South Africa's ecosystems are affected by climate change as well as anthropogenic impacts such as land use change and industrial and agricultural pollution. Soil erosion, eutrophication of water bodies, pollutant inputs with negative effects on local biodiversity are often the result. For the sustainable use of natural resources, a detailed and data-based understanding is essential to assess the relationships between the named consequences, climate change and regionally different, anthropogenic factors, states Dr. Matthias Zabel from MARUM who coordinates TRACES. In addition to current inventories, the distinction between developments from changes in land use and pollution and climatic causes is of great importance. In the joint project TRACES sediment deposits in an estuary, various reservoirs and in a coastal wetland are examined in detail. Particular attention should be paid to sediment archives of the last 250 years.
Partners in TRACES are scientists from the German universities Jena, Greifswald and Bremen, the South African universities in Durban / Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg, as well as the South African Council for Geoscience.
MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen
MARUM aims at understanding the role of the oceans in the Earth’s system by employing state-of-the-art methods. It examines the significance of the oceans within the framework of global change, quantifies interactions between the marine geosphere and biosphere, and provides information for sustainable use of the ocean.
