Background

   Seagrass and seaweed meadows are regarded as an important coastal ecosystems for their functions of “ecosystem service”, such as carbon stock and habitats. Though conservation of these meadows is a global issue for the healthy cycles of food and materials, their biomass has been decreasing worldwide.

Objectives

   Diversity in the coastal environment (e.g. variation in salinity, water temperature, nutrients, bottom materials etc.), produced by both sea-factors and terrestrial-factors, is important for seagrass and seaweed meadows to coexist with the other primary producers. We will evaluate the function of “submarine groundwater discharge (SGD)” for diversity production in the coastal environment by field observations, satellite data, and hydrological models.

Expected outcome

   The results of this work will provide new scientific insights for material cycles in coastal areas. This work will also contribute to the conservation measures of seagrass and seaweed meadows, and associated coastal ecosystems through the development of future strategies based on the groundwater management in terrestrial areas.