Short-term coastal dynamics and implications for energy infrastructure safety: insights from the Baltic Sea coast

ABSTRACTTo resolve historical misinterpretations of species descriptions and to comprehend the morphological diversity together with the distribution of Ulva compressa Linnaeus in northern Germany, a morphological and molecular study was undertaken of recently collected specimens and herbarium vouchers. Phylogenetic analyses from sequences of the plastid encoded tufA gene confirmed that U. compressa is abundant along the German Baltic Sea and North Sea coasts. We were able to genetically confirm the presence of U. compressa in the Baltic Sea below salinities of 15 PSU. However, we detected morphologies agreeing with the attached and branched tubular type material only in the North Sea, while U. compressa on Baltic Sea coasts indiscriminately exhibited a very distinct morphology of sheet-like thalli that were always unattached, with the exception of one collection site. Drifting forms were also frequently detected in the Wadden Sea, but not on the island of Helgoland. The tufA sequences of attached and tubular forms of U. compressa from the German Wadden Sea were identical to the drifting sheets found in the Wadden and Baltic Seas and the sequence divergence was extremely small at ≤0.9%. The proliferating, blade-like thalli of U. compressa appear as a nuisance ecotype that is able to form massive accumulations associated with oxygen depletion. Mass accumulations were observed to cause severe damage and increased mortality of habitat forming Zostera and Ruppia populations.

In 2000, the European Union acknowledged Denmark as an official wine growing country. Recently Rattey and Burg Stargard (near the German Baltic Sea coast) received its official recognition as the northernmost German wine-growing area. These are just exemplary cases, which reflect the ongoing northwards extension of vineyards and the ongoing re-introduction of viniculture around the Baltic Sea. It is already a clear indicator of a recently warmer climate. Grapes favour warm and sunny summers, with average temperatures of at least 13–15°C during the growing season (April–October), sufficient precipitation and mild, dry autumns. For wine growing the average annual temperatures should be between 9 and 13°C and the annual accumulated sunshine hours should at least reach 1,100 h. Along the southern Baltic Sea coast these conditions are already met, suitable grape varieties like Helios or Solaris exist and allow a commercial wine production. These new grape varieties, possess a high degree of resistance towards fungal diseases, considerably reduce plant protection measures and thus allow an environmental friendly viniculture. Viniculture in marginal regions, like at the Baltic Sea coast, is more laborious, bears more risks, and the crop yields will be lower compared to the traditional wine regions. On the other side, tourists, collectors, and the increasing wine interested audience are willing to pay much more per bottle than for a comparative product from a traditional German wine region. However, viniculture at the Baltic Sea coast has to be regarded as an attraction and can hardly become a large-scale agricultural product. Large amounts of tourists visit the southern Baltic Sea coast during summer-month. In future, warmer summers and higher water temperatures will allow an increase in tourism and an extension of the summer season. However, the rural coastal hinterland does not benefit much from these tourists, because attractions are lacking. The growing interest in wine as cultural element and increasing wine-tourism indicate that vineries could serve as attractions and support the sustainable rural development. Further, viniculture is labour-intensive, would create jobs in rural areas and could contribute to a revitalization of the countryside.

The purpose of this article is estimations regularities of morphology and dynamic different types of coastal arcs within coastal zone during newest time. The main objectives of the article are: a) analysis of published information and self original results during natural research along the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Baltic Sea coasts; b) content, estimation and consideration of shore sediment and relief in a arc coastal zone; c) composition and valuation of special illustration, maps and graphs; d) discussion and account of the general conclusions according aim of the manuscript. The object of the article is a coastal zone of the non-tidal with opened shore arcs (bays). The subject is research, cartography and estimation of coastal zone nature with opened shore arcs and receiving of scientific materials and its regularities. Data & Methods. As the starting materials for the research used information about the lithological and morphological characteristics of a number of beaches, of open coastal arcs – bays and gulfs of the Black and Baltic seas. Some of the investigated bays was mapping the route-forwarding methods. Another part of the coast is regularly measured by stationary method, which revealed the dynamics of the beaches. Additionally use information about beaches in the bays of other seas, which made it possible to carry out physical-geographical comparisons and establish a wide range of laws. Results are showed in illustrations and in conclusions of the article after geographical discussion and estimations. Around environment shore arcs variety located along coastal zone of different seas. The basical differences are genetic, morphometric, lithologic, dynamic features. Shore open arcs distinguished on: a) structural forms: its occupied natural depressions and characterized by endogenic genesis; b) sculpture forms: its elaborating by abrasion, denudation, weathering, fluvial processes. The beaches are most complicated accumulate forms. Also, the non-tidal Black Sea coast stand out by diversity of a shore arcs. Long time natural research of arc-beaches during every year showed a complicated regularities of distribution of Md, So, directing sediment fraction, and wide, high, incline of different beaches. At the same time, wind-wave flow of energy distribution, its dissipation above the submarine slope, genesis of sediment and its drifting within the coastal arcs. As a comparative material ware considered a several coastal arcs (coils) along shorelines of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. New scientific material was received about distribution of different the beach parameters within shore-arcs on a seas. The materials and conclusions can used during elaboration of industrial projects by sea-port, coastal protection, recreating buildings, transport hydrotechnical constructions, different communication across coastal zone from sea to land, and back.

Kudryavtseva, N.; Räämet, A., and Soomere, T., 2020. Coastal flooding: Joint probability of extreme water levels and waves along the Baltic Sea coast. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 1146–1151. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.An accurate assessment of the joint probability of water levels and waves is crucial to establish appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies for possible flooding and coastal erosion in countries with extensive low-lying nearshore areas. The simultaneous occurrence of large waves and high still water levels can significantly increase the risk of flooding and damage of coastal constructions. In this study, the water level extremes were retrieved from simulated high-resolution 3D NEMO-Nordic water level data along the Baltic Sea coast with a spatial resolution of 2 nautical miles (∼3.7 km) and time resolution of 1 hour. The wave height data were obtained from the numerical simulations using the WAM wave model with adjusted geostrophic wind forcing with 3 nautical miles spatial resolution and the time resolution of 1 hour. Using the Archimedean copula approach, the likelihood of joint occurrence of high water levels and wave heights was evaluated along the whole Baltic Sea coast for 1979–2007. Four distinctive regions in the Baltic Sea were identified following differences in the dependence between the sea level and wave height extremes in terms of their correlation. The Arkona basin and eastern part of the Baltic proper have low dependence (correlation coefficient <0.2), the Gulf of Riga, the Gulf of Finland and north-western part of the Baltic Proper exhibit moderate dependence (0.2–0.5), the Sea of Bothnia has the strongest dependence (0.5–0.7), and the Bay of Bothnia has a dependence in the range of 0.2–0.4, similar to the central Baltic Sea region. The joint probability analysis showed that the highest risk of simultaneous appearance of water level and wave height extremes is observed in the Sea of Bothnia. The study demonstrates that it is crucial to consider the combination of both water levels and wave heights in all regions of the Baltic Sea except for the southern areas.

The number of Vibrio -related infections in humans, e.g., by Vibrio vulnificus , has increased along the coasts of the Baltic Sea. Due to climate change, vibriosis risk is expected to increase. It is, therefore, pertinent to design a strategy for mitigation of the vibriosis threat in the Baltic Sea area, but a prerequisite is to identify the environmental conditions promoting the occurrence of pathogenic Vibrio spp., like V. vulnificus . To address this, we sampled three coastal Baltic sites in Finland, Germany, and Denmark with salinities between 6 and 21 from May to October 2022. The absolute and relative abundances of Vibrio spp. and V. vulnificus in water were compared to environmental conditions, including the presence of the eelgrass Zostera marina , which has been suggested to reduce pathogenic Vibrio species abundance. In the water column, V. vulnificus only occurred at the German station between July and August at salinity 8.1–11.2. Temperature and phosphate (PO 4 3– ) were identified as the most influencing factors for Vibrio spp. and V. vulnificus . The accumulation of Vibrio spp. in the sediment and the co-occurrence with sediment bacteria in the water column indicate that sediment resuspension contributed to V. vulnificus abundance. Interestingly, V. vulnificus co-occurred with specific cyanobacteria taxa, as well as specific bacteria associated with cyanobacteria. Although we found no reduction in Vibrio spp. or V. vulnificus associated with eelgrass beds, our study underscores the importance of extended heatwaves and sediment resuspension, which may elevate the availability of PO 4 3– , for Vibrio species levels at intermediate salinities in the Baltic Sea. IMPORTANCE Elevated sea surface temperatures are increasing the prevalence of pathogenic Vibrio at higher latitudes. The recent increase in Vibrio -related wound infections and deaths along the Baltic coasts is, therefore, of serious health concern. We used culture-independent data generated from three Baltic coastal sites in Denmark, Germany, and Finland from May to October (2022), with a special focus on Vibrio vulnificus , and combined it with environmental data. Our temporal model shows that temperature, combined with sediment resuspension, drives the prevalence of V. vulnificus at intermediate salinities in the coastal Baltic Sea.

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Coastal areas are under rapid changes. Management to face flooding hazards in changing climate is of great significance due to the major impact of flooding events in densely populated coastal regions, where also important and vulnerable infrastructure is located. The sea level of the Baltic Sea is affected by internal fluctuations caused by wind, air pressure and seiche oscillations, and by variations of the water volume due to the water exchange between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea through the Danish Straits. The highest sea level extremes are caused by cyclones moving over the region. The most vulnerable locations are at the ends of the bays. St. Petersburg, located at the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland, has experienced major sea floods in 1777, 1824 and 1924.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In order to study the effects of the depths and tracks of cyclones on the extreme sea levels, we have developed a method to generate cyclones for numerical sea level studies. A cyclone is modelled as a two-dimensional Gaussian function with adjustable horizontal size and depth. The cyclone moves through the Baltic Sea region with given direction and velocity. The output of this method is the gridded data set of mean sea level pressure and wind components which are used as an input for the sea level model. The internal variations of the Baltic Sea are calculated with a numerical barotropic sea level model, and the water volume variations are evaluated using a statistical sea level model based on wind speeds near the Danish Straits. The sea level model simulations allow us to study extremely rare but physically plausible sea level events that have not occurred during the observation period at the Baltic Sea coast. The simulation results are used to investigate extreme sea levels that could occur at selected sites at the Finnish coastline.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;

This paper analyzes the Baltic Sea coast measurements taken during the period between 2008 and 2015. The formation of the strip of the Northern breakwater - Giruliai during this period was influenced by the Hurricane Felix on January 10 of 2015. Describing the Baltic Sea coast strip dynamics trends, the Baltic Sea coastline change during the period between 2008 and 2015 was selected and calculated on the basis of the measurements results. Analysis of the erosive and accumulation processes of strip from the northern breakwater to Giruliai strip was provided. The carried out data of the Baltic Sea coast changes analysis show that seacoast limits are constantly changing. Reasons for the changes: swell, prevailing winds, extreme climatic events, underwater currents movement. The replenishment of the Baltic seacoast spatial data set during the period between 2008 and 2013 with the revised spatial data of the period between 2014 and 2015 showed that during the months of January during the period between 2008 and 2015 the 4 km long strip of the Baltic Sea coast (from the Northern breakwater to Giruliai) decreased by 3.7075 ha, in the Ist Melnrage area, the 0.7 km long strip of coastline has moved more than 30 m inland. It was found that in the southern half of the researched section erosional processes prevailed, while in the northern part – both erosional and accumulative ones.

Are Bladderwrack ( Fucus vesiculosus L.) holdfasts that support several fronds composed of one or several genetic individuals?

Aims: Baltic Sea coastal grasslands are influenced by saline or brackish sea water, a narrow tidal range and non-intensive land use. Since their designation as Natura 2000 habitat types under the EU Habitats Directive, they have become an important conservation issue in Europe. Little supra-regional research has been conducted to date on their floristic and ecological diversity, syntaxonomy and geographic variation. We surveyed the geographical distribution and syntaxonomical variation of saline and brackish grasslands to highlight large-scale gradients in species composition, as well as underlying climatic and other abiotic factors. We discuss the resulting vegetation types in the context of northern Europe and review implications for conservation. Study area: Baltic Sea coast. Methods: We compiled a comprehensive plot-based vegetation dataset for the Baltic Sea coast and subsequently selected releves by species composition and plot size. We classified 3,732 releves, using modified TWINSPAN, identified differential species and syntaxa, and performed a DCA with post-hoc fitted intrinsic and climatic variables. We tested main differences in relevant factors for significance. Results: The classification resulted in 33 vegetation types of differing distribution range and area. Most common were the classes Juncetea maritimi and Molinio-Arrhenatheretea, with the classes Phragmito-Magnocaricetea, Cakiletea maritimae, Saginetea maritimae, Scheuchzerio palustris-Caricetea fuscae and Koelerio-Corynephoretea canescentis also present. Baltic Sea coastal grasslands vary in soil salinity and moisture and, to a lesser extent, in nutrient availability and base content. Conclusions: Variation in the plant communities reflects regional phytogeographical patterns. Communities most similar to north-west European coastal grassland types are characterized by euhaline to α-mesohaline site conditions. Designations of the Natura 2000 habitat types H1330 and H1630 require revision. Many Baltic Sea coastal grassland plant communities include species threatened at the national level.

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Excess bioavailable nitrogen (N) is the key driver of coastal eutrophication, thus knowledge on the fate of N in coastal systems is imperative for improving eutrophication mitigation measures. In the coastal Baltic Sea, benthic heterotrophic denitrification, the main process of bioavailable N-removal from a coastal system, has recently been suggested to be seasonally limited by labile organic carbon (OC) availability&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;1&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; - despite the system&amp;amp;#180;s richness in labile organic matter from long-term eutrophication. This challenges our common understanding of the intrinsic link between C- and N-cycling, and highlights the need for a more advanced concept of OC availability. Hence, in this project, we (i) extensively characterized the biochemical composition of coastal OC beyond traditional descriptors of &amp;amp;#8216;lability&amp;amp;#8217;, applying techniques such as isotopic fingerprinting and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, and (ii) concurrently quantified benthic nitrate reduction rates both with and without addition of easily degradable OC (glucose), to ultimately confirm and understand proposed OC-limitation of denitrification in coastal sediments. All measurements were done in high temporal and spatial resolution at the southern coast of Finland, covering a three-month period from late winter to early summer that included the peak annual input of fresh organic matter to the benthic system by the phytoplankton spring bloom. First results will be presented and their implications for understanding seasonal N turnover and coastal eutrophication dynamics will be discussed.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;1&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;Hellemann D, Tallberg P, Aalto SL, Bartoli M, Hietanen S (2020) Seasonal cycle of benthic denitrification and DNRA in the aphotic&amp;amp;#160; coastal zone, northern Baltic Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 637:15&amp;amp;#8211;28&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;

BackgroundThe arrival of many species of migrant passerine in the European spring has shifted earlier over recent decades, attributed to climate change and rising temperatures in Europe and west Africa. Few studies have shown the effects of climate change in both hemispheres though many long-distance migrants use wintering grounds which span Africa. The migrants’ arrival in Europe thus potentially reflects a combination of the conditions they experience across Africa. We examine if the timing of spring migration of a long-distance migrant, the Willow Warbler, is related to large-scale climate indices across Africa and Europe.MethodsUsing data from daily mistnetting from 1 April to 15 May in 1982–2017 at Bukowo (Poland, Baltic Sea coast), we developed an Annual Anomaly metric (AA, in days) to estimate how early or late Willow Warblers arrive each spring in relation to their multi-year average pattern. The Willow Warblers’ spring passage advanced by 5.4 days over the 36 years. We modelled AA using 14 potential explanatory variables in multiple regression models. The variables were the calendar year and 13 large-scale indices of climate in Africa and Europe averaged over biologically meaningful periods of two to four months during the year before spring migration.ResultsThe best model explained 59% of the variation in AA with seven variables: Northern Atlantic Oscillation (two periods), Indian Ocean Dipole, Southern Oscillation Index, Sahel Precipitation Anomaly, Scandinavian Index and local mean temperatures. The study also confirmed that a long-term trend for Willow Warblers to arrive earlier in spring continued up to 2017.DiscussionOur results suggest that the timing of Willow Warbler spring migration at the Baltic Sea coast is related to a summation of the ecological conditions they had encountered over the previous year during breeding, migration south, wintering in Africa and migration north. We suggest these large-scale climate indices reflect ecological drivers for phenological changes in species with complex migration patterns and discuss the ways in which each of the seven climate indices could be related to spring migration at the Baltic Sea coast.

Global ocean warming results in an increase of infectious diseases including an elevated emergence of Vibrio spp. in Northern Europe. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported annual periods of high to very high risks of infection with Vibrio spp. during summer months along the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts. Based on those facts, the risk of Vibrio infections associated with recreational bathing in European coastal waters increases. To obtain an overview of the seasonal and spatial distribution of potentially human pathogenic Vibrio spp. at German coasts, this study monitored V. cholerae, V. parahaemolyticus, and V. vulnificus at seven recreational bathing areas from 2017 to 2018, including the heat wave event in summer 2018. The study shows that all three Vibrio species occurred in water and sediment samples at all sampling sites. Temperature was shown to be the main driving factor of Vibrio abundance, whereas Vibrio community composition was mainly modulated by salinity. A species-specific rapid increase was observed at water temperatures above 10°C, reaching the highest detection numbers during the heat wave event with abundances of 4.5 log10 CFU+1/100 ml of seawater and 6.5 log10 CFU+1/100 g of sediment. Due to salinity, the dominant Vibrio species found in North Sea samples was V. parahaemolyticus, whereas V. vulnificus was predominantly detected in Baltic Sea samples. Most detections of V. cholerae were associated with estuarine samples from both seas. Vibrio spp. concentrations in sediments were up to three log higher compared to water samples, indicating that sediments are an important habitat for Vibrio spp. to persist in the environment. Antibiotic resistances were found against beta-lactam antibiotics (ampicillin 31%, cefazolin 36%, and oxacillin and penicillin 100%) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (45%). Moreover, isolates harboring pathogenicity-associated genes such as trh for V. parahaemolyticus as well as vcg, cap/wcv, and the 16S rRNA-type B variant for V. vulnificus were detected. All sampled V. cholerae isolates were identified as non-toxigenic non-O1/non-O139 serotypes. To sum up, increasing water temperatures at German North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts provoke elevated Vibrio numbers and encourage human recreational water activities, resulting in increased exposure rates. Owing to a moderate Baltic Sea salinity, the risk of V. vulnificus infections is of particular concern.

ABSTRACTThis case study considers the touristic characteristics of maritime borders on the Baltic Sea coast. A sequential model is proposed to describe cross-border tourism development, tourist flows and tourism partnerships, and takes account of the particularities of transnational tourism development on the Polish Baltic coast. The paper questions whether and how tourism contributes to transboundary integration and the movement of people in the southern Baltic from the perspective of border changes between Poland and its neighbors. The southern Baltic is a newly emerging space for cross-border tourism development that is undergoing various levels of integration, thanks to the abolition of traditional border functions. The article tries to answer a question about tourism’s role in the integration and the movement of people in the southern Baltic from the perspective of changes in border functions in Poland and its neighboring states.

Main task of this research is to make suggestions for further research on land cover change and to use land cover change analysis as indicator of micro-climate change in example of Lithuanian Baltic Sea coastal zone. Coastal zones are among those areas that have been subject to intense human pressure due to their natural resources. As a transitional zone, between land and sea, coastal zones hold some of the most valuable and productive habitats on earth. Huge amounts of energy circulate in these zones, which attracts all sort of human interest and activities (Rivis et al, 2016; Schlacher et al., 2014; Bicknell et al., Sperb et al., 2006). A large number of population lives near the coastal zone. Analysis on the land use and land cover change as a consequence on human livelihoods as well as on the environment is a matter of concern for sustainable development and management of natural resources. The Baltic Sea and coast is one of the most vital natural resources of Lithuania. Only a small part of the Baltic Sea coast belongs to Lithuania (~91 km.) and almost half of it belongs to the National park area and Natura 2000 or other prohibited area (State Cadastre of Protected Areas, 2014). Retrospective analysis of land cover dynamics and its driving force has been undertaken using satellite images of Landsat5 TM year 1989, Landsat5 TM year 2000 and Landsat8 TM year 2014 and 2016 with 30 m spatial resolution of Lithuanian Western part. Analysis of building’s geodatabase (year 1997 and 2016) applied on orthophoto of Lithuanian Western part was made in order to identify socio-economic change and its difference’s impact to nowadays land cover change. In detail statistical, mathematical analysis of ongoing processes have been made using national statistical data and in field trips of most areas of interest. Results showed that during research period landscapes in terms of agriculture, urbanization and human behavior had changed the most. Further research will be carried out in terms of micro-climate change evaluation.

Genetic structure of pike (Esox lucius Linnaeus, 1758) populations along the Polish coast of the southern Baltic Sea: Comparison to Danish brackish population