of its activities. In addition to outputs from universities, numerous scientific and general publications have been produced by research institutes, such as, for, example, NIOZ on Texel, The Netherlands, the
Senckenberg Research Institute in Wilhelmshaven, FTZ Büsum, HZG Geesthacht, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), by the Wadden Sea Station Sylt in List, Germany.
Acknowledgements The Organizing Committee of the ECSA 46 Conference would like to express its sincere appreciation to the following organizations for funding contributions to the conference and joint contributions from the “COMPECO” project: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) The French Procope Hubert Curien Programme and the German DAAD Procope programme; The French National Programme for Coastal Environment (PNEC/EC2CO) ECSA for providing the platform for the conference and the Editor-in Chief of Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, Professor Mike Elliott for the production and publishing of this volume. Ragnhild Asmus, Harald Asmus, Guest Editors Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), List, Sylt, Germany Dan Baird, Guest Editor* Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa Nathalie Niquil, Guest Editor CNRS, UMR 7208 BOREA, Laboratoire BioMea, Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Esplanade de la Paix, BP 5186, 14032 Caen Cedex, France Université de La Rochelle, CNRS, UMR Littoral, Environnement etSociétés, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17000 La Rochelle, France * Corresponding author. E-mail address:
[email protected] (D. Baird) Available online 16 May 2012
