Manon Janssen, Michael E Böttcher, Martin Brede, Hans Burchardt, Stefan Forster, Ulf Karsten, Peter Leinweber, Bernd Lennartz, Gregor Rehder, Hendrik Schubert

In Baltic TRANSCOAST we study the physical, biogeochemical, and biological processes at the land-ocean interface. The coastal zone is heavily impacted by various human activities as well as by geomorphological and climatic processes – on both the land and the sea side. Land-sea interactions at low lying coastal areas that are often dominated by peatlands, and are a common feature along the Baltic Sea coast, are not well understood. The core hypothesis of Baltic TRANSCOAST is that the shallow sea and the terrestrial peatland have a mutual impact on each other with far-reaching consequences for water and energy fluxes, matter cycling and the biota. The interdisciplinary research focuses on the significance of flooding frequency and duration on biogeochemical processes by concentrating the investigations on three comparison sites. We are assessing how changing boundary conditions (such as climate and land use) affect the hydrology, biota and biogeochemical processes in coastal wetlands and the adjacent marine ecosystem.