Nyetablering av strandängar på Gotland : bevarande vid förhöjd havsnivå

Sammanfattning: AbstractSeashore meadows are threatened of sea level rise which is a consequence of an increasing temperature and an effect of climate change caused by greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. The island Gotland of Sweden is at risk of losing all of its seashore meadows under sea level by the year of 2100, when the projected sea level rises between 1-2 m above today’s sea level. The aim of this study is to give more knowledge about how sea level rise will affect seashore meadows on Gotland. With better understanding about future sea level rise and knowledge about shore meadow vegetation ecology the hope is that new sea shore meadows are possible to establish higher up on land. This study also intends to answer the question if future seashore meadows are going to act as functional living environments for conservation of biodiversity. The total sum of 15 seashore meadows that were investigated in the field are classified as Boreal Baltic coastal meadows with the Natura 2000 classification code 1630. All meadows contained seashore species that are classified as characteristic species and/or typical species according to the EU Natura 2000 classification system. The seashore meadow species were located adjacent to the coastline at today’s sea level and up to 1 m above todays sea level. Based on the field investigation it is certain that there is a distribution of seashore species along a gradient from today’s sea level and upwards on land. Future seashore meadows according to this study should be in an interval between the future sea level and up to 1 m above that. The choice of future areas for seashore meadow establishment should be based upon the functional connectivity between todays and the future seashore meadows, for a conservation of the nature type in a future climate on Gotland.