Ecological Engineering最新文献

{"title":"Fire resilience analysis: Using high temporal and spatial satellite imagery for rehabilitated landscapes","authors":"Phillip B. McKenna ,&nbsp;Stuart Phinn ,&nbsp;Peter D. Erskine","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107478","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107478","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The progressive rehabilitation of open-cut coal mines and the demonstration of a sustainable post-mining land use is required prior to mine closure in many parts of the world. There is a general belief that the risk of rehabilitation failure following mine closure due to disturbance events such as fire is minimal, based largely on the assumed resilience of rehabilitated pastures and the assumption that rehabilitated pastures will respond analogous to unmined pastures following fire. However, there is little scientific evidence to support this notion, and additional knowledge gaps on the resilience of rehabilitation age classes and appropriate methods for land managers to measure and demonstrate rehabilitation resilience. We used Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 time-series and assessed the impact and vegetation response to eight fire events in rehabilitation and five fires in unmined analogues in central and southeast Queensland, Australia. Using the Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), we aimed to compare rehabilitated and unmined areas using three resilience metrics: i) percent impact, ii) recovery time and iii) recovery rate. Compared with unmined pastures, post-mine rehabilitation recorded higher mean impact (52–65 % vs 67–79 % respectively), longer recovery times (38–117 vs 144–245 days respectively) and a slower rate of recovery (2.5–5.7 % vs 0.9–1.7 % per day respectively). Younger age-classes (&lt;10 y/o and 10–15 y/o) recorded reduced resilience compared to mature rehabilitation (≥ 16 y/o). We compared three different baseline indices and showed that the choice of baseline index yielded significantly different results for the same fires, indicating the importance of standardised approaches to resilience monitoring.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107478"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143164654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Substrate-mediated alterations to hydrodynamic conditions enhances shellfish larval settlement: Implications for artificial reef restoration","authors":"Brendan S. Lanham ,&nbsp;Andrew W.M. Pomeroy ,&nbsp;Stephen E. Swearer ,&nbsp;Ivan Marusic ,&nbsp;Javane Javaherchian ,&nbsp;Rebecca L. Morris","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107474","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107474","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Shellfish reef restoration in systems with limited larval supply has generally relied on seeding reefs with hatchery raised juveniles. Although the growth and survival of seeded individuals is sufficient in some systems, to speed up the process of reef formation we need to create substrates that also maximise natural larval settlement. This can be achieved through mimicking the emergent traits of shellfish reefs by creating complex substrates that create desirable flow conditions for settlement. To test shellfish settlement under altered hydrodynamics, we performed larval settlement experiments on tiles with either enhanced surface roughness (sandblasted concrete) or surface complexity (the addition of different configurations of ridges and grooves) relative to control (smooth and flat) tiles. We used particle image velocimetry (PIV) to understand how the hydrodynamics were altered by each tile design, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) particle modeling to determine if observed larval settlement patterns to complex tiles differed from the retention of modeled passive particles. The addition of surface roughness increased larval settlement and reduced the surface mean flow velocities when oyster shell was used as aggregate. Surface complexity created drastically different hydrodynamic conditions to flat control tiles, which aligned with increases in larval settlement for oysters and passive particle retention. Overall, fine scale hydrodynamics were influenced by both rough and complex surfaces that substantially increase particle retention, and likely also recruitment success. This study highlights the importance of considering hydrodynamics when designing engineered substrates for shellfish reef restoration projects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107474"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Moss species for bioreceptive concrete: A survey of epilithic urban moss communities and their dynamics","authors":"M. Veeger ,&nbsp;E.M. Veenendaal ,&nbsp;J. Limpens ,&nbsp;M. Ottelé ,&nbsp;H.M. Jonkers","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107502","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107502","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Research into bioreceptive materials is gaining increased interest. However, while advances are being made on the material side of bioreceptivity, the underlying ecology of urban mosses is still underexposed. This research aimed to determine how the local environment affects the species composition of urban epilithic moss communities and assess which moss species are most suitable for the colonisation of pristine (bioreceptive) concrete surfaces, leading to recommendations for moss species selection to designers and engineers of bioreceptive structures. We conducted a field survey of 137 moss communities on concrete in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. A total of 26 different species were found, of which the acrocarp species <em>Tortula muralis, Grimmia pulvinata, Ptychostomum capillare</em>, and <em>Orthotrichum diaphanum</em> and the pleurocarp species <em>Brachythecium rutabulum, Hypnum cupressiforme,</em> and <em>Rhynchostegium confertum</em> acted as most common pioneers and also formed a part of the climax community. We found some positive associations between acrocarp species but negative associations between acrocarp and pleurocarp species. Local environmental factors only played a small role in the community composition at a species level; however, when comparing acrocarp and pleurocarp species, the former preferred more exposed sites, whereas the latter preferred more shaded habitats. As such, we recommend that bioreceptive concrete structures use acrocarp pioneers for exposed locations and pleurocarp pioneers for more shaded locations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107502"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impacts of flood retention dams on benthic invertebrates by affecting bed material size and disturbance in reservoir and downstream sections","authors":"Ryota Nakamura,&nbsp;Sohei Kobayashi,&nbsp;Sameh Ahmed Kantoush,&nbsp;Tetsuya Sumi","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107509","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107509","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impacts of Flood Retention Dams (FRDs), designed solely for flood control and featuring bottom outlets at the riverbed level, on benthic invertebrate communities have not been sufficiently elucidated. This study investigated the impact of FRDs on benthic invertebrate communities downstream and reservoirs, focusing on differences in riverbed conditions and bed disturbances caused by reservoir sedimentation. We compared benthic invertebrate communities and riverbed conditions at upstream, reservoir, and downstream sites from seven FRDs in Japan. The average community similarity between the upstream and downstream sites across the seven dams was 0.73, comparable to unregulated streams. They were not related to the duration of dam operation, indicating minimal long-term impacts on downstream communities. However, the community similarity between the upstream and reservoir sites was notably lower, at 0.66. Reservoir sites had smaller grain sizes and softer substrates with narrower interstitial spaces than upstream sites. Consequently, taxes that inhabit or move across stone surfaces were more common in reservoirs. Conversely, taxa that prefer stable beds and larger body sizes were less frequent. Additionally, we found that reservoir sedimentation fluctuations, which indicates riverbed disturbance pattern, influence the similarity of invertebrate communities between upstream and downstream sites. To conclude, FRDs have negligible impacts on benthic invertebrate communities at DS sites; smaller grain sizes modulate these communities at RS sites. Predicting reservoir sedimentation fluctuations supports the design of FRDs with minimal impacts on benthic invertebrates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107509"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Incorporating ecosystem service value into water resource management in water-scarce cities","authors":"Yi Yang,&nbsp;Yue Su,&nbsp;Chenxue Liang,&nbsp;Yuwei Jia","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107533","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107533","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The lack of carrying capacity of the water environment in water-scarce cities has highlighted the vulnerability of water ecosystems. Ecological water supply can no longer meet the needs of urban development, and the complexity of water ecosystems has led to unprecedented challenges in urban governance. This study improves the accounting framework for the water resource ecosystem service value (WESV) based on the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting and validates it with the case of Xi'an, the ancient capital of China. Based on the characterization of the changes in water resources assets, the WESV was accounted for by combining the equivalent factor with the water footprint method, and the impacts of socioeconomic and natural endowment factors on WESV were explored. The results showed that among the different ecosystem service types, water area contributed the most to the increase in ecosystem service value. The WESV reached 94.86 million US dollars in 2019, up 15.8 % from 2010. Regulating services are a core function, accounting for 81.4 % of the WESV. The declining value of the corrected provisioning service indicates a decreasing level of urban consumption of water ecosystems. Population density and the GDP positively drive WESV changes, and the effects of pressure factor and urbanization rate are negative. The contribution of natural endowment factors is large but characterized by instability. The findings indicate that WESV enhancement could help alleviate the urban water shortage problem. It provides a scientific basis to improve the transparency of urban water resource utilization and the water resources management level.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107533"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nitrogen removal in vertical flow constructed wetlands: The influence of recirculation and partial saturation","authors":"Carine Baggiotto ,&nbsp;Samara Terezinha Decezaro ,&nbsp;Carlos Alexandre Lutterbeck ,&nbsp;Marciano Friedrich ,&nbsp;Rolando Jose Manuel González Ramírez ,&nbsp;Delmira Beatriz Wolff","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107519","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107519","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aims to evaluate the performance of a vertical flow constructed wetland (VFCW) with an area of 24.50 m² for nitrogen removal under two different operational strategies: effluent recirculation and partial saturation. The system operated over two phases. In Phase 1, recirculation was applied with a hydraulic loading rate (HLR) of 90 mm d⁻¹, while in Phase 2, recirculation was halted, and a 25 cm saturated layer was introduced at the bottom of the VFCW, with an HLR of 57 mm d⁻¹. The efficiency of the system in removing chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N), and total nitrogen (TN) was compared between the two phases. In Phase 1, removal efficiencies of 88 %, 92 %, 79 %, and 70 % were recorded for COD, TSS, NH₄⁺-N, and TN, respectively. In Phase 2, the system achieved 93 %, 95 %, 61 %, and 69 % removal for COD, TSS, NH₄⁺-N, and TN, respectively. Statistically, there were no significant differences in COD and TN removal between the two phases, suggesting that partial saturation can perform comparably to recirculation. However, partial saturation offers the added benefits of reduced energy consumption (no need for pumping) and operational simplicity. The results underscore the potential of partially saturated VFCWs as a cost-effective, energy-efficient alternative for decentralized wastewater treatment, particularly where minimizing operational complexity is a priority.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107519"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Survival and growth of “branches of opportunity” from ten coral species outplanted on framed reef modules","authors":"Junling Zhang ,&nbsp;Jingzhao Ke ,&nbsp;Xiangbo Liu ,&nbsp;He Zhao ,&nbsp;Wentao Zhu ,&nbsp;Baruch Rinkevich ,&nbsp;Shai Shafir ,&nbsp;Aimin Wang ,&nbsp;Xiubao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107529","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107529","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To reveal local coral species aptness for reef restoration, 30 “framed reef modules” (FRMs) were deployed in a degraded coral reef area at the northern part of Wuzhizhou Island, Hainan Island, South China Sea. Fragments of opportunity from 10 coral species (8 branching, 1 foliose, 1 encrusting) were collected and outplanted on the FRMs. Measurements of growth rates, survival, and physiological indexes were then taken at 30, 120, 210 and 360 days after transplantation. The results showed that <em>Acropora microphthalma</em>, <em>Acropora austera</em>, <em>Hydnophora rigida</em> and <em>Montipora foliosa</em> showed fast growth rates (&gt;2.87 cm²·month⁻¹) and high one-year survival rates (&gt;80 %). <em>Acropora hyacinthus</em> and <em>Montipora digitata,</em> while exhibiting faster growth rates (4.95 ± 0.31 and 4.85 ± 0.41 cm²·month⁻¹, respectively), revealed lower one-year survival rates (ca. 50 %). <em>Psammocora contigua</em> and <em>Porites cylindrica</em> showed lower growth rates (1.50 ± 0.14 and 1.96 ± 0.19 cm²·month⁻¹, respectively), yet presented 100 % survival rates. <em>Pocillopora damicornis</em> and <em>Echinopora gemmacea</em> exhibited the lowest growth rates (1.01 ± 0.14 and 1.73 ± 0.21 cm²·month⁻¹, respectively) and 86.2 % and 93.1 % survivals. There are differences in growth and survival among different types of corals, which are closely related to their physiological characteristics. The biomasses of <em>P. contigua</em>, <em>P. cylindrica</em>, and <em>M. foliosa</em> were the highest, &gt;10 mg·cm⁻², while for the remaining 7 species values were &gt; 8 mg·cm⁻². The highest photosynthesis rates were recorded in <em>P. contigua</em>, <em>P. cylindrica</em>, <em>A. austera</em>, and <em>M. digitata</em>, while the lowest were in <em>P. damicornis</em> and <em>H. rigida</em>. These results demonstrate significant interspecific differences in survival and growth patterns, highlighting the importance of species-specific restoration strategies. The present transplantation method supports restoration approaches that combine different coral species in a single transplantation action.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107529"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Zonal gaming and overall enhancement of ecosystem services: A case from the compound area of mine-city and agriculture-forestry-grass in loess region, China","authors":"Shufei Wang ,&nbsp;Yingui Cao ,&nbsp;Shengpeng Li ,&nbsp;Xiaoyang Liu ,&nbsp;Jinxin He ,&nbsp;Yanjun Guan ,&nbsp;Zhongke Bai","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107513","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107513","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The ecological issues resolution in the loess region and the sustainable development of resource-based areas are critical to human sustainable development. The spatial overlap between ecologically fragile loess areas and resource-based region inevitably intensifies conflicts between economic development and ecological conservation. Research on ecosystem service (ES) can effectively alleviate or resolve such conflicts. The ESs sustainable supply is the foundation, and identifying its status and reasonably predicting its future development trends are important contents. However, existing ES studies need to place greater emphasis on long-term dynamics and spatial heterogeneity. Research on such areas where there is a significant conflict between economic development and ecological protection needs to be further deepened. How to reasonably predict future development needs to be further explored. Here, this study took a typical coal resource-based town with fragile ecology as the study area. Under the long-term time scale and unique spatial scale, this study quantified the supply of six ESs, revealed their trade-offs/synergies, and predicted their future development characteristics to provided strategies for sustainable development of the area as well as sustainable optimization of ES supply. The results revealed that the food supply and water yield in mine-city area were higher than those in agriculture-forestry-grass area, while the soil conservation, carbon sequestration, habitat quality, and windbreak-sand fixation in mine-city area were lower than those in agriculture-forestry-grass area. Trade-offs were mainly observed between provisioning and supporting ESs in mine-city area, while which were mainly observed between provisioning and regulating ESs in agriculture-forestry-grass area. Future development predictions indicated that mine-city area should follow the path of resources-agriculture-ecological scenario, and agriculture-forestry-grass area should follow the path of ecological-agricultural or ecological scenarios. By integrating historical analysis, current assessments, and future scenario planning, this study provided a comprehensive framework for balancing coal economy and ecological protection, offered actionable insights for zoning management and targeting strategies of coordinated regional development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107513"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143166354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecological restoration processes in pika mounds on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau","authors":"Cheng Lu,&nbsp;Guifang Cheng,&nbsp;Gaofei Wang,&nbsp;Peishan Meng,&nbsp;Chenqi Chen,&nbsp;Rui Xiao,&nbsp;Zhongling Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107517","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107517","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Plateau pika activities affect the plant communities and soil properties by feeding, burrowing, and excretion. However, it is unclear how plant communities and soil properties in exposed mounds caused by pika activity recover. We investigated how plant species richness, vegetation biomass, and soil properties recover in pika mounds, which was formed in 2020, four years after the disturbance was ceased (2020−2023) in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The results showed that 1) total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), carbon nitrogen ratio (C:N), and soil water content (SWC) were significantly decreased while soil pH was significantly increased under pika mounds, whereas ammonia nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen showed no difference with control; 2) the decline in soil C:N and TN reduced grass and sedge biomass, respectively, while the increase in soil pH enhanced the forb biomass in pika mounds after 4-year recovery; 3) the decreased sedge and grass biomass outweighed the increased forb biomass, leading to the decline of aboveground biomass; the belowground biomass was also lower than ambient control after 4-year recovery; 4) although species richness increased by 22.00 % in exposed mounds after 4-year recovery, it did not recover to control level. The result suggests that neither soil properties nor plant communities in exposed mounds recovered to control levels after 4-year of recovery. The findings provide an extensive understanding of the restoration process in newly formed pika mounds, which is conductive to restoration and management of degraded grassland.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107517"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143166356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Novel settlement substrates for European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) restoration","authors":"Pauline Kamermans ,&nbsp;Fleur Anteau ,&nbsp;Karin Didderen ,&nbsp;Remment ter Hofstede ,&nbsp;Yanhua Zhao ,&nbsp;Awen Le Graet ,&nbsp;Diede Maas ,&nbsp;Stephane Pouvreau ,&nbsp;Sophie Valk ,&nbsp;Tim Wijgerde ,&nbsp;Abel Zempleni ,&nbsp;Thomas E. Kodger ,&nbsp;Tinka Murk","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107532","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107532","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The flat oyster <em>Ostrea edulis</em> L., once common in the North Sea, declined rapidly due to intensive fisheries in the late 19th century and disease outbreaks at the beginning of the 20th century and is now listed as ‘threatened’ or ‘declining,’ with restoration of oyster beds now included in European directives and national plans. For oyster restoration, availability of suitable substrate is required to ensure successful settlement of oyster larvae. Off-shore windfarms are good candidates for restoration as bottom disturbance is not allowed and hard substrate is present in the form of so-called scour protection. This can provide settlement substrate for oyster larvae. In addition to the rock material that currently makes up the scour protection, studies focus on finding alternative and moldable materials that stimulate settlement. The aim of this study was to identify flat oyster larvae settlement preferences for different substrate materials. Oyster settlement on conventional scour protection rock (granite and eclogite), and currently used sandstone and concrete were compared to new types of scour protection rock (marble and limestone). In addition, three new substrates were included in the tests: a coating based on fine ground oyster shells (BESE-reef paste), substrate made of sandy dredged sediment (Geowall) and a bioinspired glue that binds crushed oyster shell fragments together (SeaCrete). Flat oyster larvae were exposed to the substrates in two hatchery experiments as well as under realistic, challenging field conditions. Flat oyster larvae settled on all substrates, with the lowest spat density on eclogite, granite and Geowall and the highest spat density on the two novel substrates SeaCrete and BESE-reef paste. These results promise to enhance native European oyster bed restoration with limited environmental impact as the novel substrates have low CO₂ footprints and make use of wasted shells from the seafood industry.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107532"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143164671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}