INTERNATIONAL VISITING SCHOLAR PROGRAMME (IVSP)

Abstract

Seagrass meadows and the services they provide are declining worldwide as a result of human perturbations. Along the Swedish W coast, almost 60% of the seagrass has been lost since the 1980's, representing a loss of approximately 190 km2 of seagrass. The seagrass Zostera marina, L. (eelgrass) is the dominant macrophyte on soft bottoms along the Swedish coast. The decrease in seagrass worldwide has lead to many restoration programs but their success rate is very low due to the regime shift and feedback mechanisms that also prevent natural recovery.

This presentation aims to provide a review on the restoration successes and challenges on eelgrass in Sweden. For example, positive feedbacks generated by water turbidity due to sediment resuspension, drifting macroalga covering eelgrass transplants and the presence of eelgrass predators such as shore crabs have been identified as causes affecting restoration success. To overcome these issues, restoration techniques using sand-capping have shown to be successful to reintroduce eelgrass in areas where it was lost. An interdisciplinary approach using field and laboratory experiments linked with hydrodynamical modeling showed to be key to understand the complex coastal ecological dynamics.

In addition, new methods to monitor coastal habitats such as seagrass meadows and marine mammals (dugongs and seals) using aerial drones and machine learning will be presented. These new technologies can contribute to faster data collection and data analysis for ecological studies and to provide relevant information to coastal managers and decision makers working on ecological conservation.

Bio

Eduardo Infantes is a researcher at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, where he leads the Seagrass Ecology Lab research group  based at Kristineberg marine station. With a focus on seagrass ecology over the last 18 years, his main interests are in 1) studying interactions between fluid dynamics and marine vegetation through field data, mesocosm experiments and flume studies, 2) restoration of coastal habitat using seagrass within the interdisciplinary ZORRO group, and 3) monitoring of seagrass beds and marine mammals (e.g. harbor seals, manatees, and dugongs) using drones and AI. With an interdisciplinary profile, he collaborates in research and management, contributing to environmental policies in coastal restoration and monitoring.