seagrass – Aquarius-Systems

Predicting Sediment Flow in Coastal Vegetation

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 17:34:01 +0000

Seagrass, kelp beds, mangroves, and other aquatic vegetation are often considered “ecosystem engineers” for their ability to essentially create their own habitats: Aquatic leaves and reeds slow the flow of water, encouraging sediments to settle nearby to form a foundation on which more plants can grow.

Such underwater forests provide shelter to hundreds of organisms, and can also protect shorelines from erosion. However, in the last few decades, large swaths of aquatic vegetation have disappeared around the world, including 100 million acres of wetlands, and thousands of acres of seagrass and kelp beds, in the United States.

Now researchers at MIT have developed a simple model that can help scientists understand how and when sediments move through a region of aquatic vegetation, such as a wetland. The researchers say engineers may use this model to design better ways to restore seagrass, mangroves, and other underwater plant beds.

Lose the Seagrass and Lose the Fisheries

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 16:41:26 +0000

Climate change affects creatures around the world. But land animals may have a slight advantage over marine species in running from the ill effects of global warming: the ability to escape.

The oceans absorb the majority of the excess heat. Because they distribute the heat widely, ocean temperature gains are subtle. But, even a small change in ocean temperature can have a profound impact on how marine species respond. For example, as an ocean warms, it loses oxygen, threatening the survival of species that require oxygen from the water.

North Carolina has somewhere between 100,000 and 130,000 acres of seagrass in addition to other submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) species. Fish depend on the rich estuarine habitat that flourishes along the North Carolina coast — an ecosystem that relies heavily on a meadow of grass covered by 12 inches of salt water where land and sea merge. The threat of climate change to those seemingly mundane patches — which are seldom above water — is a threat to the entire oceanic ecosystem.

A report by Duke University and N.C. State University measured the economic losses of losing submerged aquatic vegetation. The report estimated that a 5% loss of SAV over a decade would cost the state $8.7 million, and a 50% loss of SAV over a decade could cost $88.8 million.

Tampa Bay Sea Grass Beds Expand

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 17:37:38 +0000

Tampa Bay now supports 40,295 acres of sea grass beds, the largest amount of sea grass measured since the 1950s, a new study by scientists at the Southwest Florida Water Management District has found.

The extent of sea grass beds is a way to measure the water quality in the bay. The more sea grass there is, the cleaner the bay is.
“Sea grass was our canary in the coal mine (and) major losses occurred when Tampa Bay was in distress,” said agency scientist Kris Kaufman, who led the study. “Now with sustained good water quality in the bay, sea grasses are flourishing.”

This increase in sea grass, announced Wednesday by the agency commonly called Swiftmud, has surpassed the baywide recovery goal of 38,000 acres set 23 years ago by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program when the bay was suffering from serious pollution problems.

In other words, water quality in the bay is now as good as it was in 1950, explained Holly Greening, director of the estuary program.