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Nitrogen retained through loss
May 23, 2008Nitrogen cycle in tropical seagrass fields
The nitrogen cycle plays a major role in seagrass fields. Dutch researcher Arie Vonk studied the nitrogen dynamics of seagrasses in Indonesia. He discovered that the interaction between seagrasses, animals and microorganisms results in an efficient nitrogen cycle in tropical seagrass fields. Consequently the nitrogen lost from seagrasses is still retained.
Seagrass fields are coastal ecosystems with important functions for coastal stability and fish populations. The collection and grazing of seagrass leaves is the most important nitrogen flow in these fields. Nitrogen is an important nutrient for organisms and the production of seagrass leaves requires large quantities of nitrogen. However, the leaf has a short lifespan and as it dies off, little of the nitrogen is retained by the plant. Leaf loss therefore also means considerable nitrogen loss for the plant.
Animal species that live amongst the seagrass can influence the export and dynamics of seagrass leaves. The most important grazers of seagrass fields are sea urchins, shrimps and fish. Shrimps, for example, retain nutrients by collecting the leaf material. Their holes can therefore form an important source of nutrients that can once again become available for uptake by seagrasses.
Human influences
Coastal floors can be stabilised by the extensive root systems of the seagrass fields. Seagrass fields also function as a hiding place and breeding ground for many vertebrate and invertebrate animal species. Due to an increasing human pressure on the coastal system, many seagrass fields are disappearing worldwide. The increasing pressure is noticeable by the increase in nutrients and sediment in the water and the widespread exploitation of the ecosystems.
The research results are interesting for managers and conservationists of tropical coastal areas. Seagrass fields are important ecosystems for the fishing industry and therefore for food supplies. In addition to this, seagrass fields ensure stabilisation of the coast, an important characteristic in view of rising sea levels and coastal erosion.
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Animal species that live amongst the seagrass can influence the export and dynamics of seagrass leaves. The most important grazers of seagrass fields are sea urchins, shrimps and fish. Shrimps, for example, retain nutrients by collecting the leaf material. Their holes can therefore form an important source of nutrients that can once again become available for uptake by seagrasses.
Human influences
Coastal floors can be stabilised by the extensive root systems of the seagrass fields. Seagrass fields also function as a hiding place and breeding ground for many vertebrate and invertebrate animal species. Due to an increasing human pressure on the coastal system, many seagrass fields are disappearing worldwide. The increasing pressure is noticeable by the increase in nutrients and sediment in the water and the widespread exploitation of the ecosystems.
The research results are interesting for managers and conservationists of tropical coastal areas. Seagrass fields are important ecosystems for the fishing industry and therefore for food supplies. In addition to this, seagrass fields ensure stabilisation of the coast, an important characteristic in view of rising sea levels and coastal erosion.
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Seagrass News and Current Seagrass Events RSSNew study shows extent of harmful human influences on global ecosystems
More than 40 percent of the world's oceans are heavily impacted by human activities, including overfishing and pollution, according to a new study that will appear in tomorrow's peer-reviewed journal Science.
Seagrass ecosystems at a 'global crisis'
An international team of scientists is calling for a targeted global conservation effort to preserve seagrasses and their ecological services for the world's coastal ecosystems, according to an article published in the December issue of Bioscience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS).
World's coral reef left vulnerable by paper parks
Although 18.7% of the world's coral reefs are within "Marine Protected Areas" (MPAs) less that 2% are within MPAs with sound management, scientists report in the June 23 edition of Science Magazine.
Decline of world's estuaries and coastal seas
Human activity over the centuries has depleted 90% of marine species, eliminated 65% of seagrass and wetland habitat, degraded water quality 10-1,000 fold, and accelerated species invasions in 12 major estuaries and coastal seas around the world.
The Bay Is His Oyster: Ray Grizzle Is Restoring Oyster Reefs To NH's Great Bay
In the past decade, the oyster population in New Hampshire's Great Bay estuary has plummeted by 90 percent, due to the 1995 arrival of the oyster disease MSX.
Seagrass Is In Decline Worldwide, Says UNH Researcher
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Sharks are known for their almost uncanny ability to detect electrical signals while hunting and navigating.
Smithsonian guide to the biodiverse marine environment of Panama's Bocas del Toro
Coral reefs, coastal rainforest, land-grab, industrial bananas and organic cacao, mangroves, tourist boom, eclectic cultural mix: A Caribbean Journal of Science special issue presents the first scientific overview of the marine environment in Bocas del Toro Province near Panama's border with Costa Rica.
Grazer diversity counteracts plant diversity effects on ecosystem functioning in seagrass beds
Several influential experiments have shown that high plant diversity enhances ecosystem productivity, animal diversity, and invasion resistance. Yet theory predicts that plant and herbivore diversity, which often co vary in nature, should have countervailing effects on ecosystem properties. In the July issue of Ecology Letters, Duffy, Canuel, and Richardson provide experimental support for this prediction. In a seagrass system, increasing grazer diversity reduced both algal biomass and total community diversity, and facilitated dominance of a grazing-resistant invertebrate. In parallel with previous plant results, however, grazer diversity enhanced grazer biomass production, an important det
Coralreef fish desperately need mangrove forests and seagrass fields
Biologists from the University of Nijmegen have demonstrated that some coral fish really do choose nursery grounds before heading for the coral reef. According to the researchers, managers of the waters around the Caribbean islands must devote more attention to the coast as a whole and not just to the protection of coral reefs. Up until now scientists suspected that seagrass fields and mangrove forests (trees which can survive in salt water) were nursery grounds for coral fish because young fish were often found there. However, there was a lack of scientific evidence to support this. The conclusions from the Nijmegen research have changed this. They lend support to the idea that mangrove fo
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