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Reef effects on marine biodiversity in offshore wind parks

This is a suggestion for a Degree Project for Bachelor's and Master's levels at the Department of Marine Sciences. Degree projects at the Department of Marine Sciences are done independently and must be written and assessed individually.

Subject: Marine Biology

Suitable level and length: 30-60 HP/Master or Bachelor
Supervisors: Matthias Obst
Main topic: Marine and conservation biology

Project background

Sustainable energy transition requires that energy production minimizes damages to ecosystems. Offshore wind energy has the potential to provide green energy, yet the effects on marine ecosystems need to be carefully considered.

Project description

In this project you will quantify and evaluate the effect that offshore wind power plants have on marine wildlife. You will focus on the potential benefits that may arise from artificial reefs associated to winder power plants and more specifically if these create species rich habitats, ecological corridors, and spawning grounds to the marine species in the region. The project will have access to existing pilot sites in the Baltic Sea, which can be used for sampling and testing.

The tests will implement modern, cost-effective, and reproducible methods to monitor biodiversity associated with reef structures in offshore wind parks, including species monitoring with environmental DNA (eDNA), and/or automated species observations with object detection models in surveillance videos using machine-learning methods.