Functional connectivity between Marine Protected Areas (CREATE II)

Background and Objective

Climate change and the intensifying use of coastal seas not only affect the marine environment, but also the regional economy, human health and well-being. Multiple and simultaneous interventions in coastal marine ecosystems are increasingly leading to conflicts of use that require trade-offs between protection and use.

The aim of the CREATE project is to develop knowledge for action. We want to find practical solutions to map and protect regional biodiversity as it is impacted by the multiple uses of marine space.

We are developing a methodology that serves to implement the politically formulated goals of marine nature conservation. These are set out in the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), the Natura 2000 legislation, the German Sustainability Strategy and the National Biodiversity Strategy (NBS), among others.

At the Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries, we analyse the functional links between established marine protected areas (MPAs). We combine approaches from different disciplines to understand how ecological and hydrodynamic processes support the effectiveness of measures to restore biodiversity.

In the first phase of the project, we designed this assessment methodology in a case study for the European oyster (Ostrea edulis) and trialled it in practice together with our partners. This native oyster species has largely disappeared from the North Sea due to human impact. During the last years, restoration efforts have aimed at establishing new oyster reefs.

CREATE I has successfully assessed the functional connectivity between the oyster restoration sites and a distant MPA. This makes it possible to estimate the conditions under which oysters could spread via their planktonic larval stages from one protected area (Borkum Riffgrund) to a more distant one (Sylt Outer Reef). This connectivity, through which the population can potentially colonise new habitats, is crucial for the effectiveness of the restoration measures. We also monitor the development of reef-associated biodiversity, indicating whether the reef structures already provide refugia or spawning grounds for other organisms.

In CREATE II, we apply the methods and data generated in CREATE I to develop and field-test user-friendly tools for biodiversity monitoring and for assessing connectivity between marine protected areas.

Target Group

Science, politics, public

Approach

In order to assess the connectivity, the functional linkages between marine protected areas, we combine monitoring using genetic methods with biophysical modelling. We applied this combination in CREATE I to determine the drift paths along which oyster larvae are dispersed by water currents. This enabled us to create connectivity maps for the European oyster in the German Bight, which show how the prevailing oceanographic conditions on the one hand and the growth and behaviour of oyster larvae on the other determine the connectivity between MPAs. 

Oyster larvae were detected through genetic evidence from environmental DNA and from mixed plankton samples obtained on several research cruises. Species identification was carried out using metabarcoding, which was also used to record the reef-associated biodiversity.

In CREATE II, we are developing two components to help users with the tasks of biodiversity monitoring and connectivity assessment:

• In dialogue with stakeholders, we build a tool to support responsible institutions in applying (or commissioning) molecular monitoring methods in a standardised form and to check the plausibility of the results simply and consistently. We apply machine learning to develop the module for plausibility checks of molecular genetic data and optimise it with feedback from test users.

• We use the interdisciplinary connectivity assessment methodology developed in CREATE I in a practical application involving stakeholders. We aim at investigating whether the increasing installation of offshore wind farms is creating new colonisation areas for focal species and possible stepping stones for connectivity between MPAs.

Our Research Questions

• How can we effectively design a plausibility check for genetic evidence of marine species?
• How can we standardise molecular monitoring methods for recording biodiversity in the German sector of the North Sea?
• How can we assess - in dialogue with stakeholders - the impact of wind farms on connectivity for focal species?

Links and Downloads

 External project webpage CREATE

DAM Research Mission “Protection and sustainable use of the oceans”

Click here to visit our projects page CREATE (Phase I) "Synthesis of methods for assessing connectivity in a network of protected areas"