2 ELA WAT: Goals and Conceptual Framework
Sabine Dittmann & Volker Grimm
The "Ecosystem Research Wadden Sea" consisted of four large joint projects
carried out since 1989 on the southern North Sea coast of Germany. The projects
had two major goals which were closely related. One was to develop a protection
and management strategy for the Wadden Sea to preserve the diversity of its biota
and landscape. This aspect also addressed the sustainable use of the Wadden Sea,
i.e. a use of resources in such a way that no long-term decline of biological diversity results and the needs and aspirations of present and future generations are
maintained. This goal was the task of two applied projects within the "Ecosystem
Research Wadden Sea", one in the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the other in
Lower Saxony (Stock et al. 1996; Dittmann et al. 1997; Kellermann et al. 1997).
The second goal was to achieve a fundamental understanding of this ecosystem.
This was the task of two research projects, namely SWAP ("Sylter Wattenmeer
Austausch Prozesse" = "Exchange processes of the Sylt R0m0-bight"), which was
carried out in Schleswig-Holstein (Gatje & Reise 1998), and ELA WAT ("Elastizitat des Okosystems Wattenmeer" = "Resilience of the Wadden Sea ecosystem"; Dittmann et al. 1997), carried out in Lower Saxony.
Although both basic research projects were directed towards the level of the
ecosystem, they retlected two different conceptual approaches to ecosystem research. Ecosystem research can mean an assessment of the tlow of energy and
matter. SWAP followed in the tradition of this approach, which is based on the
insight that all ecological processes ultimately constitute a transformation of matter and energy. However. critics of this approach, which goes back to Odum
(1971). doubt that energy and matter are the only valid currencies in ecology
(Manson & McGlade 1993). They believe it fails to pay attention to the "elements" of ecological systems. the organisms (lax 1996). SWAP was aware of this
critique and did not neglect the study of species.
An alternative approach to ecosystem research follows the original definition of
"ecosystem" by Tansley (1935) more closely, according to which an ecosystem
consists of all the biotic and abiotic components and interactions within a certain
area or landscape (see also Trepl 1988; Golley 1993). ELA WAT followed this
approach. However, this alone would not have been sufficient as a conceptual
framework for ecosystem analysis. as merely describing all the components does
not provide any insight or understanding of essential processes. Interactions can
only be studied in a meaningful way when precise questions are asked about certain mechanisms in the system (cf. Reise 1990).
The development of the conceptual framework for ELA W A T was guided by
the observation that. despite of short-term. seasonal, annual and historical changes
in the Wadden Sea, a certain persistence remains to be seen (Reise 1985). This is
Sabine Dittmann & Volker Grimm
The "Ecosystem Research Wadden Sea" consisted of four large joint projects
carried out since 1989 on the southern North Sea coast of Germany. The projects
had two major goals which were closely related. One was to develop a protection
and management strategy for the Wadden Sea to preserve the diversity of its biota
and landscape. This aspect also addressed the sustainable use of the Wadden Sea,
i.e. a use of resources in such a way that no long-term decline of biological diversity results and the needs and aspirations of present and future generations are
maintained. This goal was the task of two applied projects within the "Ecosystem
Research Wadden Sea", one in the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the other in
Lower Saxony (Stock et al. 1996; Dittmann et al. 1997; Kellermann et al. 1997).
The second goal was to achieve a fundamental understanding of this ecosystem.
This was the task of two research projects, namely SWAP ("Sylter Wattenmeer
Austausch Prozesse" = "Exchange processes of the Sylt R0m0-bight"), which was
carried out in Schleswig-Holstein (Gatje & Reise 1998), and ELA WAT ("Elastizitat des Okosystems Wattenmeer" = "Resilience of the Wadden Sea ecosystem"; Dittmann et al. 1997), carried out in Lower Saxony.
Although both basic research projects were directed towards the level of the
ecosystem, they retlected two different conceptual approaches to ecosystem research. Ecosystem research can mean an assessment of the tlow of energy and
matter. SWAP followed in the tradition of this approach, which is based on the
insight that all ecological processes ultimately constitute a transformation of matter and energy. However. critics of this approach, which goes back to Odum
(1971). doubt that energy and matter are the only valid currencies in ecology
(Manson & McGlade 1993). They believe it fails to pay attention to the "elements" of ecological systems. the organisms (lax 1996). SWAP was aware of this
critique and did not neglect the study of species.
An alternative approach to ecosystem research follows the original definition of
"ecosystem" by Tansley (1935) more closely, according to which an ecosystem
consists of all the biotic and abiotic components and interactions within a certain
area or landscape (see also Trepl 1988; Golley 1993). ELA WAT followed this
approach. However, this alone would not have been sufficient as a conceptual
framework for ecosystem analysis. as merely describing all the components does
not provide any insight or understanding of essential processes. Interactions can
only be studied in a meaningful way when precise questions are asked about certain mechanisms in the system (cf. Reise 1990).
The development of the conceptual framework for ELA W A T was guided by
the observation that. despite of short-term. seasonal, annual and historical changes
in the Wadden Sea, a certain persistence remains to be seen (Reise 1985). This is