COAST-LAND - Connectivity between inland waters and coastal habitats: effects and feedbacks of anthropogenic pressures and climate change

Diadromous fish populations are subject to multiple anthropogenic pressures both inland and at sea, including climate change, and are decreasing in the Baltic Sea.

Conservation and restoration efforts are hindered by the fact that freshwater and marine ecosystems are typically studied and managed individually.

Our project aims at improving the management of diadromous fish populations in the Baltic Sea by 1) understanding cross-system effects and feedbacks of multiple pressures in coastal and inland waters, and 2) assessing and predicting effects of climate change on the spatial and temporal connectivity between coastal and inland waters.By using extensive datasets from the whole Sweden on fish abundance in inland and coastal waters, complemented by GIS data and fieldwork data collected in target areas, we will focus on the decrease in spatial connectivity caused by the loss of suitable freshwater spawning areas and by river damming, and the cross-system effects of nutrient pollution, habitat degradation and fishing on diadromous fish populations in the Baltic Sea.

We will also assess the risk for spatial and temporal decoupling between freshwater and coastal habitats for diadromous fish under climate change scenarios.The results will contribute to the integrated management of coastal and freshwaters as a single unit, by advising on where the most sensitive areas are and what measures are most effective for maintaining or restoring viable populations of diadromous fish.