Climate-smart potential#
Description#
Areas/communities/species with climate change adaptive, mitigation, resilience potential (i.e., climate-smart potential).
Definition: This macro-criterion focuses on identifying areas and species that offer significant climate benefits, such as contributing to climate mitigation protection and restoration, enhancing ecosystem and community resilience, and facilitating adaptation to climate change. The assessment of climate-smart potential is based on evaluating biodiversity vulnerability to current and future climate change impacts, alongside the analysis of climate velocities. This macro-criterion is supported by several specific criteria outlined in section 5.1.1 of D3.3, including the “Concentrative Potential of Species of Climatic Interest” (which, although largely theoretical, has been empirically demonstrated in some species for their recovery/resilience or adaptability to climate change), “Potential for Mitigation” (for example, through carbon sequestration and acidity buffering, as discussed by Jacquemont et al., 2022), “Potential for Adaptation”, “Connectivity Potential”, and “Climatic Stability” (which encompasses both dynamic stability and climate-refugia).
Example of applications: 1. Identifying of climate-smart areas and or key species; 2. Evaluating of mitigation and adaptation potential inside a management entity; 3. Evaluating of the potential future productivity of areas of interest under climate change and climate change incidence on local communities (e.g., in the context of fisheries planning); 4. Evaluating local risks (e.g., food supply); 5. Informing the design of MPAs and MPA networks (D3.3, section 6).
Kotta et al. (2024) Ecological toolkit (ESE1) for MPAs prioritization and networking. Deliverable – D3.4., under the WP3 of MSP4BIO project (GA n° 101060707)