Mapping the Potential Recovery Sites of Intertidal Seagrass Habitats in the Netherlands

By Daan Leppink

Abstract
Seagrass in Europe is predominantly found in the North Frisian Wadden Sea between Germany and Denmark, but it is less common in the southern coastal areas of the Netherlands, where it historically thrived. Efforts are now being made to restore seagrass in these areas, and this thesis aims to predict the likelihood of intertidal seagrass occurrence in the region. A predictive model was developed using environmental factors that influence seagrass in the North Frisian Wadden Sea. After selecting a subset of the seven best predictive variables, with bathymetry and turbidity identified as the most important among them, the model achieved a predictive accuracy of 82.05% on the validation sample dataset. The model was then projected onto the southern Netherlands, where data of environmental factors are available. Finally, the model was analysed to understand how altering certain environmental conditions might impact seagrass growth in the future.