SeaArt

SeaArt - Long-term establishment of seagrass ecosystems through biodegradable artificial meadows

Seagrass meadows are important ecosystems that perform numerous functions for humans, but are also endangered by them. Seagrass growth occurs in a feedback loop where the presence of seagrass dampens waves and currents and reduces water turbidity. This improves the growth conditions for more seaweed. However, reintroduction is almost impossible without existing seagrass. Over the next four years, researchers at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the Dutch Institute for Marine Research and the company Soiltec GmbH will develop an artificial seagrass that creates good growth conditions for natural seagrass, which is intended to break the vicious circle of resettlement. The artificial seagrass will consist exclusively of biodegradable materials, so that a purely natural seagrass meadow will be created in the long term. In addition, the project team will investigate which areas in the German North Sea are particularly suitable for the resettlement of seagrass in order to be able to start a first attempt at resettlement with the help of biodegradable artificial meadows in a follow-up project.

FZK is involved with a sub-project that will start in 2017.

Short video about the project idea