Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-2024
Department
Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract
Net global losses of seagrasses have accelerated efforts to understand recovery from disturbances. Stressors causing disturbances (e.g., storms, heatwaves, boating) vary temporally and spatially within meadows potentially affecting recovery. To test differential recovery, we conducted a removal experiment at sites that differed in thermal stress for a temperate seagrass (Zostera marina). We also synthesized prior studies of seagrass recovery to assess general patterns. Seagrass shoots were removed from 28.3 m2 plots at edge and central sites of a meadow in South Bay, Virginia, USA. We hypothesized faster recovery for edge plots where greater oceanic exchange reduces thermal stress. Contrary to our hypothesis recovery was most rapid in the central meadow matching control site shoot density in 24 months. Recovery was incomplete at the meadow edge and estimated to require 158 months. Differences in recovery were likely due to storm-driven sediment erosion at the edge sites. Based on data from prior recovery studies, which were primarily on monospecific meadows of Zostera, seagrasses recover across a broad range of conditions with a positive, nonlinear relationship between disturbance area and recovery time. Our experiment indicates position within a seagrass meadow affects disturbance susceptibility and length of recovery. Linking this finding to our literature synthesis suggests increased attention to spatial context will contribute to better understanding variation in recovery rates.
Publication Title
Limnology and Oceanography
Recommended Citation
Tassone, S.,
Ewers Lewis, C.,
McGlathery, K.,
&
Pace, M.
(2024).
Seagrass ecosystem recovery: Experimental removal and synthesis of disturbance studies.
Limnology and Oceanography,
69(7), 1593-1605.
http://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12608
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p2/931
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Version
Publisher's PDF
Publisher's Statement
© 2024 The Author(s). Limnology and Oceanography published by Wiley Periodicals LLCon behalf of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12608