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SAERI: Climate change resilience in the Falklands Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems

The Falkland Islands Biodiversity Framework (FIBF) is a threats-based policy that outlines response strategies for identified threats

The Falkland Islands (FI) historically lacked herbivorous mammals. The introduction of grazing animals has led to vegetation changes and soil erosion. The impact of these changes on wetland and aquatic habitats is not well-understood; limited past research suggests that water quality may remain fairly natural and is largely influenced by sea salt deposition and humic acids from peat runoff. Some studies, however, have shown evidence of human impacts, such as elevated nutrient concentrations in some ponds.

Climate change also presents several threats. A predicted temperature rise could directly impact on aquatic biota and increase water evaporation rates, which could reduce freshwater availability and lead to the loss of some habitats. Increased storm frequency or severity, will change water quality and may alter the hydro-morphology of drainage systems and wetlands. These impacts on aquatic biota can be understood by regular monitoring.

The Falkland Islands Biodiversity Framework (FIBF) is a threats-based policy that outlines response strategies for identified threats. One of these strategies is the ‘Falkland Islands Ecoregions, Habitats, Species and Sites Strategy’, which identifies 11 ecoregions for the Falkland Islands and requires each of these to have an action plan. Five ecoregions are directly relevant to this project: freshwater (riverine), freshwater (ponds, lakes), lowlands, montane and estuarine. Working closely with the Falkland Islands Government and local stakeholders, the overarching aim of this project is to facilitate the development of action plans for Falklands wetland and aquatic habitats, which will support the FIBF.

Project Objectives

The Falkland Island government aims to create a long-term sustainable fishery and marine ecosystem to benefit future generations. This includes sustainable catches of commercial target species and reducing harmful impacts on bycatch species while maintaining ecosystem function. In addition, the Falkland Islands Governments wants to incorporate climate change adaptation into its Fisheries and Oceans Governance, for which it also needs an ecosystem approach to fisheries management. This project will support these aims by addressing climate change impacts and climate resilience to the Falkland Islands fisheries and marine ecosystem to inform climate change adaption.

We will do this by generating baseline data via literature reviews and surveys; conducting physiological tolerance and acclimation experiments of key species; create an ecosystem model to investigate the effects of different climate change scenarios on the marine ecosystem function and services (fisheries support), and Explore climate change adaptation interventions in the ecosystem with key stakeholders via workshops, which will inform decisions on whether and how to mainstream climate change adaptation and ecosystem approach to fisheries management into sustainable fisheries, conservation of marine ecosystems, governance and policy.

Project Manager, Dr Jesse Van Der Grient

Jesse has a passion for all ocean creatures, great and small, which is why her ecosystem focus comes in handy. She worked on deep-sea benthic macrofauna in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, focused on cumulative impacts in the California Current and Arctic Ocean, and delved into the potential impacts of deep-sea mining sediment plumes. She has used different statistical and modelling approaches to answer questions about biodiversity, community patterns, and multiple stressors on these ecosystems. She obtained her BA in Biological Sciences and PhD in Zoology from the University of Oxford and worked at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. At SAERI, she will lead the Darwin Plus Climate change resilience in the Falkland Islands and fisheries and marine ecosystems project. She will be working with an exciting team to synthesise existing knowledge on the ecosystem and perform additional surveys, obtain physiological tolerances and acclimation information under climate change, and evaluate ecosystem effects of climate change and fishing in this unique ecosystem. In her spare time, Jesse enjoys hiking and watching wildlife, especially birds, and she is an avid amateur wildlife photographer. She is keen to explore the underwater world of the Falkland Islands through scuba diving.

The project is funded by the Darwin Initiative, Darwin Initiative's project DPLUS 148. Project Partners, Our partners for this project are Falkland Islands Government Directorate of Natural Resources, Fisheries Department (FIFD) and Policy and Economic Development (DPED), Falkland Islands Fishing Companies Association (FIFCA), Oregon State University (OSU), British Antarctic Survey (BAS), and the Shallow Marine Survey Group (SMSG).