In a co-operation project with the Lower Saxony State Agency for Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation (NLWKN Oldenburg/Brake branch), work is being carried out on the topic of "Seagrass under stress - site and habitat analysis to determine resilience potential" (SeeUS).

Seagrasses(Zostera noltei and Zostera marina) are suitable as a very good assessment parameter in accordance with the EU Water Framework Directive due to their particular importance in the Wadden Sea ecosystem and their sensitivity to environmental pressures. In order to record and assess the occurrence of seagrasses in Lower Saxony, overall mapping is carried out in the Wadden Sea every 6 years. The comparison of 2019 with 2013 showed a decline in the total area of seagrass meadows of approx. 75%; the decline in densely colonised areas even reached approx. 85%.

As the influencing factors that led to this sharp decline cannot currently be narrowed down more precisely, scientific studies are urgently needed to better understand the decline and its causes. The project aims to record the site characteristics and environmental pressures at selected seagrass meadow sites on the coast of Lower Saxony and to determine the vitality of the seagrasses in the field and in the laboratory.

Start of project: August 2021