When Restoring Marine Life, Clumping Works Best - Marine Conservation News

Seagrass

"Experiments in the Netherlands point to better ways of getting plants to help each other."

Marine scientists have discovered that the current way marine plant restoration is most often done, could be inefficient. The majority of marine restoration planting is done similar to a farm, they "take their cue from land-based agriculture and commercial forestry" or “sort of a HairClub for Men fashion, where you spread everything out, plantation style.” 95% of the restoration sites surveyed planted in a dispersed pattern like this.

When planted in clumps of 9, researchers saw "100 percent or more in growth and survival rates" in marsh sea grass.

"Silliman’s 2015 paper showed that when marsh grass transplants were planted together in clumps of nine plants side by side, their densely tangled roots and stems stabilized sediments and made them more resilient. The plants also drew down oxygen into the soil, helping each other to avoid soil anoxia, which can lead to the formation of toxic compounds. The clumped strategy led to increases of 100 percent or more in growth and survival rates."

Silliman and their colleagues released another paper in 2020 that provided even more evidence that planting in clumps or providing a similar environment for new transplants was more efficient when planting marine restoration sites.

The research team is currently using 3D printed cages made from "biodegradable starch (from potato scraps) bound in polymers" as a stabilizing structure for new sea grass transplants to replicate an environment similar to the clumping technique and using frozen iron chelate as a way to fight anoxia, low oxygen levels in the soil.

The clumping technique not only works with sea grass, it was shown to work with mangroves, oysters, and other marine restoration projects.

Sea grass has declined 30% to 60% on a global scale.

Mangroves

Read the article from Hakai Magazine : https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/when-restoring-marine-life-clumping-works-best/



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This is so interesting, thanks for sharing.
I studied marine science and ecology and love hearing about new finds like this, especially when it comes to mangroves.


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