Assessing coastal ecosystem impacts of sea-level rise at the global scale via research infrastructure alignment

TERN Australia, a GERI member in the southern hemisphere, produces systematically collected continental-scale time-series ecosystem data. These data are invaluable to a myriad of global models and sustainability reporting and help enable broader cross-continental ecological research. This presentation focuses on the challenges of federating recently introduced sea-level coastal ecosystem research infrastructure for future global impact. Understanding the vulnerability of vegetated coastal habitats is essential - they support biodiversity, filter pollutants, capture sediments and reduce coastal erosion and storm damage. They also on average sequester more carbon per unit area than terrestrial forest and maintain significant sedimentary carbon stocks. Australia has one of the longest coastlines in the world and to date, has over 300 surface elevation table (SET) instruments monitoring sea level rise impacts on coastal wetlands. SETs present a cost-effective methodology, collecting long term empirical datasets that may be integrated into remote sensed data. TERN aims ensuring all Australian SET operators adhere to ‘global standard’ for monitoring and data curation protocols so that the data can be harmonised with that of the 20-30 other countries, including other GERI members, to form the global SET network, systematically assessing and predicting coastal wetland responses to accelerating sea-level rise in the decades ahead.