Project properties |
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Title | Modelling climate change-related feedbacks
between seagrasses and suspended sediment in the R�dsand lagoon (Denmark) |
Group | Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group |
Project type | thesis |
Credits | 30-39 |
Supervisor(s) | Jasper Dijkstra, Deltares, department Ecology and Sediment Dynamics jasper.dijkstra@deltares.nl
Egbert van Nes, Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality management Group (egbert.vannes@wur.nl) |
Examiner(s) | Egbert van Nes |
Contact info | General information concerning an ecological oriented thesis: Edwin Peeters (edwin.peeters@wur.nl) |
Begin date | 2017/09/15 |
End date | |
Description | Seagrass beds constitute vital parts of shallow
marine ecosystems providing food, habitat, and nursery areas for other marine organisms, besides having positive effects on water quality by nutrient recycling, dampening of waves and stabilizing sediments. However, seagrasses are also vulnerable for adverse environmental conditions: increased turbidity from suspended sediment or algae growth decreases the amount of light for photosynthesis, whereas changes in salinity or temperature can affect the resilience of the plants. In the present conditions, the positive feedback between seagrass presence and under water light climate creates the right conditions for seagrasses to thrive, but whether these conditions prevail in a changing climate (e.g. deeper and warmer water, higher or more frequent waves) is an open question. |
Used skills | modelling |
Requirements |