WELLINGTON, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and New Zealand scientists are working together on caring for coastal wetlands against sea level rise under a three-year collaboration.
The University of Auckland and Hohai University in China's Nanjing and East China Normal University in Shanghai have been funded by the New Zealand government's New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance program and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, to cooperate to manage wetlands which protect coastlines from erosion, provide habitats for flora and fauna, reduce flooding and store carbon.
New Zealand has already lost more than 90 percent of its wetlands, mainly due to drainage and conversion to farmland, according to the research team from the University of Auckland.
Under the collaborative initiative, the New Zealand scientists focused on computer modeling to guide wetland management, including the potential to restore mangroves and salt marshes on low-lying farmland where seawater is encroaching, said Karin Bryan, a professor from the University of Auckland's School of Environment.
Sophisticated models simulate tide flows and sediment shifts, even incorporating the effects on tide flows from friction with newly established vegetation, Bryan said, adding they predict "blue carbon" effects such as carbon burial and emission changes.
The Chinese team will stress-test some of their models in New Zealand conditions. Very different stretches of wetlands in east China's coastal Jiangsu Province and New Zealand's Northland will feature in the research.
"Each life stage of a plant in a wetland requires specific conditions to establish, survive and grow, so getting the flow pathways of the incoming and outcoming tide correct, including during storms, is vital," Bryan said, adding where tide flows are a problem, digging networks of channels and keeping some areas at high elevations can be solutions. ■
