St. Eustatius

Stenapa St Eustatius is at St.Eustatius,Dutch Caribbean.

4 days ago

The 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 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
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