Stability and resilience of seagrass meadows to seasonal and interannual dynamics and environmental stress

Carr, J. A.; D’Odorico, Paolo; McGlathery, Karen J.; Wiberg, Patricia L.

doi:10.1029/2011jg001744

Cited by 48 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…El Allaoui et al (2016) highlighted the increase in the mixing level that occurred in a patchy canopy compared with a canopy without gaps. An increase in mixing can cause an increase in sediment resuspension, which can result in a reduction in water clarity, threatening seagrass growth (Lawson et al 2007, van der Heide et al 2007, Carr et al 2012.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of anthropogenically created canopy gaps on wave attenuation in a Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow

Colomer¹,

Soler²,

Serra³

et al. 2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Fixed weights moorings, once removed, can create longitudinal gaps in seagrass meadows of different sizes, running perpendicular to the coast. We quantified the interactions between these longitudinal gaps and the hydrodynamic environment of the nearshore environment to determine their potential impact on seagrass meadow ecology. Within the meadow at leaf length distances from the edge, wave attenuation by the lateral vegetation next to the gap was approximately the same as attenuation by fully vegetated areas, and the wave attenuating capacity of the lateral, near-gap vegetation was independent of gap width. Gaps with widths less than twice the leaf length exhibited 8% wave attenuation and 11% turbulent kinetic energy attenuation, confirming that vegetation shelters at least small gaps. Despite similar capacity for wave attenuation, the longitudinal gaps influenced the architectural characteristics of the adjacent (lateral) meadow; lateral shoot density, percent cover and leaf length adjacent to the largest gap were 12, 16, and 20% lower than the fully vegetated site, respectively. Significant differences in the temporal variation of the mean lateral, near-gap seagrass percent cover and the leaf length indicated a strong dependence of the state of the canopy on temporal hydrodynamic conditions, which in turn were impacted by the presence of the gap. Our results quantify the interactions between gaps and lateral meadow vegetation, highlight the structural impact of traditional moorings and support improved management and conservation of seagrass meadows.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of anthropogenically created canopy gaps on wave attenuation in a Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow

Colomer¹,

Soler²,

Serra³

et al. 2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This loss of vegetation cover might consequently lead to erosion of the bottom and the release of the buried organic carbon stock. However, seagrass systems seem to be very resilient, and even when they experience poor light and temperature conditions the collapse to the unvegetated state may take several years [213]. …”

Section: Seagrass Meadowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two alternative stable states are known to exist for seagrass meadows, the vegetated state and the bare sediment (tidal flat) state ( Figure 5) [146,[211][212][213][214][215]. The positive feedback that enables the vegetated state to persist is related to maintaining low water turbidity, enabling the submerged seagrass plants to intercept enough light to perform photosynthesis.…”

Section: Seagrass Meadowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple Stable States and Catastrophic Shifts in Coastal Wetlands: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities in Validating Theory Using Remote Sensing and Other Methods

et al. 2015

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Multiple stable states are established in coastal tidal wetlands (marshes, mangroves, deltas, seagrasses) by ecological, hydrological, and geomorphological feedbacks. Catastrophic shifts between states can be induced by gradual environmental change or by disturbance events. These feedbacks and outcomes are key to the sustainability and resilience of vegetated coastlines, especially as modulated by human activity, sea level rise, and climate change. Whereas multiple stable state theory has been invoked to model salt marsh responses to sediment supply and sea level change, there has been comparatively little empirical verification of the theory for salt marshes or other coastal wetlands. Especially lacking is long-term evidence documenting if or how stable states are established and maintained at ecosystem scales. Laboratory and field-plot studies are informative, but of necessarily limited spatial and temporal scope. For the purposes of long-term, coastal-scale monitoring, remote sensing is the best viable option. This review summarizes the above topics and highlights the emerging promise and challenges of using remote sensing-based analyses to validate coastal OPEN ACCESS Remote Sens. 2015, 7 10185 wetland dynamic state theories. This significant opportunity is further framed by a proposed list of scientific advances needed to more thoroughly develop the field.

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“…To guide restoration and management efforts as well as to improve our understanding of the susceptibility of shallow coastal bays to changes in climate drivers and disturbances, including sea-level rise and temperature increase, we applied a coupled eelgrass growth and hydrodynamic model (Carr et al 2012) to a set of scenarios reflecting expected future in creases in sea level and water temperature in a shallow coastal bay. This model was used to investigate the strength of the feedback between water quality and eelgrass ecosystems, the impact of these feedbacks on the stability and resilience of estuarine seagrass meadows (van der Heide et al 2007), and possible leading indicators of a ecosystem shift.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the effects of climate change on eelgrass stability and resilience: future scenarios and leading indicators of collapse

Carr¹,

D’Odorico²,

McGlathery³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Seagrass meadows influence local hydrodynamics in coastal bays, resulting in a decrease in the shear stress acting on the underlying bed sediment. The reduced sediment suspension and water column turbidity creates a more favorable light environment for further seagrass growth. This positive feedback is strong enough to induce depth-dependent bistable dynamics with 2 possible stable states, an extant meadow and a bare sediment surface. A coupled vegetation-growth hydrodynamic model was used to investigate eelgrass stability and leading indicators of ecosystem shift under the effects of sea-level rise and increases in water temperature associated with climate change. The model was applied to Hog Island Bay, a shallow coastal bay within the Virginia Coast Reserve, USA, where eelgrass restoration efforts are ongoing. The results indicate that while extant eelgrass meadows are likely to tolerate sea-level rise, an increase in the frequency of days when summer water temperature exceeds 30°C will cause more frequent summer die-offs. This increase in the number of higher temperature disturbance events is likely to push a dense meadow initially located within the bistable depth range (1.6 to 1.8 m mean sea level) toward and eventually past a critical bifurcation point, from which recovery is not possible. We identified 2 leading indicators of a meadow nearing this bifurcation point, both associated with the number of leaves per shoot: 'flickering,' which reflects conspicuous fluctuations from one attractor to the other across the threshold, and 'slowing down,' which is the decreased recovery from perturbations as a system gets close to a threshold. Our model indicates that the eelgrass in these coastal bays has limited resilience to increases in water temperatures predicted from current climate change models.

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Stability and resilience of seagrass meadows to seasonal and interannual dynamics and environmental stress

Cited by 48 publications

References 50 publications

Impact of anthropogenically created canopy gaps on wave attenuation in a Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow

Impact of anthropogenically created canopy gaps on wave attenuation in a Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow

Multiple Stable States and Catastrophic Shifts in Coastal Wetlands: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities in Validating Theory Using Remote Sensing and Other Methods

Modeling the effects of climate change on eelgrass stability and resilience: future scenarios and leading indicators of collapse

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