Estuarine Restoration of Submersed Aquatic Vegetation: The Nursery Bed Effect

Hengst, Angela; Melton, J. Gordon; Murray, Laura

doi:10.1111/j.1526-100x.2010.00700.x

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…One current hypothesis is that Ruppia maritima (widgeongrass) beds can serve as nurseries for the establishment of other species of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) (e.g. Hengst 2007). However, a previous hectare‐scale distribution of Z. marina seeds into R. maritima beds in the lower Rappahannock River, Chesapeake Bay, in 1987, resulted in almost no establishment of Z. marina seedlings inside R. maritima patches, but seedlings were observed in nearby unvegetated sand (Orth unpublished data).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing Seedling Establishment Rates in Zostera marina and Their Implications for Seagrass Restoration

Marion

Orth

2009

Restoration Ecology

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Selection of strategies to efficiently utilize limited seed supplies in efforts to restore the seagrass Zostera marina (eelgrass) requires a better understanding of the processes that limit seedling establishment at potential restoration sites. We investigated the effect of seed distribution timing on seedling establishment and tested for interactive effects of seed burial and distribution timing. We also investigated the effect of habitat type on seedling establishment by distributing Z. marina seeds inside and outside of established Ruppia maritima (widgeongrass) patches and examined mechanisms causing habitat differences by manipulating seed position (buried or unburied) and vulnerability to seed predators (unprotected or protected in packets). Seeds distributed on the sediment surface in the summer (July or August) produced fewer seedlings than seeds distributed in fall (October) in five of six trials over 3 years.Seed burial increased success rates for seeds distributed in summer at one of two sites tested, eliminating the effect of season, but reduced success at the other site. Seeds placed in R. maritima generally produced fewer seedlings than seeds in bare sand, and although seed burial and protection in packets increased success in bare sand at three of four sites, the effect was less consistent in R. maritima. We conclude that seed predation and physical interactions were influential in reducing seedling establishment in R. maritima, contrary to hypotheses positing a nursery role for existing vegetation. Efficient restoration efforts with Z. marina seeds should target unvegetated areas after summertime sources of mortality have diminished. Direct seed burial may enhance seedling establishment rates.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing Seedling Establishment Rates in Zostera marina and Their Implications for Seagrass Restoration

Marion

Orth

2009

Restoration Ecology

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“…Ruppia may have improved the habitat quality for eelgrass by increasing the oxygen content of the sediments, reducing water column nutrients and suspended particles, and reducing the wave exposure. The presence of existing seagrass beds may enhance survival of transplants through the summer by modifying water quality and sediment conditions (Moore 2004; Hengst et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating a Large-Scale Eelgrass Restoration Project in the Chesapeake Bay

Tanner

Hunter

Reel

et al. 2008

Restoration Ecology

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Approximately 90,000 shoots of eelgrass (Zostera marina) were planted over 3 years (2003-2005) at Piney Point (PP) in the lower Potomac River estuary in the Chesapeake Bay (mid-Atlantic coast of North America) following 3 years of habitat evaluation using a Preliminary Transplant Suitability Index (PTSI) and test plantings. Initial survival was high for the 2003 and 2004 plantings; however, most of the eelgrass died during the summer following the fall planting. Habitat quality and restoration success were monitored for the 2005 plantings and compared to a nearby restoration site (St. George Island [SGI]). Eelgrass planted at PP in the fall of 2005 declined through the summer of 2006 with some recovery in the spring of 2007, but was gone by the end of the summer of 2007. The summer decline from late July to mid-August of 2006 coincided with water temperatures greater than 30 • C, hypoxic oxygen (0-3 mg/L) concentrations, and low percent light at leaf level (PLL < 15%).Epiphyte loads were much heavier at PP than at SGI, despite similar water quality. We suggest that this was the result of higher wave exposure at PP. All of these factors are likely to have contributed to the mortality of the 2005 plantings. Submerged aquatic vegetation habitat quality based on the PTSI, median PLL during the growing season, and test plantings did not explain the decline of the plantings. Restoration site selection criteria should be expanded to include the effects of wave exposure on self-shading and epiphyte loads, and the potential for both short-term exposures to stressful conditions and long-term changes in habitat quality.

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“…Submerged aquatic vegetation samples were collected at 20 random locations by scuba diving with a 0.36-m 2 square quadrat sampler; three haphazard subsamples (pooled) were taken at each location. Vegetation was identified to species, separated by taxon, dried for 72 h at 60°C to achieve a constant dry weight (Hengst et al 2010), and then weighed to the nearest 0.01 g. The vegetation quadrat sampling allowed us to identify locations for the macroinvertebrate sampling in the different types of habitats. The three dominant habitat types were wild celery Vallisneria americana, variable pondweed Potamogeton gramineus, and areas devoid of SAV (Miller 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish Community Responses to Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in Maumee Bay, Western Lake Erie

Miller

Kočovský

Wiegmann

et al. 2018

N American J Fish Manag

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Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in clearwater systems simultaneously provides habitat for invertebrate prey and acts as refugia for small fishes. Many fishes in Lake Erie rely on shallow, heavily vegetated bays as spawning grounds and the loss or absence of which is known to reduce recruitment in other systems. The Maumee River and Maumee Bay, which once had abundant macrophyte beds, have experienced a decline of SAV and an increase in suspended solids (turbidity) over the last century due to numerous causes. To compare fish communities in open‐water (turbid) and in SAV (clearer water) habitats in this region, which is designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an Area of Concern, and to indicate community changes that could occur with expansion of SAV habitat, we sampled a 300‐ha sector of northern Maumee Bay that contained both habitats. Using towed neuston nets through patches of each habitat, we determined that areas of SAV contained more species and a different species complex (based on the Jaccard index and the wetland fish index), than did the open‐water habitat (averaging 8.6 versus 5 species per net trawl). The SAV habitat was dominated by centrarchids, namely Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, and Black Crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus. Open‐water habitat was dominated by Spottail Shiner Notropis hudsonius, Gizzard Shad Dorosoma cepedianum, and White Perch Morone americana, an invasive species. These results indicate that restoration efforts aimed at decreasing turbidity and increasing the distribution of SAV could cause substantive shifts in the fish community and address important metrics for assessing the beneficial use impairments in this Area of Concern.

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Estuarine Restoration of Submersed Aquatic Vegetation: The Nursery Bed Effect

Cited by 14 publications

References 44 publications

Factors Influencing Seedling Establishment Rates in Zostera marina and Their Implications for Seagrass Restoration

Factors Influencing Seedling Establishment Rates in Zostera marina and Their Implications for Seagrass Restoration

Evaluating a Large-Scale Eelgrass Restoration Project in the Chesapeake Bay

Fish Community Responses to Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in Maumee Bay, Western Lake Erie

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