Biodiversity offshore platforms & wind farms · Biodiversity offshore platforms & wind farms...
21
Biodiversity offshore platforms & wind farms Introduction to PhD project 25 April 2013, Joop Coolen Part of the TripleP@SEA programme
Transcript of Biodiversity offshore platforms & wind farms · Biodiversity offshore platforms & wind farms...
Biodiversity offshore platforms & wind farms
Introduction to PhD project
25 April 2013, Joop Coolen
Part of the TripleP@SEA programme
Contents
About me
About diving
Introduction to project
Research objectives
Work plan
Future
About me: Previous activities
Education: Marine biology
Ecologist
2008 - 2012
Board member
2009 - current
Commercial & scientific diver
2011 - current
Instr. SAS
2011 - 2012
: Current position as PhD-student
Diving instr.
2007 - 2011
About me: Diving history
2004: First dive
2005: Open water diver Rescue diver Divemaster
2007: Assistant instructor
2008: Level 2 instructor
2011: Commercial diver SCUBA
2012: Commercial diver SSE
2013: Normoxic trimix planned
About professional diving in NL
Professional sport diving: only for teaching (PADI / CMAS)
Professional diving:
● Scientific diver (N/A in NL)
● Commercial diver
● SCUBA <30 meters
● SSE <50 meters
NL: Cat. A & B beroepsduiker
SSE
SCUBA
SSE diver training surface-OX procedure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-UjwUPERZY
Introduction to project
Promotor: Han Lindeboom (IMARES/WUR)
Co-promotor: Steven Degraer (RBINS-MUMM/UGent)
Other project members:
Oscar Bos (IMARES)
Wouter Lengkeek (Bureau Waardenburg)
Francis Kerckhof (RBINS-MUMM)
Jeroen Jansen (NAM)
Introduction to project
Historic maps & reports show large offshore reefs1,2
Most of these reefs have disappeared (Oyster Grounds)
New hard substrates were introduced
1. Olsen, O. T. (1883) The piscatorial atlas of the North Sea, English and St. George’s Channels [...] 2. Whitehead, H., Goodchild, H. H. (1909) Some Notes on Moorlog, a Peaty Deposit from the Dogger Bank
in the North Sea. Essex Naturalist 16, 51–60.
Offshore artificial hard substrates North Sea
Amount Total: 547+534
NL: 135 + 212 Total: ~45.000
NL: ~2.6002 Total: ~1.300
NL: 1241
Age 0 – <46 years 0 - >100 years <10 years
Future
1. EWEA (2013) The European offshore wind industry - key trends and statistics 2012 2. Verbeek, S. (2011) Ecosystems and North Sea oil and gas facilities, IMSA.
Future developments hard substrates
Offshore wind industry:
● ±30% yearly increase, deeper & farther offshore1
Platforms decommissioned
● Foundations made into reefs?
Multifunctional use of platforms expected:
● Function combinations, e.g. energy & farming
● MUPs project2
1. EWEA (2013) The European offshore wind industry - key trends and statistics 2012 2. MUPs website, http://bit.ly/16ZVZy6
Research objectives
Create historic overview of natural hard substrates;
Assess biodiversity of natural & artificial hard substrates;
Evaluate influence on biodiversity by comparing to soft bottom communities;
Evaluate stepping stone effect, influence on:
● Commercially important marine species;
● Indigenous and non-indigenous species;
How to maintain biodiversity after decommissioning;
Evaluate how MUPs can protect/restore biodiversity;
Help develop e-DNA metabarcoding database for biodiversity assessment.
Work plan
2013: start sampling hard substrates
● Wind farms BE with RBINS-MUMM
● (Ship)wrecks NL with wreck divers
● Borkum reef grounds IMARES project
Possibly also?:
● Platforms other operators
● Texel stones, Cleaver Bank, other reefs NL
Sampling techniques
Samples taken by divers
● Platforms: commercial dives SSE
● Wind farm BE: scientific dives SCUBA
● Shipwrecks: scientific dives SCUBA
After Chess, J. R. (1978) An Airlift Sampling Device for In Situ Collecting of Biota from Rocky Substrata. MTS journal 12, 20–23
Sampling platforms
GDF SUEZ offered to facilitate access to platforms
Diving with Bluestream Offshore (Den Helder)
© P.G. McCardle www.marinetraffic.com
Sampling wind farms
Belgian wind farms with RBINS-MUMM
Sampling shipwrecks
Cooperation with wreck divers
South to north (near shore)
Far offshore wrecks
● Dogger bank
● Cleaver bank
● Brown ridge
Known shipwrecks
Sampling natural offshore reefs
Borkum reef grounds IMARES project 2013
Texel stones
Cleaver bank reefs
Data, modelling & hypotheses
All samples will be analysed in lab
Samples & abiotic data = input in model
● Try to predict reef effects
Test hypotheses:
● Island / stepping stone effect;
● Biodiversity increase with artificial reef;
● Artificial reef = natural reef
● Artificial reef = Natura 2000 habitat 1170
Thank you for
your attention
Photo credits:
Udo van Dongen www.udovandongen.com
Cor Kuyvenhoven www.curkuyvenhoven.com
