Impact of climate change on Estonian coastal and inland wetlands : a summary with new results

The natural environment of Estonia is sensitive to climate change due to its location in a transitional zone between areas with different bioclimatic conditions. We studied the NAO index and data on temperature, moisture, wind, and sea level regimes in Estonia and the Baltic Sea region. We also looked at the relationships between meteorological forcing time series and changes in wetlands. The effects of changing climatic conditions are clearly reflected in the data from the station at Tooma mire, where we identified shorter snow-cover duration, decreased soil-frost depth and changed groundwater levels in the bog. In comparing various types of Estonian wetlands under such changing climatic conditions, we also identified greater instability in the character of coastal wetlands compared to that of the inland bogs. We found that the most marked coastal changes in Estonia result from a combination of strong storms, high sea levels induced by storm surge, ice free seas and unfrozen sediments. Finally, we also found that a significant trend in the development of seashore grasslands is the replacement of former meadows by reed beds, shrubberies or woodland.