1. Preparing Fit-for-purpose Wetland Buffers to Increase Coastal Resilience (BUFFERS)
Coastal wetlands, often referred to as “forest bridges” between land and ocean, serve as the first line of defense for coastal ecological protection. They effectively buffer the negative impacts of environmental changes on coastal zones and enhance the overall self-recovery ability and resilience of coastal ecosystems. Over the past 30 years, global coastal wetlands have lost approximately 16% of their area, facing significant environmental and ecological challenges due to wetland degradation. The evolution of coastal wetlands in response to changing environmental conditions is highly complex and requires multidisciplinary collaboration.
The BUFFERS project is part of the China-New Zealand intergovernmental scientific research collaboration, jointly funded by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). The project is being jointly conducted by Hohai University, East China Normal University, and the University of Auckland. BUFFERS focuses on typical coastal wetlands in China and New Zealand, conducting interdisciplinary research in coastal dynamic geomorphology, ecology, and related fields.
The Sino-New Zealand project team will concentrate on the salt marshes and mangrove wetlands in both countries, carrying out the following tasks: comprehensively using drones, water-sediment, and biological observation equipment to develop high-precision tidal flat key parameter inversion technology; integrating field and flume experiments to analyze the coupling mechanisms of sediment physical processes and biological processes under varying wave-flow dynamics, biological compositions, and sediment gradations; applying machine learning algorithms to quantify the mathematical relationships between parameters, optimize biomorphodynamic models, and predict the evolution trends of different coastal wetlands; and developing point-line-surface restoration models to improve the ecological structure of coastal wetlands, enhance self-recovery capacity, and establish a coastal ecological soft protection system. The ultimate goal of the project is to enhance the resilience of coastal zones in both countries and support wetland management decision-making in China and New Zealand.
Main contacts:
Prof. Zeng Zhou, Hohai University, [email protected]
Prof. Karin Bryan, The University of Auckland, [email protected]
2. Evolution and Sustainable Development of the Human-Sea Coupled Coastal Wetland System under Global Change (ECOSYNC)
Coastal wetlands are among the most important human-sea composite systems for achieving sustainable development in coastal zones. They are also ecologically fragile areas of global concern under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the context of global change. However, coastal wetland degradation is severe in China and several other developing countries in Asia. The future trajectory of coordinated development between the coastal ecological environment and socio-economic progress remains unclear, highlighting an urgent need for interdisciplinary international cooperation and joint research.
The ECOSYNC project is a collaborative project jointly conducted by several research institutions, including Hohai University (China), the University of Auckland (New Zealand), Beijing Forestry University, the University of Southampton (UK), Macquarie University (Australia), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (UK), and the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force. This project is co-funded by the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and aims to contribute to the achievement of several SDGs related to coastal wetlands.
ECOSYNC focuses on four typical coastal wetlands along the East Asia–Australasia Flyway, with two observation sites in China and Myanmar and two comparison sites in Australia and New Zealand. This study will integrate interdisciplinary research across Environmental Earth Science, Marine Science, Ecology, Economics, and Management Science.
By combing multiple techniques, e.g., field observation, remote sensing and numerical modeling, this study aims to analyze the coupling relationship between the biogeochemical processes of coastal wetlands and socio-economic development, identify the main driving forces behind coastal wetland environmental change, establish a coastal wetland evolution model and digital twin system framework based on the coupling model of human-sea composite system, and predict future trends of coastal environmental and ecosystem changes under global change stress. Additionally, the project will propose policy recommendations to support the coordinated development of regional economies, societies, and ecosystems in coastal areas. ECOSYNC is expected to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and international cooperation in coastal wetland research while providing scientific decision-making support for the sustainable development of coastal areas in China and other developing countries in Asia.
Main contacts:
Prof. Zeng Zhou, Hohai University, [email protected]
Prof. Giovanni Coco, The University of Auckland, [email protected]