Loading...
Loss of seagrass results in changes to benthic infaunal community structure and decreased secondary production
Seitz, Rochelle D. Ewers Lewis, Caroline J.
Seitz, Rochelle D.
Ewers Lewis, Caroline J.
Abstract
Seagrass beds have decreased in abundance and areal coverage over the past several decades. Although previous studies have examined the importance of seagrass for benthic community assemblages and abundances, the effect of seagrass on deep-dwelling, large (high-biomass) infauna and the importance for benthic secondary production in Chesapeake Bay have not been addressed. Using benthic suctions and push cores, we compared density, diversity, and secondary productivity of benthic communities in seagrass to those in other shallow-water habitats and estimated benthic secondary productivity lost in the York River due to loss of seagrass from 1971 to 2016. We examined four habitat types in the York River: unvegetated, Gracilaria spp., mixed seagrass (multiple seagrass species), and Zostera marina L. seagrass. Physical characteristics of habitat types and biomass of organisms were assessed, and annual secondary productivity was calculated using biomass and production-to-biomass ratios. Benthic density, diversity, secondary productivity, sedimentary chlorophyll a, and percent sand were all highest in seagrass beds with Z. marina alone. Approximately 35% of benthic secondary productivity, or 1.51 × 108 g C yr–1, was lost in the York River in 1971–2016 due to the loss of seagrass beds to unvegetated substrate. The loss of seagrass in the York River over time and the associated decrease in benthic secondary productivity that we estimated could have negative consequences for the productivity of epibenthic predators. Our data emphasize the importance of conservation and restoration of seagrass.
Description
Date
2018-10-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Collections
Download Dataset
Files
Loading...
seitz_BullMarSci_2018.pdf
Adobe PDF, 2.13 MB
Rights Holder
Usage License
Embargo
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Biological Sciences Peer-Reviewed Articles
Citation
Advisor
Department
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2017.1011