Seagrass fatalities in North Biscayne Bay, South Florida due to increases in nutrients and macroalgae in its environment

Abstract

Biscayne Bay is a subtropical estuary located in South Florida. It is a rich environment containing a multitude of organisms such as seagrass, sponges, and fish. The Biscayne Bay ecosystem is currently undergoing a drastic environmental decline due to seagrass fatalities throughout the area, specifically in North Biscayne Bay. This literature review pinpointed the causes and effects of these seagrass fatalities from analyzed research that has been completed on this subject. The research papers found for this review came from five databases: Google Scholar, the Biscayne Bay Task Force Database (HPI), Gale in Context, Gale Academic OneFile and JSTOR. A total of 245 papers were looked over and 18 articles were left to use for this review. From those papers, it was concluded that the most probable cause of the seagrass fatalities was the pollution runoff from metropolitan areas that stimulated nutrient overloads. These nutrient overloads are factors that cause algal blooms, which in turn cause these seagrass fatalities due to lack of sunlight and resources for photosynthesis. The lack of seagrass regulating the fragile Biscayne Bay environment is also causing an influx of fish deaths, which is bringing about a local economic decline in commercialized fishing. Without the properties of seagrass in Biscayne Bay, it can cause a more drastic environmental meltdown that may not be fixable.

Public perception of an important urban estuary: Values, attitudes, and policy support in the Biscayne Bay-Miami Social Ecological System

“…These blooms are associated with nutrient pollution which has slowly altered local marine ecosystems, in some cases resulting in localized regime shifts. These blooms only sometimes culminate in anoxic events and corresponding fish kills, which due to water exchange and local geography, tend to concentrate most visibly in the northern parts of Biscayne Bay [ 49 , 98 , 99 ]. Thus while nutrient pollution is a fundamental and persistent issue in the bay, the relatively slow and hidden nature of resulting impacts may be hindering proportional public awareness and concern.…”