Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone
Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) is a joint core project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions Program on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), under the umbrella of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) ) and thus part of a research program on global environmental change .
Focus
The focus is on social-ecological systems in coastal zones and their interactions with the processes of global change. Scientists have been studying various biological, chemical and physical processes on the coast since 1993. After a decade of predominantly natural scientific coastal research, LOICZ expanded its focus in 2003 to include political and social sciences and since then has also taken into account the social dimensions of the coastal zones.
Location
Global research is coordinated by an International Project Office (IPO), which is responsible for managing the project and its day-to-day operations. After being based at the Dutch Institute for Marine Research on Texel , the project moved to the Institute for Coastal Research at the Helmholtz Center in Geesthacht in 2006 .
A Scientific Advisory Board (SSC) is responsible for the development, planning and implementation of the various activities. In addition, LOICZ has set up regional offices in China, Sri Lanka and Singapore. These regional nodes ensure the dissemination and adaptation of methods and concepts to local and regional circumstances and needs.
aims
The core goal of LOICZ is the development of methods, the preparation and provision of knowledge and forecasts in order to be able to assess the processes and effects of global change in coastal areas and to take precautions.
To implement this goal, a research program with five key topics was developed for the time frame up to 2015. The topics are:
- Vulnerability of coastal zones and natural hazards
- Impact of global change on coastal ecosystems and sustainable development
- Anthropogenic influences on interactions in river-coastal zones
- Biogeochemical cycles in coastal and shelf waters
- Management of land-sea interactions in terms of sustainable social-ecological coastal systems.
In addition to the core topics, LOICZ works for three to four years on the coupling of social and ecological systems, the assessment and prognosis of processes and effects of global change on the river-coast continuum, and the networking of the political and social control and regulation system with science . In addition, LOICZ deals with the modeling and classification of coastal systems (typology) with databases, variability analyzes as well as training and further education.
collaboration
LOICZ interfaces with the monitoring activities of the IGOS partnership and is involved in the formulation of research and implementation plans for associated partners on land and sea. In addition, it works with other ESSP Earth System Partnership projects. This includes risk assessments of delta areas together with the Global Water System Project (GWSP) in Bonn and the assessment of coastal changes and the resulting opportunities and risks in the Arctic. This work takes place in cooperation with the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) in Stockholm.
organization
The network is made up of various partners. The board consists of (2011) Alice Newton, University of Algarve (Chairperson), Bruce Glavovic, Massey University NZ (Vice chairperson) as well as Masumi Yamamuro, University of Tokyo and Ramachandran Rames, Anna University, Chennai, India. Then there are Hartwig Kremer (HZG) and Jürgen Weichselgartner (HZG) from the IPO. The German social scientist Marion Glaser from ZMT Bremen has also been a member of the extended board since 2011 .
publication
LOICZ communicates its research results in workshops and conferences of the series "Reports & Studies", Meeting Reports and Science & Policy Documents. The book "Coastal Fluxes in the Anthropocene" published by Springer summarizes the activities of the first phase of LOICZ. The INPRINT newsletter and annual reports are other publications.