Marine Life & Conservation
Sea wall ‘eco-engineering’ can help boost biodiversity
Slight modifications to sea defences – at little or no extra cost – can boost the level of biodiversity found in intertidal zones, a study has shown.
Researchers found that attaching artificial rock pools to the structures created habitats suitable for mobile creatures, such as starfish or crabs.
They added that they hoped the results would encourage future designs to incorporate “ecological engineering”.
The findings have been published in the Marine Ecology Progress Series journal.
“When we looked into the economics, more than 80% of money that is spent to protect coastlines from climatic changes is spent building new sea walls, increasing the height, stability and length of existing ones,” explained co-author Mark Browne, an ecologist based at the US-based National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.
“This is because we want to protect human lives and we also want to protect the important infrastructure.”
“But when we looked at how those seawalls were being built, they were being built according to engineering and financial criteria, not really on their capacity to support marine life.”
Dr Browne, who was based at the University of Sydney for the research, said colleague and co-author Prof Gee Chapman had spent many years examining how plants and animals found in the intertidal area of shorelines were affected by engineering.
“The overwhelming evidence she had was that there were major differences between the types of organisms that you find on seawalls compared with those on natural shorelines,” he said.
“One of the major differences was the absence of mobile organisms – such as limpets, starfish and crabs.”
So the researchers set up an experiment to find out why this was the case and what could be done to mitigate the impact of the structures.
Previous studies had shown that when artificial shorelines replaced the natural ones, there was usually a change of species locally as sedimentary habitat was replaced with hard materials.
“Although many native species live on the hard substratum, they are not usually the same species that live in or on soft substratum,” they wrote.
They suggested that the changes to the composition of organisms living on or near the structure may be the result of the steep sides of the sea defences, limiting the intertidal area available to species.
“Alternatively, the walls may lack important intertidal habitats microhabitats,” they added. “The most obvious are rock pools.”
In order to test the idea whether simple additions to otherwise featureless sea walls in Sydney Harbour would make the structures more biodiversity friendly, the researchers installed a number of large, concrete flowerpots to create artificial rock pools.
They observed: “The size of the pot, its height on the wall and its location affected the assemblages that developed, with greater abundances and diversity of organisms in shallower pots and those at mid-shore levels.”
Dr Browne explained: “We have shown quite clearly that you are able to improve levels of biodiversity by more than 110% and the size of the pot and the location it is situated matters.
“If we are going to be spending more than US $144bn each year to build new [flood defences] or increase the height or stability of existing ones and 80% of those funds on coastal defences, we really need to be starting to think about how we can put these types of ecological engineering approaches into practice.
“The measures can be added to the work with little or no additional cost without diminishing the integrity of the structure.”
Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news
Marine Life & Conservation
Reef-World launch new toolkit in response to the current global coral bleaching event
The Reef-World Foundation – international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – has launched a new coral bleaching toolkit in response to the 4th global coral bleaching event confirmed by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) in April 2024.
The Green Fins Global Coral Bleaching Response Toolkit provides guidance to the marine tourism industry on how they can help manage and monitor the impacts of coral bleaching and get involved in recovery efforts. It features information about coral bleaching, including the causes, impacts and response strategies. The toolkit is compiled from a variety of readily available resources from multiple organizations and initiatives, such as ICRI, Coral Reef Alliance, Reef Check and NOAA, along with Green Fins materials, to ensure it is accessible to everyone. These resources cover methods for reducing local impacts, monitoring the reefs and engaging tourists and local communities.
The El Niño phenomenon has been present since February 2023, which has led to persistently warmer temperatures being experienced around the world and has affected the sea surface temperatures. Coral bleaching has been recorded in all ocean regions ever since. While this event is widespread and serious, there is still hope as bleached corals are not dead corals. Corals can survive bleaching events and thrive if they are given the time to adapt to the changing climate.
“Coral reefs are under a huge amount of stress every day and that reduces their chance of recovery from bleaching events,” said Chloe Harvey, Executive Director at The Reef-World Foundation. “However, this time around the scientists have been watching the data closely, so we’re prepared. We understand what it means and we know what we need to do to respond to it. This global event calls for global action to protect these vital ecosystems for generations to come.”
By equipping the industry with the necessary knowledge and tools, Reef-World hopes to empower these key stakeholders to play a crucial role in preserving the health and resilience of our precious coral reef ecosystems. Reef-World believes that with the right resources, the marine tourism industry can be a driving force in the fight against coral bleaching and contribute significantly to the long-term sustainability of marine environments.
With this momentum, other key players in the industry, such as PADI AWARE Foundation and NOAA, have gotten on board the campaign for more citizen scientists to help out in monitoring coral bleaching. With the toolkit available to all, The Reef-World Foundation is looking forward to more collaborative actions in the industry.
Explore the toolkit on Green Fins’ website: greenfins.net/coral-bleaching
A real solution for an environmental catastrophe is in reach
Six years after setting sail for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), we have developed the cleanup technology to relegate the patch to the history books.
On 6 September 2024, The Ocean Cleanup will return to San Francisco, where founder and CEO Boyan Slat will provide an update in which he will announce what is needed in terms of time, money and efforts to eradicate the GPGP.
To confirm your presence, please RSVP to press@theoceancleanup.com
PROGRAM
- Press conference: CEO and founder Boyan Slat will announce the next phase of the cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
- Interviews: opportunities to interview Boyan Slat (CEO & founder), Joël Jansen (Director of Oceans), Arjen Tjallema (Director of Technology) and Matthias Egger (Director of Environmental and Social Affairs)
- Vessels & technology: visit our two iconic ships, take a look at extraction System 03 and see the extracted plastic up-close and personal*
*Limited availability; RSVP soon to press@theoceancleanup.com
PRACTICALITIES
Date: September 6, 2024
Press conference: 12 pm (noon) / doors open 11.30 am
Location: The Exploratorium (Google Maps)
Pier 15 (Embarcadero at Green Street), San Francisco, CA
Parking: Visit The Exploratorium’s website for details
RSVP: press@theoceancleanup.com
Press kit: a press kit will be shared afterwards
To find out more about the Ocean Cleanup, visit www.theoceancleanup.com.
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