Seagrass meadows hold significant value for local coastal communities and many different organisms by providing essential ecosystem services. However, due to anthropogenic stressors (e.g. coastal development, eutrophication etc.) seagrass meadows have been declining rapidly worldwide. In Lake Grevelingen …

Tropical coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass beds and sandy or rubble substrates form interconnected habitats that support a wide variety of reef fish species and provide important ecosystem services. Understanding how fish communities differ across these habitats is crucial for improving …

Terwijl de golven van de Noordzee over de stranden van Den Haag uitrollen, worstelt de gemeente Den Haag met een heel andere vloed: de jaarlijkse toestroom van miljoenen bezoekers. In de afgelopen jaren is er veel gebeurd om de bereikbaarheid naar de Haagse stranden te verbeteren, maar er zijn nog steeds …

This thesis provides an answer to the question if the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) does fulfil its own objective of supporting Ecosystem-based management by producing Ecosystem Overviews as advice. Against the background of ongoing changes and pressures on the ecosystem, …

While the status of UN SDG14 Life Below Water lags behind in the Netherlands, target horizons for certain targets have been either reached or are fast approaching (2020, 2025, 2030). In 2016, recommendations have been formulated by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, for adjustments …

The Dutch and German Wadden Sea Area received the World Heritage status in 2009 because of its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) which embodies: cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations …

This study shows that the main predation pressure in the Dutch Wadden Sea is found to be on calanoid copepods, being the main prey item of C. harengus, A. tobianus, C. edulis, A. aurita and M. leidyi. Bivalve veligers are also found to be widely ingested by predator species, with the main predators being …

The present study investigated the abundance and distribution of protected seagrass associated species within the introduced Halophila stipulacea meadows on St. Eustatius. These species are the queen conch, Caribbean spiny lobster, slender seahorse, green turtle and several species of grouper (Epinephelus …

To limit the pressure on the marine ecosystem, the European Unions’ Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) was developed to ensure sustainable use of the marine ecosystem. The goal of the MSFD is to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES). To achieve this goal, the MSFD prescribes using Ecosystem-Based …

Marine debris is a growing global problem. Due to the wide ocean dynamics worldwide, predicting the transport of floating marine debris, such as plastic, is difficult. Although large-scale distribution patterns and accumulation zones are recognised and reproduced by numerical models, small-scale prediction …