A German university aims at re-establishing natural seagrass meadows by installing an artificial one that creates suitable hydrodynamic conditions for seagrass settlement. The artificial seagrass should biodegrade after a given time as the long term aim is to have a purely natural seagrass meadow. The project will be a joint effort of ecologists, hydrodynamicists and material developers. The sought partner should be interested to devolop the required material and/or explore new business avenues.

Description

Seagrass meadows provide important services, both from an economical as well as ecological point of view. They provide food and shelter for juvenile fish and other animals and it has been proven that fisheries revenue increases when the size and condition of seagrass meadows improve. Additionally, they stabilise sediment and reduce wave energy, hence provide coastal protection and serves as ecosystem engineer. The reduced hydrodynamic conditions and stabilised sediment creates conditions more suitable for the seagrass itself, enabling meadow growth in a positive feedback loop.

However, seagrass meadows around the world are declining for various reasons (e.g. anthropogenic pressure, diseases) and attempts to re-establish lost meadows has been mainly unsuccessful so far.

It is hypothesised that the physical conditions (e.g. hydrodynamic conditions, substrate), in most cases unvegetated, are not optimal for seagrass settling and transplantation, even if seagrass has grown there at an earlier stage. Therefore, a university from the northern part of Germany has the idea to develop an artificial seagrass that can be placed in locations that are generally suitable for seagrass re-establishment, but not quite optimal for initial settlement. This artificial meadow would then provide the ecosystem engineering function and would promote growth of natural seagrass (either transplanted or seeded) in its vicinity. Given that seagrass meadows grow in shallow coastal waters that have a high value from a nature conservation as well as tourism point of view, the artificial seagrass needs to look and feel similar to its natural counterpart to pose minimal visual obstruction. For the same reasons it is not desirable that the artificial seagrass stays in place long

term as this may be considered pollution. Especially, if sections break off and get washed up on recreational beaches. It is therefore envisaged to use a biodegradable material that will decompose into natural substances after a given time, when the natural meadow is established and its function is not required anymore. This project requires an ecologist that addresses the habitat requirements of seagrass and has expertise in seagrass transplantation. Further, it needs a hydrodynamicist that quantifies existing hydrodynamic conditions and investigates the effect of natural and artificial seagrass on waves, flow and sediment. And it requires a material scientist, ideally from a commercial enterprise, that develops a biodegradable material which can be installed in a seagrass like fashion.

Technical Specification or Expertise Sought

The required material should be flexible and buoyant to resemble the posture and motion of seagrass when strips of it are placed in the sea. It should also look similar (e.g. in colour) to blend in with the environment. It needs to be salt water resistant and should stay intact for approx. 3-5 years (remains to be defined) and should start to degrade into biological components afterwards. During its lifetime, it must not contain substances that can be harmful to marine animals (large and small), should these accidentally feed or settle on it.

Los grupos de investigación que estén interesados, pueden contactar con la OTRI en la siguiente dirección: otri@uco.es Tlfno: 957-218022. Preguntar por Luis Barrón. Esta demanda caduca el 27/04/2014