Biogeochemical Transformations In The Baltic Sea

This book provides a comprehensive review of the biogeochemistry in the Baltic Sea. It is based on the fact that biogeochemical processes that are relevant for the ecological state of the Baltic Sea (and other sea areas), are all in some way related to the production and mineralization of organic matter (biomass) and thus are associated with the consumption or release of CO2. The significant progress with regard to our chemical analytical capabilities concerning the marine CO2 system has facilitated new approaches to study the Baltic Sea biogeochemistry, in particular with regard to a quantitative process understanding. To demonstrate this, the authors present the fundamentals of the marine CO2 system in a theoretically sound, but still intelligible way. This is followed by a comprehensive presentation of our current knowledge about the CO2 system in the Baltic Sea and the implications for our understanding of biogeochemical processes such as production/mineralization of organic matter and the stoichiometry involved, nitrogen fixation, denitrification, and phosphate transformations at varying redox conditions. Finally, the CO2 gas exchange balance and related problems such as acidification are addressed.

​This book is an update of the first BACC assessment, published in 2008. It offers new and updated scientific findings in regional climate research for the Baltic Sea basin. These include climate changes since the last glaciation (approx. 12,000 years ago), changes in the recent past (the last 200 years), climate projections up until 2100 using state-of-the-art regional climate models and an assessment of climate-change impacts on terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. There are dedicated new chapters on sea-level rise, coastal erosion and impacts on urban areas. A new set of chapters deals with possible causes of regional climate change along with the global effects of increased greenhouse gas concentrations, namely atmospheric aerosols and land-cover change. The evidence collected and presented in this book shows that the regional climate has already started to change and this is expected to continue. Projections of potential future climates show that the region will probably become considerably warmer and wetter in some parts, but dryer in others. Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems have already shown adjustments to increased temperatures and are expected to undergo further changes in the near future. The BACC II Author Team consists of 141 scientists from 12 countries, covering various disciplines related to climate research and related impacts. BACC II is a project of the Baltic Earth research network and contributes to the World Climate Research Programme.

The Baltic Sea is an area extensively explored by the oceanographers. Hence it is one of the most often described marine areas in the scientific literature. However, there are still several fields which are poorly investigated and reported by scientists. One of them is the carbon cycle of the Baltic Sea. Although it is believed the shelf seas are responsible for about 20% of all marine carbon dioxide uptake, while they constitute only 7% of the whole sea surface, still a scientific debate exists on the role of the Baltic Sea in the global carbon cycle. “Carbon cycle of the Baltic Sea” is intended to be a comprehensive presentation and discussion of state of the art research by biogeochemists involved in the Baltic Sea carbon cycle research. This work presents both qualitative and quantitative descriptions of the main carbon flows in the Baltic Sea as well as their possible shifts induced by climatic and global change.

The Baltic Sea oceanographic research community is wide and the research history is over 100 years old. Nevertheless, there is still no single, coherent book on the physical oceanography of the Baltic Sea as a whole. There is a strong need for such a book, coming from working oceanographers as well as the university teaching programmes in advanced undergraduate to graduate levels. In the regional conference series in physical oceanography (Baltic Sea Science Conference, Baltic Sea Oceanographers' conference, Baltex-conferences) about 500 scientists take part regularly. Even more scientists work in the fields of marine biology, chemistry and the environment, and they need information on the physics of the Baltic Sea as well. There are nine countries bordering on the Baltic Sea and five more in the runoff area. The Baltic Sea as a source of fish, means of transportation and leisure activities is highly important to the regional society. In the runoff area there are a total of 85 million people. Research and protection strategies need to be developed, as the Baltic Sea is probably the most polluted sea in the world. Since the Baltic Sea has become an inner sea of the EU (apart from small shore parts of Russia in Petersburg and Kaliningrad), it is anticipated that the importance of the region will consequently rise. The book will arouse interest among students, scientists and decision makers involved with the Baltic problems. It will also give important background information for those working with biogeochemical processes in the Baltic Sea, because the physical forcing for those processes is of vital importance.

Based on a fifty-year study conducted by the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, this book brings together a comprehensive summary of their observations and findings. Written by well-known experts, this revealing book concentrates on long-term changes in the Baltic Sea?which can be extrapolated to shed light on the environmental problems of other shelf seas, brackish seas, and large estuaries?thereby contributing to our understanding of water exchange processes, eutrophication, and climatic impacts at the forefront of international concern.

This is the first comprehensive science-based textbook on the biology and ecology of the Baltic Sea, one of the world’s largest brackish water bodies. The aim of this book is to provide students and other readers with knowledge about the conditions for life in brackish water, the functioning of the Baltic Sea ecosystem and its environmental problems and management. It highlights biological variation along the unique environmental gradients of the brackish Baltic Sea Area (the Baltic Sea, Belt Sea and Kattegat), especially those in salinity and climate. pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#262626">The first part of the book presents the challenges for life processes and ecosystem dynamics that result from the Baltic Sea’s highly variable recent geological history and geographical isolation. The second part explains interactions between organisms and their environment, including biogeochemical cycles, patterns of biodiversity, genetic diversity and evolution, biological invasions and physiological adaptations. In the third part, the subsystems of the Baltic Sea ecosystem – the pelagic zone, the sea ice, the deep soft sea beds, the phytobenthic zone, the sandy coasts, and estuaries and coastal lagoons – are treated in detail with respect to the structure and function of communities and habitats and consequences of natural and anthropogenic constraints, such as climate change, discharges of nutrients and hazardous substances. Finally, the fourth part of the book discusses monitoring and ecosystem-based management to deal with contemporary and emerging threats to the ecosystem’s health.

For many years the reduction of eutrophication in the Baltic Sea has been a hot issue for mass-media, science, political parties and environmental action groups with manifold implications related to fisheries (will the Baltic cod survive?), sustainable coastal development (have billions of Euros been wasted on nitrogen reductions?), ecotoxicology (can we safely eat Baltic fish?). This book takes a holistic process-based ecosystem perspective on the eutrophication in the Baltic Sea, with a focus on the factors regulating how the system would respond to changes in nutrient loading. This includes a very special process for the Baltic Sea: land uplift. After being depressed by the glacial ice, the land is now slowly rising adding vast amounts of previously deposited nutrients and clay particles to the system. 110,000 to 140,000 tons of phosphorus per year are added to the system from land uplift, in comparison to the 30,000 tons of phosphorus per year from rivers.