Modelling the impact of climate change on the Wadden Sea ecosystems

Investigates the response of the Wadden Sea ecosystem to changing climate conditions. Focuses on a number of characteristics: morphological phenomena, shell fish processes and birds. Three different integrating methods are applied: integration by a model ecosystem study, by the setup of an expert system, and by the further development and application of a dynamic ecosystem model. Some key steering factors are also chosen: temperature rise, water level rise and changing tidal volume, increasing strengths of wind and storms, and increasing fresh water inflow as a result of an increasing precipitation in the more central sites of Europe.