Composition, export and faunal utilization of drift vegetation in the salt river submarine canyon

Josselyn, Michael; Cailliet, Gregor M.; Niesen, Thomas M.; Cowen, Robert K.; Hurley, Ann C.; Connor, Judith; Hawes, Sandra Lee

doi:10.1016/0272-7714(83)90129-4

Cited by 46 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Recent studies in the Salt River Submarine Canyon at St Croix, US Virgin Islands show that the seagrass Halophila decipiens Ostenfeld is an important source of organic matter and detritus for the Canyon (Josselyn et al 1983, Josselyn et al 1986. Frequent disturbance by burrowing and foraging animals and wave surge continually uproot or bury entire plants (Williams et al 1985, Josselyn et al 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Frequent disturbance by burrowing and foraging animals and wave surge continually uproot or bury entire plants (Williams et al 1985, Josselyn et al 1986). The buried plant material forms organic detritus that decomposes in the sediment while material on the sediment surface decomposes in place or is transported down the Canyon (Josselyn et al 1983). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Results of previous studies (Josselyn et al 1983, Josselyn et al 1986) and our interest in examining trophic links between benthic primary production and fisheries organisms prompted us to continue research on vascular plant detritus in the Salt River Canyon. We utilized the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) underwater habitat, Hydrolab, between May 13 and May 28, 1985 to examine: (1) the distnbution and abundance of Halophila decipiens; (2) net production and turnover time of H. decipiens at depths between 14 m and 32 m; (3) decomposition of H. decipiens in litterbags deployed on the sediment surface and buried in the sediment; and (4) abundance, biomass and heterotrophic activity of bacteria associated with living and decomposing H, decipiens.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Production, decomposition, and heterotrophic utilization of the seagrass Halophila decipiens in a submarine canyon

Kenworthy¹,

Ca²,

Fonseca³

et al. 1989

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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ABSTRACT-We examined the net production, decomposition, and microbial utilization of the seagrass Halophila decipiens during a 6.5 d period in May 1985 in the Salt River Canyon, St Croix, US Virgin Islands. H. decipienscovered 37 % of the Canyon floor between depths of 14 and 32 m with a biomass of 9.15 g dry \vt m-'; its net productivity was ca 0.145 g C m-' d -' Turnover time, estimated by 2 independent methods, was 10.7 d. After 6.5 d H decjpiens incubated in lltterbags buried in the sediment lost 5 6 % of their original ash free dry weight (AFDW) while litterbags incubated on the sediment surface lost only 28 % of their original AFDW. Bacteria grew rapidly on the detritus, doubling in 3.1 d in the surface bags and 3.7 d in the buried bags. Per-cell thymidine incorporation rates peaked within the first 13 h in both treatments but declined thereafter. Final incorporation rates were highest in surface bags. Mean bacterial cell size and bacterial abundance associated with degrading H. decipiens were larger in the buried litterbags. Bacterial biomass, however, was only 29.3 mg cell C g -' AFDW in buried bags and 17.5 mg C g-' AFDVV in surface bags Using bacterial production averaged for the 6.5 d, we estimate that only about 0.26 "10 of the daily detntal input from H. declplens is converted daily into bacterial biomass attached to the degrading plant material. We conclude that, unless the bacterial community on H. decipiens detritus were to use the organic matter more efficiently and were heavily grazed upon, attached bacteria would not make a significant contribution to a deposit-feeding detritivore's energy demands.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Production, decomposition, and heterotrophic utilization of the seagrass Halophila decipiens in a submarine canyon

Kenworthy¹,

Ca²,

Fonseca³

et al. 1989

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…The magnitude of export varies widely depending on detritus buoyancy and exposure to physical energy. For instance, communities of marine macrophytes and microalgae in sheltered embayments normally export a negligible percentage of production (Josselyn et al 1983;Kilar and Norris 1988), whereas kelps exposed to intense wave scouring export most of their production (Marsden 1991). Finally, a small, albeit variable, fraction of detrital production eventually accumulates as recalcitrant material within the community (Schlesinger 1997).…”

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confidence: 99%

Variability and control of carbon consumption, export, and accumulation in marine communities

Cebrián

2002

Limnology & Oceanography

132

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Elucidating the extent and controls of the routes followed by primary production in marine communities (i.e., consumption by herbivores, decomposition, transportation of plant material beyond the community boundariesreferred to as export-or accumulation as biomass or detritus) is essential to understand how much and why they differ in their capacity to fuel secondary production, both within or out of the community, and in their role as sinks in the oceanic carbon budget. Here, using an extensive compilation of published reports, I compare the magnitude of these routes across and within a wide range of community types, including oceanic and coastal phytoplanktonic communities, benthic microalgal communities, coral reef algal beds, macroalgal beds, seagrass meadows, marshes, and mangroves. Furthermore, I examine whether the variability in the magnitude of these routes among and within types is associated with that in the magnitude of primary production. In general, different community types showed similar levels of consumption by herbivores and export, in spite of substantial within-type variability. On the contrary, substantial differences in detritus decomposition and accumulation were found among types: coral reef algal beds and benthic microalgal communities tended to show the highest and lowest levels of decomposition, respectively, whereas marshes and oceanic phytoplanktonic communities tended to show the largest and smallest levels of detritus accumulation. The results also identify primary production as a robust (i.e., applicable to a wide range of environmental conditions and communities) control of the variability in herbivory and decomposition among marine communities. The role of primary production as a control of export and detritus accumulation is generally minor and only restricted to coastal phytoplanktonic and benthic microalgal communities, for export, and marshes and mangroves for detritus accumulation.

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“…The relative importance of these organic carbon pathways no doubt varies with habitat and distance from shore, although quantification of these pathways is still in its infancy (Gage and Tyler 1991;Pilskaln et al 1996;Rowe 1981). The macrophyte detritus pathway may be particularly important in deep-sea environments adjacent to productive neat-shore habitats such as seagrass meadows or kelp forests, where macrophyte detritus removed from these habitats may be transported offshore to deep-sea benthic communities via bottom currents (Josselyn et al 1983;Menzies et al 1967;Suchanek et al 1985;Vetter and Dayton, in press). …”

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confidence: 99%

Organic enrichment of submarine‐canyon and continental‐shelf benthic communities bymacroalgal drift imported from nearshore kelp forests

Harrold

Light

Lisin

1998

Limnology & Oceanography

119

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Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) surveys were conducted over a 3-year period to evaluate the importance of macroalgal drift exported from nearshore forests of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) to adjacent submarine-canyon and continental-shelf benthic habitats. Abundant macroalgal drift was found in the Carmel Submarine Canyon (153-454-m depth) but was rare at Pt. Joe, a continental shelf habitat 9 km away (87-357-m depth). Most of the drift parcels consisted of brown algae, but 10 other categories were found, including green and red algae and the surfgrass Phyllospadix spp. M. pyrifera drift accounted for as much as 20% of the density of drift parcels in the Carmel Submarine Canyon, and up to 50% of the drift parcels at Pt. Joe. From previously determined turnover rates of drift M. pyrifera and the standing stock estimates from the present study, we estimated that the rate of carbon flux associated with drift M. pyrifera to the benthos of the Cannel Submarine Canyon was 45.2 mg C m z d I. Based on published estimates of carbon flux from vertically sinking particulate organic carbon at 400-m depth in the nearby Monterey Submarine Canyon, and our estimates of kelp-derived carbon flux, drift M. pyrifera can account for 20-83% of the total particulate organic carbon reaching the sea floor in the Carmel Submarine Canyon. We conclude that drift macrophytes provide significant enrichment of organic carbon to the benthos above that provided by vertically sinking particulate organic material. The extent to which this alters the structure of benthic communities compared to areas without organic enrichment by drift macrophytes remains unknown and awaits further study.

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Composition, export and faunal utilization of drift vegetation in the salt river submarine canyon

Cited by 46 publications

References 10 publications

Production, decomposition, and heterotrophic utilization of the seagrass Halophila decipiens in a submarine canyon

Production, decomposition, and heterotrophic utilization of the seagrass Halophila decipiens in a submarine canyon

Variability and control of carbon consumption, export, and accumulation in marine communities

Organic enrichment of submarine‐canyon and continental‐shelf benthic communities bymacroalgal drift imported from nearshore kelp forests

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