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Climate change survival guide funded

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 27, 2009

TIERRA VERDE - The Tampa Bay Estuary Program plans to use a $75,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to produce a handbook for Gulf Coast communities considering climate change in habitat protection plans.

The Tampa Bay program is one of eight nationwide to receive the climate change grants.

The book will incorporate information from the program's upcoming research projects and other projects that showcase effective ways to accommodate climate change in habitat restoration efforts.

The Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries program in Corpus Christi, Texas, will be a partner.

Specifically, the book will offer a tool kit of options for ensuring the success of publicly financed habitat restoration projects - even with rising sea levels, said Nanette O'Hara, public outreach coordinator for the local program.

The water's rising

In Tampa Bay, water levels have been rising about an inch a decade since the 1940s, when record-keeping began, and that rate is expected to increase. How this increase will affect habitats is not well understood, but changes could include loss of oyster bars, marshes and mangroves, with related declines in fish and wildlife species dependent on those habitats.

Research planned by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program in the coming year is expected to provide a greater understanding of how climate change might affect the Bay's habitats as well as the economic benefits the natural systems provide.

One strategy to accommodate rising water levels might be to include buffer zones in future restoration efforts so habitats such as salt marshes and mangroves have room to naturally migrate landward. Other strategies might include rebuilding habitats over time as water levels rise or even constructing barriers that prevent rising water from inundating valuable coastal habitats.

They serve a purpose

Insulating coastal wetlands from the effects of climate change is a concern because these habitats serve as natural defenses against storms and provide critical nursery areas for fish and wildlife, O'Hara said.

The estuary program's "restoring the balance" management approach places a priority on restoring Tampa Bay habitats that have been hardest hit by development, such as low-salinity tidal marshes.

More than 4,700 acres have been restored in Tampa Bay during the past 25 years; an additional 5,000 acres of damaged habitats are slated for restoration in the coming decade.

To learn more about the possible effects of climate change on Florida's coastal areas, see the special report just released by the Florida Oceans and Coastal Council. Go to www .floridaoceanscouncil.org/reports/Climate_ Change_Report_v2.pdf.

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