Data/hora: 09/06/2024 07:46:51

Provedor de dados: | 5
País: | France
Título: | Tiny Is Mighty: Seagrass Beds Have a Large Role in the Export of Organic Material in the Tropical Coastal Zone
Autores: | Gillis, Lucy G.; Ziegler, Alan D.; Van Oevelen, Dick; Cathalot, Cecile; Herman, Peter M. J.; Wolters, Jan W.; Bouma, Tjeerd J.
Data: | 2014-11
Ano: | 2014
Resumo: | Ecosystems in the tropical coastal zone exchange particulate organic matter (POM) with adjacent systems, but differences in this function among ecosystems remain poorly quantified. Seagrass beds are often a relatively small section of this coastal zone, but have a potentially much larger ecological influence than suggested by their surface area. Using stable isotopes as tracers of oceanic, terrestrial, mangrove and seagrass sources, we investigated the origin of particulate organic matter in nine mangrove bays around the island of Phuket (Thailand). We used a linear mixing model based on bulk organic carbon, total nitrogen and delta C-13 and delta N-15 and found that oceanic sources dominated suspended particulate organic matter samples along the mangrove-seagrass-ocean gradient. Sediment trap samples showed contributions from four sources oceanic, mangrove forest/terrestrial and seagrass beds where oceanic had the strongest contribution and seagrass beds the smallest. Based on ecosystem area, however, the contribution of suspended particulate organic matter derived from seagrass beds was disproportionally high, relative to the entire area occupied by mangrove forests, the catchment area (terrestrial) and seagrass beds. The contribution from mangrove forests was approximately equal to their surface area, whereas terrestrial contributions to suspended organic matter under contributed compared to their relative catchment area. Interestingly, mangrove forest contribution at 0 m on the transects showed a positive relationship with the exposed frontal width of the mangrove, indicating that mangrove forest exposure to hydrodynamic energy may be a controlling factor in mangrove outwelling. However we found no relationship between seagrass bed contribution and any physical factors, which we measured. Our results indicate that although seagrass beds occupy a relatively small area of the coastal zone, their role in the export of organic matter is disproportional and should be considered in coastal management especially with respect to their importance as a nutrient source for other ecosystems and organisms.
Tipo: | Text
Idioma: | Inglês

Identificador:

http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00242/35335/33926.pdf

DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0111847

http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00242/35335/

Editor: | Public Library Science
Formato: | application/pdf
Fonte: | Plos One (1932-6203) (Public Library Science), 2014-11 , Vol. 9 , N. 11 , P. 1-12

Fonte:

2014 Gillis et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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