Improving mechanical seagrass transplantation

Until recently seagrass transplantation efforts have met with limited succe ss in areas with high wave energies. Survival in Western Australia has been markedly improved by the deployment of large, mechanically transplanted un its which provide sufficient anchorage to overcome water motion. ECOSUB1 wa s an underwater seagrass harvesting and planting machine designed to extrac t and plant large seagrass units with minimal disturbance. Over 2000 sods h ave been planted, with an average survival of approximately 70% over 3 year s. New machines (ECOSUB2) have now been constructed to improve efficiency; these are located semi-permanently on the seafloor and allow for concurrent seagrass harvesting and planting. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.