TITLE:
Electrical Stimulation Greatly Increases Settlement, Growth, Survival, and Stress Resistance of Marine Organisms
AUTHORS:
Thomas J. Goreau
KEYWORDS:
Electrical Stimulation, Corals, Oysters, Settlement, Growth, Survival, Environmental Stress Resistance, Climate Change Adaptation
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Resources,
Vol.5 No.10,
July
31,
2014
ABSTRACT: Increasing
stress from global warming, sea level rise, acidification, sedimentation,
pollution, and unsustainable practices have degraded the most critical coastal
ecosystems including coral reefs, oyster reefs, and salt marshes. Conventional
restoration methods work only under perfect conditions, but fail nearly
completely when the water becomes too hot or water quality deteriorates. New
methods are needed to greatly increase settlement, growth, survival, and
resistance to environmental stress of keystone marine organisms in order to
maintain critical coastal ecosystem functions including shore protection,
fisheries, and biodiversity. Electrolysis methods have been applied to marine
ecosystem restoration since 1976, with spectacular results (Figures 1(a)-(c)). This paper provides the first overall review
of the data. Low-voltage direct current trickle charges are found to increase
the settlement of corals 25.86 times higher than uncharged control sites, to
increase the mean growth rates of reef-building corals, soft corals, oysters,
and salt marsh grass— an average of 3.17 times faster than controls (ranging
from 2 to 10 times depending on species and conditions), and to increase the
survival of electrically charged marine organisms—an average of 3.47 times
greater than controls, with the biggest increases under the most severe environmental
stresses. These results are caused by the fundamental biophysical stimulation
of natural biochemical energy production pathways, used by all organisms,
provided by electrical stimulation under the right conditions. This paper
reviews for the first time all published results from properly designed,
installed, and maintained projects, and contrasts them with those that do not
meet these criteria.