K. (Katrin) Rehlmeyer

PhD project: Exploring Possibilities for Subtidal Seagrass Restoration in the Dutch Wadden Sea

Seagrass ecosystems provide important services such as sequestrating carbon and increasing biodiversity. In the past, the Dutch Wadden Sea provided habitat to extensive subtidal eelgrass meadows. However, the wasting disease in the 1930's led to a sharp decline of the seagrass population. The building of the Enclosure Dam in 1932 formed an additional challenge for recovery, since environmental conditions such as water turbidity, current velocities and wave heights greatly changed. Until present, the subtidal seagrass population remains absent. 

In my PhD project, I explore possibilities for the restoration of subtidal eelgrass (Zostera marina) in the Dutch Wadden Sea. I work on an opportunities map based on field measurements, literature and modelling, to assess which areas of the Wadden Sea are most suitable for subtidal seagrass restoration.

My PhD trajectory is part of the Wadden Mosaic, a project which focusses on the biodiversity and variation in the subtidal zone, i.e. the underwater landscape, of the Dutch Wadden Sea.