LANICE

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To what extent can the tube-building sand mason worm in coastal strips be considered a potential ecosystem engineer that stabilises sediment and increases biodiversity? This is the central research question in the Coastbusters project LANICE, which explores innovative techniques to complement known methods for coastal defence, nature restoration, marine structures and nature-based applications (NID).

Climate change has various effects on marine sediments (e.g. increased erosion). This change urges us to create sustainable coastal management systems with a special emphasis on nature-based solutions. This project specifically investigates whether the shell mason worm (Lanice conchilega), a marine species that occurs in soft sediment, can assist in this.

Importantly, you cannot simply plant Lanice conchilega as you can do with mangroves or sea grasses. We are therefore investigating how the larvae of the sand mason worm can be attracted via an artificial substrate to the target area where we want to develop concentrations.

We are mapping the influence of a large number of substrate characteristics (type of material, thickness, mesh size) on the local flow velocity, the capture of particles and the settlement of larvae. This is done in the laboratory, in the flume and by means of field experiments at three research locations in the intertidal area.

We also want to investigate whether concentrations of sand mason worms have an effect on the flow and sedimentation. We measure the influence of the concentrations on the flow velocity, the wave climate and the resulting sedimentation/erosion processes in the field. Based on these results, we set up a model to evaluate the influence on the sediment balance in a target area.

The knowledge resulting from this project will also provide clarity about the possible scalability. In the long term, the project aims at an efficient implementation of marine species from soft sediment, with the sand mason worm as a test organism, in nature-based designs of marine infrastructure projects where sediment needs to be stabilised and where biodiversity enrichment is desirable.

Such projects contribute to a comprehensive approach for the protection and restoration of a healthy and resilient ecosystem. The business community and the government (e.g. coastal defense, nature restoration, nature-based applications & offshore constructions) are partners and stakeholders in these developments.