Displacement of epifauna from seagrass blades by boat wake

Bishop, M

Displacement of epifauna from seagrass blades by boat wake

Bishop, M

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Publisher:: Elsevier Science Bv
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal Of Experimental Marine Biology And Ecology, 2008, 354 (1), pp. 111 - 118
Issue Date:: 2008-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Bishop, M	en_US
dc.date.issued	2008-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Journal Of Experimental Marine Biology And Ecology, 2008, 354 (1), pp. 111 - 118	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0022-0981	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/14802
dc.description.abstract	Due to the increasing accessibility of waterways under coastal development, recreational boating is among the growing disturbances to seagrasses at the local scale. While previous studies indicate that in decreasing and fragmenting seagrass habitat, boating can impact the diverse faunal assemblages associated with this habitat, direct impacts of boat wake on phytal invertebrates have not been assessed. By sampling seagrass blades twice before, immediately after and 1 h after exposure to recreational boat wake, this study documented the displacement of macroinvertebrates from flapping seagrass blades. At wake-exposed sites, up to five-fold decreases in the total abundances of amphipods and polychaetes and two-fold deceases in taxon richness were evident from immediately before to immediately after the disturbance of wake. By contrast, at control sites, the abundance and richness of these taxa remained fairly unchanged during the study and in some cases even increased. Although many of the displaced taxa were mobile, additional sampling indicated that they did not completely recolonize seagrass patches within 1 h of the disturbance. Thus, in places where boat traffic is relatively frequent, permanent depression of abundances of macroinvertebrates in seagrass may occur. This is of concern given that macroinvertebrates fuel fisheries productivity. Thus, in areas with frequent and or intense boating activity, nursery functions of seagrass beds may be severely compromised. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.	en_US
dc.publisher	Elsevier Science Bv	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal Of Experimental Marine Biology And Ecology	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.jembe.2007.10.013	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	en_US
dc.title	Displacement of epifauna from seagrass blades by boat wake	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	354	en_US
utslib.location.activity	ISI:000252599600011	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
utslib.for	05 Environmental Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	06 Biological Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences	en_US
dc.location.activity	ISI:000252599600011	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.volume	354	en_US

Abstract:

Due to the increasing accessibility of waterways under coastal development, recreational boating is among the growing disturbances to seagrasses at the local scale. While previous studies indicate that in decreasing and fragmenting seagrass habitat, boating can impact the diverse faunal assemblages associated with this habitat, direct impacts of boat wake on phytal invertebrates have not been assessed. By sampling seagrass blades twice before, immediately after and 1 h after exposure to recreational boat wake, this study documented the displacement of macroinvertebrates from flapping seagrass blades. At wake-exposed sites, up to five-fold decreases in the total abundances of amphipods and polychaetes and two-fold deceases in taxon richness were evident from immediately before to immediately after the disturbance of wake. By contrast, at control sites, the abundance and richness of these taxa remained fairly unchanged during the study and in some cases even increased. Although many of the displaced taxa were mobile, additional sampling indicated that they did not completely recolonize seagrass patches within 1 h of the disturbance. Thus, in places where boat traffic is relatively frequent, permanent depression of abundances of macroinvertebrates in seagrass may occur. This is of concern given that macroinvertebrates fuel fisheries productivity. Thus, in areas with frequent and or intense boating activity, nursery functions of seagrass beds may be severely compromised. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/14802