Contrasting recovery of shallow and deep water seagrass communities following climate associated losses in tropical north Queensland, Australia.
Mar Pollut Bull
; 83(2): 491-9, 2014 Jun 30.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24629380
ABSTRACT
Tropical seagrass decline and recovery from severe storm impacts was assessed via quarterly measurements of seagrass biomass, species composition and experimental investigations of recovery in north Queensland. Shallow and deep seagrass meadows suffered major declines. Significant recovery in the two years following loss only occurred at deeper sites. Halophila spp. in deep water areas had a high capacity for recovery through the availability of seed banks. In contrast, the shallow species did not recover quickly from experimental disturbance, had poor seed reserves and relied on asexual propagation. The potential for shallow species to recover rapidly from widespread losses was limited as seed banks were limited or non-existent. Understanding inter- and intra-specific differences in seagrass recovery and how this interacts with location is critical to predict the consequences of climate events to tropical seagrasses. This is especially important as more frequent severe storms are predicted as a consequence of climate change.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Climate Change
/
Ecosystem
/
Hydrocharitaceae
Type of study:
Risk_factors_studies
Country/Region as subject:
Oceania
Language:
En
Journal:
Mar Pollut Bull
Year:
2014
Document type:
Article