ZMT - Leibniz Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung

Project Summary

Nutrient fluxes by submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) can strongly alter the functionality of coastal ecosystems. However, these fluxes and their effects have so far mostly been assessed by individual locally focused studies. The SGD-NUT project encompasses a comprehensive assessment of SGD from tropical islands, its associated nutrient fluxes and the resulting effects on coastal ecosystems at regional examples and at the global scale.

The project will focus on individual locations, e.g. Jepara (Indonesia), Varkala Beach (India), and La Source (Tahiti) to improve understanding of the processes that quantitatively control SGD-associated nutrient fluxes at regional scale. At the global scale, SGD will be estimated from global spatial datasets representing current and future scenarios of the identified controls. The results will highlight regions subject to strong impacts of SGD-associated nutrient fluxes on coastal ecosystems around tropical islands. For these regions, groundwater management methods will be suggested to reduce the unwanted SGD impacts.

At the same time, the project showcases the impact of SGD on coastal ecosystems, in aquaria experiments and in the field. A range of species, e.g. sea grass, sea cucumbers, and fish are focused.

In addition, the meaning of SGD sites to the local population is documented through the project for the first time at a large scale.

The interdisciplinary project will generate basic knowledge of a potentially major transfer in the Earth system to develop practical advice for effective improvement of environmental conditions in tropical regions.

Doni Putra (UGM Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

Yashvin Neehaul (MOI Albion, Mauritius)

Suresh Babu (NCESS Thrivandrum, India)