SIPODET

Project "SIPODET" data sheet

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 Partnership

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 Project objective

Coastal seagrass ecosystems provide important services to nature and mankind in form of coastal protection, nursery grounds and carbon sequestration. However, seagrass meadows are affected by global climate change and anthropogenic stressors such as eutrophication and coastal development. Yet, the mechanistic interactions between these ecosystems and environmental change remain unclear due to the complexity of studying the seagrass habitat, which exhibit a multitude of chemical gradients and dynamics. The requirement for high-resolution measurement techniques for resolving the biogeochemical dynamics and microenvironments surrounding seagrasses in their natural habitat has led to the development of a variety of chemical techniques typically quantifying a single analyte at a time, which gives limited insight to the true dynamics of the seagrass-sediment interaction which is central for seagrass fitness and survival under environmental change. The SIPODET project will develop new multi-parameter chemical imaging techniques by combining luminescence-based optical sensor foils (planar optodes) with diffusional equilibrium in thin-film (DET) enabling simultaneous sensing of pO2, iron, phosphate, nitrite/nitrate, ammonium, manganese, pCO2 and pH. This project will encompass expert training of Dr. Cesbron in the use of planar optodes complementing his expertise in 2D DET mapping of chemical species, which will enable the development of a novel combined chemical imaging technology mentored by a world leader in microenvironmental analysis. The novel technology will investigate the dynamic chemical microenvironment in the seagrass rhizosphere and how this is modulated by environmental change and plant stress (e.g. effects of temperature, pH or eutrophication) in Zostera marina and Zostera noltei.