Climate Adaptation Services for the Netherlands: an operational approach to support spatial adaptation planning

There is a growing availability of climate change information, offered to scientists and policy makers through climate services. However, climate services are not well taken up by the policy-making and planning community. Climate services focus on primary impacts of climate change, e.g., the disclosure of precipitation and temperature data, and this seems insufficient in meeting their needs. In this paper, we argue that, in order to reach the spatial planning community, climate services should take on a wider perspective by translating climate data to policy-relevant indicators and by offering support in the design of adaptation strategies. We argue there should be more focus on translating consequences of climate change to land-use claims and subsequently discuss the validity, consequences and implications of these claims with stakeholders, so they can play a role in spatial planning processes where much of the climate adaptation takes place. The term Climate Adaptation Services is introduced as being a stepwise approach supporting the assessment of vulnerability in a wider perspective and include the design and appraisal of adaptation strategies in a multi-stakeholder setting. We developed the Climate Adaptation Atlas and the Climate Ateliers as tools within the Climate Adaptation Services approach to support decision-making and planning processes. In this paper, we describe the different steps of our approach and report how some of the challenges were addressed.     

Synthesis of ecosystem vulnerability to climate change in the Netherlands shows the need to consider environmental fluctuations in adaptation measures

Climate change impacts on individual species are various and range from shifts in phenology and functional properties to changes in productivity and dispersal. The combination of impacts determines future biodiversity and species composition, but is difficult to evaluate with a single method. Instead, a comparison of mutually independent approaches provides information and confidence in patterns observed beyond what may be achieved in individual approaches. Here, we carried out such comparison to assess which ecosystem types in the Netherlands appear most vulnerable to climate change impacts, as arising from changes in hydrology, nutrient conditions and dispersal limitations. We thus combined meta-analyses of species range shifts with species distribution modelling and ecohydrological modelling with expert knowledge in two respective impact studies. Both impact studies showed that nutrient-poor ecosystems and ecosystem types with fluctuating water tables—like hay meadows, moist heathlands and moorlands—seem to be most at risk upon climate change. A subsequent meta-analysis of species–environmental stress relations indicated that particularly endangered species are adversely affected by the combination of drought and oxygen stress, caused by fluctuating moisture conditions. This implies that adaptation measures should not only aim to optimise mean environmental conditions but should also buffer environmental extremes. Major uncertainties in the assessment included the quantitative impacts of vegetation-hydrology feedbacks, vegetation adaptation and interactions between dispersal capacity and traits linked to environmental selection. Once such quantifications become feasible, adaptation measures may be tailor-made and optimised to conserve vulnerable ecosystem types.     

Kinetics of sulfur dioxide- and oxygen-induced degradation of aqueous monoethanolamine solution during CO2 absorption from power plant flue gas streams

Studies of the kinetics of sulfur dioxide (SO₂)- and oxygen (O₂)-induced degradation of aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) during the absorption of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from flue gases derived from coal- or natural gas-fired power plants were conducted as a function of temperature and the liquid phase concentrations of MEA, O₂, SO₂ and CO₂. The kinetic data were based on the initial rate which shows the propensity for amine degradation and obtained under a range of conditions typical of the CO₂ absorption process (3–7 kmol/m³ MEA, 6% O₂, 0–196 ppm SO₂, 0–0.55 CO₂ loading, and 328–393 K temperature). The results showed that an increase in temperature and the concentrations of MEA, O₂ and SO₂ resulted in a higher MEA degradation rate. An increase in CO₂ concentration gave the opposite effect. A semi-empirical model based on the initial rate, ?r_MEA = {6.74 × 10⁹ e^?(29,403/RT)[MEA]^0.02([O]^2.91 + [SO₂]^3.52)}/{1 + 1.18[CO₂]^0.18} was developed to fit the experimental data. With the higher order of reaction, SO₂ has a higher propensity to cause MEA to degrade than O₂. Unlike previous models, this model shows an improvement in that any of the parameters (i.e. O₂, SO₂, and CO₂) can be removed without affecting the usability of the model.     

Auf der Suche nach den Treibstoffen der Zukunft

The climatically-relevant emission of CO₂ which results from motor vehicle traffic offers a challenge for the automobile industry to produce highly efficient and economical motor vehicles. Furthermore, the production of fuels from regenerative energies may provide a more significant contribution over the long-term to make our mobility more compatible to the climate and to reduce our dependence on crude oil importation. Substantial reductions in emissions can be achieved through the application of regenerative fuels, especially in combination with more energy-efficient hybrid or fuel-cell vehicles, or through the addition of biogenic components to conventional fuels. Coordinated efforts between the automobile industry, the energy industries and the responsible politicians are mandatory in order to achieve ecologically-tolerable motor vehicle traffic.     

Ants use directionless odour cues to recall odour-associated locations

Ants are key model organisms in the study of navigation and memory formation. Many ants learn food locations very quickly and with high accuracy. But can individual ants learn multiple separate food locations, associate them with a cue, and then correctly recall the food location and navigate towards it when later presented with that cue? In this experiment, we sequentially trained Lasius niger foragers to two scented feeders at either end of a T-maze. The next day, an odour cue corresponding to one of the food sources was presented to the ants in the air, on the substrate and via trophallaxis with nest mates. Trained foragers accurately navigated to the correct side of the T-maze (89 % correct decisions), but only after the first 10 min of testing. This demonstrates the ability of ants to perform associative recall, forming clear associates between odour cues and food locations and using these associations to navigate to food sources. We also found that trained ants in the first 10 min of testing showed no preference for the correct side (57 % correct decisions), which may be related to the motivational state of the ants tested. Ants with different motivational states (whether they are ‘scouting’ or ‘recruited’) made use of route memories in a completely different manner. This highlights the importance of taking account of motivational states when performing behavioural experiments.     

Complex chemical communication in the crazy ant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Paratrechina longicornis</Emphasis> Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Summary. The formicine ant Paratrechina longicornis is known for its extremely opportunistic foraging behaviour. Only a single trail pheromone source, the rectum, was previously described from this ant. Our detailed examination of this ant’s chemical communication system revealed the presence of at least four sources of pheromones. Rectum, poison sac, and Dufour gland contain orientation components with decreasing effectiveness and persistence (in the sequence mentioned) as well as attractants with increasing effectiveness. Furthermore, the mandibular gland contains repellents, and a releaser of defensive behaviour. This set of various signals of different strength and persistence allows an extraordinary degree of flexibility and efficiency in the collective behaviour of P. longicornis, especially food exploitation, and thus may contribute to this insect’s overall ecological success.     

The suitability of a single intertidal fish trap for the assessment of long-term trends in fish and epibenthic invertebrate populations

The suitability of a single intertidal fish trap for the assessment of long-term trends in fish and epibenthic invertebrate relies upon the assumption of an on-average constant sampling fraction from the study population. This assumption was examined by comparing trends over years in five different traps within the study area. For some species, like cod, the traps showed more or less parallel fluctuations. This is in agreement with the assumption. However, for other species, like mackerel, the assumption was invalidated by distinct trends over years.Publication no. 62 of the project Applied Scientific Research Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (BEWON)