Habitat Changes Caused by Sea Level Rise, Driven by Climate Change in the Northern Adriatic Coastal Wetlands, Slovenia

Abstract

The constantly increasing anthropogenic pressure on coastal habitats is additionally intensified by climate change effects. Sea level rise is a major threat to the two most important coastal wetlands in Slovenian seacoast, Sečovlje Salina (Sečoveljske soline) and Škocjan Inlet (Škocjanski zatok). Different methods from field vegetation mapping, field geodetic measurements, LIDAR scanning to spatial statistics were used to study effects of rising sea levels. They revealed that the spatial distribution of habitat types follows the micro-elevations. Therefore a habitat transition model could be developed for Sečovlje Salina (Sečoveljske soline) and Škocjan Inlet (Škocjanski zatok). Different scenarios of sea level rise where analysed. The prediction model demonstrated to which degree, how and where coastal habitats will shift to each other and decrease their surfaces in total.