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Sept 21 2010

 BIOROCK® OYSTER AND SALTMARSH RESTORATION AFTER OIL SPILLS: FASTEST GROWTH, HIGHEST SURVIVAL

 Thomas J. Goreau, PhD

President

 Biorock® restoration is the only method known that 1) increases growth rates of oysters and saltmarsh grass (allowing accelerated restoration of damaged areas), 2) increases their resistance to environmental stress (often allowing them to be kept alive where they would die), 3) extends their growth beyond their normal environmental ranges, and 4) may also help speed breakdown of oil residues in the water and sediment.

 North American oysters (Crassostrea virginica) grown on Biorock® grew about two times faster and had about half the mortality of controls (1). Biorock® saltmarsh grass (Spartina alterniflora) grew nearly two times faster in height, had about twice as many stalks, and grew under conditions too deeply submerged for this grass to normally survive, that is to say beyond its normal limit (2).

 Saltmarshes and oyster reefs are the major ecosystems that will need to be restored in Louisiana and around the Gulf of Mexico after the oil spills have ended. Biorock is the only method that increases oyster and saltmarsh growth rates, so Biorock restoration projects will be the fastest way to restore oil damaged habitat.

 The first Biorock projects by the late Professor Wolf Hilbertz, done in the mid 1970s in Grand Isle, the very area of the Mississippi delta in Louisiana now affected by oil spills, were completely covered by multiple layers of exceptionally rapidly-growing, spontaneously-settling, oysters within months. There is little doubt that Biorock will not only bring these critical ecosystems back faster if they are damaged, it might also allow saltmarsh and oyster reefs to be extended seaward of their normal limits, protecting the coast from further erosion.

 Because Biorock confers much higher stress resistance, use of Biorock technology might allow existing oyster reefs and saltmarshes to be protected from severe mortality if put in place BEFORE the oil arrives.

 Biorock is also the best solution for restoring coral reefs affected by oil. Biorock corals grow 2-6 times faster than controls and had 16 to 50 times higher survival following severe high temperature stress (3). Coral reefs of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba could be impacted by oil in coming months.

 Biorock reefs grow eroding beaches back quickly (4) and provide exceptional fisheries habitat (5). In addition there is an excellent chance that adaptation of Biorock methods could also accelerate microbial degradation of oil residues in sediments, although further work is needed to develop this application.

  REFERENCES

 1.         N. Berger, J. T. Boehm, M. Haseltine, & T. Goreau, Oyster Growth study using Biorock Technology, to appear in T. Goreau (Ed.) Marine Habitat Restoration, special session of the 2011 World Restoration Conference.

 2.         J. Cervino, C. Zeckendorf, & T. Goreau, Electrical stimulation increases growth of saltmarsh grass Spartina alterniflora, to appear in T. Goreau (Ed.) Marine Habitat Restoration, special session of the 2011 World Restoration Conference.

 3.         T. Goreau & W. Hilbertz, 2009, Coral reef restoration for adaptation to global warming, 8 p., in T. J. Goreau & S. T. Nielsen (Eds.), The Green Disc: New Technologies for a New Future, Gibby Media Group, Spokane WA.

 4.         W. Hilbertz & T. Goreau, 2009, Shore protection from global sea level rise, 9p., in T. J. Goreau & S. T. Nielsen (Eds.), The Green Disc: New Technologies for a New Future, Gibby Media Group, Spokane WA.

 5.         T. Goreau & W. Hilbertz, 2009, Fisheries habitat restoration, 10p., in T. J. Goreau & S. T. Nielsen (Eds.), The Green Disc: New Technologies for a New Future, Gibby Media Group, Spokane WA.

  For more information on all of these applications, please contact Dr. Thomas J. Goreau at goreau@bestweb.net

BIOROCK® OYSTERS GROW FASTER AND HAVE HIGHER SURVIVAL:

SUMMARY OF 2007 & 2008 RESULTS

September 21 2010

Nikola Berger, Mara Haseltine, J. T. Boehm, and Tom Goreau

Measurements made in flow through tanks using bottom water from the Hudson river off midtown Manhattan over two years found that oysters with Biorock® treatment had 2.75 and 1.62 times faster growth rate than controls in 2007 and 2008 respectively, while the control oysters had 2.08 and 1.36 times higher mortality than Biorock® treatments. This data therefore strongly suggests that Biorock® oysters grow faster and have lower mortality, indicating that this method should be highly applicable to restoration of oyster reefs.

Oysters growing on Biorock® frames in flow through tank

Biorock oysters grew 2.75 times faster than controls in 2007

Biorock oysters grew 1.62 times faster than controls in 2008

Control oysters had 2.08 times higher mortality in 2007 and 1.36 times higher mortality in 2008

September 21 2010

BIOROCK® SALTMARSH RESTORATION RESULTS

 James Cervino

Tom Goreau

 Biorock has been used to stimulate the growth of the intertidal saltmarsh grass Spartina alterniflora in experiments at College Point, Queens, New York City. The nursery grown saltmarsh grass pots were planted inside the squares of a steel mesh laid flat on the sediment surface, which received a trickle charge of direct current. Uncharged control plants were planted on either side (N and S), and further away at the same elevation in the intertidal (SW), in case those near the current were affected by the electrical field. The S control was planted in an uncharged steel mesh to see if the steel itself affected the growth.

 In the first year (2008) the Biorock saltmarsh grew in height much faster, was noticeably darker green in color, and had more stems per plant than controls. In the Spring of 2009 most Biorock Spartina sprouted, but almost all controls died over the winter. Fresh controls were planted, and in 2009 the Biorock saltmarsh again grew taller, while most controls died. The same pattern was seen in 2010.

 It should be noted that the Biorock saltmarsh plants were lower in the intertidal than the lowest growth limit of saltmarsh in the area, that is to say they were growing lower than saltmarsh could normally grow, a unique result. Furthermore they were located in sediments next to a toxic solid waste dump, and severely polluted with trace metals, PCBs, dioxins, and petroleum residues derived from a former Navy shipyard, and illegal construction dump-site. 

These results indicate that Biorock increases saltmarsh growth, increases resistance to pollution, and allows saltmarsh to grow in places where it normally could not survive, providing a uniquely powerful tool for saltmarsh restoration. Biorock methods could allow Saltmarshe grasses to be grown SEAWARD of their natural lower limit, extending the thickness of saltmarsh shore protection buffers against coastal erosion in places such as Lousiana.

 2008 RESULTS FOR BIOROCK SPARTINA, CONTROLS ON EITHER SIDE OF IT (NORTH AND SOUTH) AND FOR A REMOTE CONTROL AT THE SAME ELEVATION IN THE INTERTIDAL (SW). THE BLACK CURVES ARE 2^ND ORDER POLYNOMIAL LEAST SQUARES FITS TO THE DATA.

Spartina 2009 SumMer data

 PLANT HEIGHT:

 All began at 9 inches (avg hight).

ELECTRIC

After 4.5 weeks, had an average height of 14.5 inches.

NON-ELECTRIC

After 4.5 weeks both control (un-wired) grids had an average height of 11.5 inches.

Growth of Biorock Spartina 2.2 times faster

  OVERWINTER SURVIVAL:

 ELECTRIC:

Planted 70 plugs. Following season 55 of those plugs re-grew  (78.6%)

 NON ELECTRIC

Control North: 70 Plugs: 4 re-grew  (5.7%)

Control: North: 70 Plugs: 1 re-grew  (1.4%)

 Regeneration of Biorock Spartina 22.1 times greater

  In 2010 the Biorock Spartina again resprouted and grew and survived much better than controls. We are still acquiring data on the results.

 BIOROCK SPARTINA (FOREGROUND) AND CONTROLS (SPARSE PLANTS DOING POORLY IN THE MIDDLE) ARE PLANTED BELOW THE LOWER LIMIT OF NATURALLY REGENERATING SPARTINA (BACKGROUND).