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Caribbean-Wide, Long-Term Study of Seagrass Beds Reveals Local Variations, Shifts in Community Structure and Occasional Collapse
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLOS ONE 9(5): e98377. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098377, Kérwá, Universidad de Costa Rica, instacron:UCR, PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 3, p e90600 (2014)
- Publication Year :
- 2014
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2014.
-
Abstract
- The CARICOMP monitoring network gathered standardized data from 52 seagrass sampling stations at 22 sites (mostly Thalassia testudinum-dominated beds in reef systems) across the Wider Caribbean twice a year over the period 1993 to 2007 (and in some cases up to 2012). Wide variations in community total biomass (285 to >2000 g dry m−2) and annual foliar productivity of the dominant seagrass T. testudinum (2000 g dry m−2) were found among sites. Solar-cycle related intra-annual variations in T. testudinum leaf productivity were detected at latitudes > 16°N. Hurricanes had little to no long-term effects on these well-developed seagrass communities, except for 1 station, where the vegetation was lost by burial below ∼1 m sand. At two sites (5 stations), the seagrass beds collapsed due to excessive grazing by turtles or sea-urchins (the latter in combination with human impact and storms). The low-cost methods of this regional-scale monitoring program were sufficient to detect long-term shifts in the communities, and fifteen (43%) out of 35 long-term monitoring stations (at 17 sites) showed trends in seagrass communities consistent with expected changes under environmental deterioration. UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR)
- Subjects :
- Costa Rica
Population Dynamics
lcsh:Medicine
Marine and Aquatic Sciences
Marine Biology
Hydrocharitaceae
Ecosystems
Marine Conservation
Marine Monitoring
578.778 972 86 Arrecifes coralinos
Biomass
lcsh:Science
Biology
Reef
Conservation Science
geography
Biomass (ecology)
Multidisciplinary
geography.geographical_feature_category
Ecology
biology
lcsh:R
Marine Ecology
Community structure
Computational Biology
Coral reef
Vegetation
biology.organism_classification
Biota
Marine Environments
Monitoring program
Seagrass
Caribbean Region
Productivity (ecology)
Bioindicators
Earth Sciences
lcsh:Q
coral reefs
Ecosystem Modeling
Ecosystem Functioning
Environmental Monitoring
Research Article
Ecological Environments
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 9
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....df86477f09b7c221da51bb2ffed7ceda