South East Queensland Climate Change Adaptation
As part of the CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship, we are developing novel approaches to integrate information on the vulnerability of key habitat types and species to climate change, urban development and other threats, and identify priority locations for conservation investment to maximise the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in South East Queensland. Specifically, we are:
- Planning for the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services
- Accounting for climate change impacts in planning analyses: We are evaluating how the land use plan to maximize biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service outcomes should be adapted to account for the risks and uncertainties associated with the impacts of climate change (e.g. due to sea level rise, vulnerabilities of key habitat types and species to climatic change, and changes in land use patterns due to climate change).
- Integrating resilience thinking into conservation planning: We are evaluating and applying the concept of resilience to the selection of climate change adaptation strategies for mangrove ecosystems in Moreton Bay.
- Planning across the land-sea interface
Melaluca. Photo: Johan Emilson
This is a multiple organization project involving scientists from CSIRO, Griffith University and Sunshine Coast University. We are also working closely with Dr Jonathan Rhodes and Dr Jonathan Corcoran on the urban planning analyses and consequences for biodiversity conservation, and Dr Karin Perhans (Post Doctoral Fellow, Swedish Research Council) and Assoc Prof Cath Lovelock on the analysis of climate change impacts.
Key References
Traill, L.W., K. Perhans, C.E. Lovelock, A. Prohaska, J.R. Rhodes and K.A. Wilson.2011. Managing for global change: wetland transitions under sea level rise and outcomes for threatened species. Diversity and Distributions. DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00807.x
Mangroves. Photo: Johan Emilson
