Prof. Katja Philippart
Director, Wadden Academy, Netherland
[Session 2-2] Impacts of Climate Change on Primary Benthic Production
In depositional intertidal coastal systems, primary production is dominated by benthic microalgae (microphytobenthos) inhabiting the mudflats. This benthic productivity is supporting secondary production and supplying important services to humans including food provisioning. Increased frequencies of extreme events in weather (such as heatwaves, storm surges and cloudbursts) are expected to strongly impact the spatiotemporal dynamics of the microphytobenthos and subsequently their contribution to coastal food webs.
The Wadden Academy aims to furnish the scientific foundations for an economically and ecologically responsible future in the Wadden Sea Region, a World Heritage Site (o.a. by comparative analyses of the ecology and economy of other coastal intertidal systems).
Participant of Global Inter-Korean Marine Project.