Many marine ecosystems have been severely disrupted and degraded by human activities. As a result, ecosystem services such as fisheries, coastal protection, and tourism are under pressure. Biodiversity is declining, and the resilience to recover from disturbances is diminishing. Through Coastal Ecosystem Restoration, ecosystem functions are restored, and ecosystem services are preserved. The research in this associate professorship focuses on:

• Acquiring knowledge about the natural functioning of ecosystems and the impact of disturbances.
• Developing, testing, and optimizing interventions aimed at restoring ecosystems.

Examples of our research include the development of a new type of artificial reef or the restoration of important algae-eating sea urchins on coral reefs.

• In the ReefGrazers project, we explore the possibilities of using herbivorous crabs, snails, and sea urchins to remove algae from the reef and examine the feasibility of combining this with sustainable fisheries.
• In the Diadema II project, we work on scaling up previously developed interventions to restore sea urchins of the species Diadema antillarum.
• In the Diadema I project, we developed multiple interventions to restore the sea urchin Diadema antillarum on reefs around Saba and St. Eustatius.
• In the Artificial Reefs on Saba and Statia (AROSSTA) project, we compared multiple types of artificial reefs for their functions for fish and coral.
• The Modular Restoration Reef, Moreef, is an artificial reef we developed, designed to maximally contribute to biodiversity.
• In the Ecologically Optimal and Sustainable Alternative Materials for Marine Infrastructure (ECODAMI) project, we tested alternatives to regular cement for their constructional and ecological properties

Media

• DCNA Reef Restoration workshop on Bonaire
• NOS made a short summary of how we culture and release sea urchins on Saba
• The NOS Jeugdjournaal visited us in 2023
• Earlier, NTR science made an Atlas episode about various methods we developed to restore sea urchins on the reef.

Scientific Publications

These are examples of experiments we have conducted in the past (group members in bold):

• Unraveling a Mystery: Which Predatory Fish Eats Restocked Sea Urchins?
  De Breuyn, M., van der Last, A. J., Klokman, O. J., & Hylkema, A. (2023). Diurnal predators of restocked lab-reared and wild Diadema antillarum near artificial reefs in Saba. PeerJ, 11, e16189.
• We also investigated how artificial reefs can facilitate different species
  Hylkema, A., Debrot, A. O., Cammenga, R. A., van der Laan, P. M., Pistor, M., Murk, A. J., & Osinga, R. (2023). The effect of artificial reef design on the attraction of herbivorous fish and on coral recruitment, survival and growth. Ecological Engineering, 188, 106882.
• We developed a new culture method for the very difficult-to-breed sea urchin Diadema antillarum
  Wijers, T., Hylkema, A., Pilnick, A. R., Murk, A. J., & Patterson, J. T. (2023). Novel shaker bottle cultivation method for the long spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum; Philippi, 1845) results in high larval survival and settlement rates. Aquaculture, 738855.
• And we investigated why the sea urchins in the Caribbean suddenly died en masse
  Hylkema, A., Kitson-Walters, K., Kramer, P. R., Patterson, J. T., Roth, L., Sevier, M. L., ... & Lang, J. C. (2023). The 2022 Diadema antillarum die-off event: Comparisons with the 1983-1984 mass mortality. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, 1067449.

All publications from the ‘Coastal Ecosystem Restoration’ group can be found on Google Scholar.

Together we can achieve more! That’s why we are keen to collaborate with research and practice. Contact me if you want to work together.

Are you interested in contributing to our research? We have many internship and thesis positions available. Send me an email with what you would like to do, your motivation, CV, and (underwater) research experience.

Social media

YouTube: @ReefGrazerResearchGroup

LinkedIn: hvhl-src

Contact Information

Name: Alwin Hylkema
Email: alwin.hylkema@hvhl.nl