The ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ต๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด project has begun on the BES islands. It is a 2-3 year project and is funded by Wageningen University & Research, NIOZ- Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV).
Currently, two students from Wageningen University and Research, Sytse Niessen and Kristina Hrelja, have been collecting water samples and measuring Chlorophyl a, turbidity temperature and salinity from the water column to investigate water quality. The samples are collected from 11 sites around St Eustatius, plus 2 reference sites further away from the coast. They use a special device called a Niskin bottle to collect water samples from specific depths in the water column - 5m & 10m, for 11 of the sites. At the 2 reference sites water samples are collected from 10m only, as they are located far from shore and should not be affected by island run-off. These water samples are taken every 2 weeks and will be tested for nutrients, namely nitrogen and phosphorus to see if they exceed certain thresholds and pose a threat to coral health. To determine the source of excess nutrients in the sea they will also collect sediment and algae samples every 3 months and test for isotopes of nitrogen. Land-based sources of nitrogen have different isotope signatures. For example, it is possible to indicate if the nitrogen in the algae and sediment came from the sewage or from fertilizers that are washed away into the sea.
This project "contributes to halting the decline of the coral reefs in the Caribbean Netherlands, improving the dependent ecosystem services and ensuring capacity building on the islands..." Read more: www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Research-Institutes/marine-research/show-marine/Restoration-of-res...
DCNA
Wageningen Marine Research
Wageningen University & Research
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