SeaStore: Diversity Enhancement Through Seagrass Restoration

Seagrass beds promote biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services (ES) such as carbon sequestration and sediment stabilisation, which is important for coastal protection. Failures in previous restoration efforts for common seagrass indicate that its ecological niche is still poorly understood. This project provides the scientific basis for a robust and scientifically sound restoration of seagrass in southern Baltic waters. Based on the identification of dominant factors within the ecological niche, including the microbiome, guidelines for seagrass restoration will be developed and tested, and the impact of natural and restored seagrass meadows will be assessed in terms of sediment stabilisation and carbon storage, as well as their ecological value based on food webs. SeaStore uses an integrative portfolio of tools and approaches: Data will be collected during field and laboratory investigations and will enable the identification of links and dependencies between physical, biogeochemical and biological processes and parameters that support successful seagrass recovery and reestablishment. Simulation models will support the identification of suitable restoration sites, determine site-specific requirements for restoration and identify the need and dimensioning of technical measures, so-called restoration facilitators, for the restoration of seagrass at the respective site. The results will improve the predictability of ecosystem spatial and temporal dynamics at the regional scale and assess how natural seagrass beds will evolve under the expected future impacts of climate change, with the potential to adapt management decisions and positively influence current and future conservation and restoration efforts.
In addition, an economic valuation of the most important ecosystem services will be carried out to estimate the costs of habitat loss compared to investments in restoring the same ecological functions and ecosystems. In addition, there will be an investigation of the social acceptance of seagrass restoration projects. At the same time, targeted activities will be launched to raise awareness and acceptance of seagrass beds and their ES, also to increase the willingness to invest in the restoration of these important habitats. The resulting tools and models will support decision-makers in planning seagrass restoration measures and provide educational material and protocols how to engage the interested public in restoration activities.