Goals and Motivation
Background
Marine invertebrates inhabit every corner of the marine domain, from hydrothermal vents to the unexplored Arctic. Accounting for up to 92% of marine species, marine invertebrates are exceptionally diverse and continuously shape the biotic and chemical composition of the oceans. Most invertebrates are found in extreme environments such as deep-sea conditions where it’s very difficult therefore leading to the lack of baseline data for many marine invertebrates species. The majority of heavily studied marine macroinvertebrates inhabit coastal or benthic ecosystems that are easier for researchers to access.
Surveys of the best-known ecosystems, in which invertebrate populations often play a key role such coral reefs, show that the invertebrate populations are affected by human impact. Corals are the foundation of coral reef systems, which are estimated to contain 30% of the species in the ocean. Physical impact and chemical changes on the water severely damage these reefs and may lead to the removal of these important habitats. Along with exploitation, habitat loss and degradation represents a significant threat to marine invertebrates, particularly in areas close to population centers. Consequently, coastal ecosystems, such as coral reefs, estuaries, vegetated wetlands, and continental shelves, are generally the marine systems most affected by human pressures. Both freshwater and marine invertebrate communities are often threatened by multiple stressors. Estuarine communities may be simultaneously subject to eutrophication, industrial pollutants, dredging, shoreline development, invasive species and overfishing.
Motivation
With the majority of marine invertebrates being housed within coral reefs, these ecosystems have been chosen as the focus for this team's efforts. Given that coral reefs vary in size, our team wanted to create a solution that was scalable while simultaneously achieving the following goals: filtering out pollutants, protecting environments against physical damage such as storm surges and tourism, as well as keeping out invasive species. These issues are the most impactful on coral reef communities, and as a result we have developed the adaptive hex barrier which was designed to achieve all of these goals.