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O'Brien KR, Waycott M, Maxwell P, Kendrick GA, Udy JW, Ferguson AJP, Kilminster K, Scanes P, McKenzie LJ, McMahon K, Adams MP, Samper-Villarreal J, Collier C, Lyons M, Mumby PJ, Radke L, Christianen MJA, Dennison WC. Seagrass ecosystem trajectory depends on the relative timescales of resistance, recovery and disturbance. Mar Pollut Bull 2018; 134:166-176. [PMID: 28935363 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2017] [Revised: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 09/06/2017] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Seagrass ecosystems are inherently dynamic, responding to environmental change across a range of scales. Habitat requirements of seagrass are well defined, but less is known about their ability to resist disturbance. Specific means of recovery after loss are particularly difficult to quantify. Here we assess the resistance and recovery capacity of 12 seagrass genera. We document four classic trajectories of degradation and recovery for seagrass ecosystems, illustrated with examples from around the world. Recovery can be rapid once conditions improve, but seagrass absence at landscape scales may persist for many decades, perpetuated by feedbacks and/or lack of seed or plant propagules to initiate recovery. It can be difficult to distinguish between slow recovery, recalcitrant degradation, and the need for a window of opportunity to trigger recovery. We propose a framework synthesizing how the spatial and temporal scales of both disturbance and seagrass response affect ecosystem trajectory and hence resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine R O'Brien
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia.
| | - Michelle Waycott
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; State Herbarium of South Australia, Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, GPO Box 1047, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Paul Maxwell
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia; Healthy Land and Water, PO Box 13204, George St, Brisbane 4003, Queensland, Australia
| | - Gary A Kendrick
- The Oceans Institute (M470), The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
| | - James W Udy
- Healthy Land and Water, PO Box 13204, George St, Brisbane 4003, Queensland, Australia; School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, P.O. Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
| | - Angus J P Ferguson
- NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, PO Box A290, Sydney South, NSW 1232, Australia
| | - Kieryn Kilminster
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, Locked Bag 33, Cloisters Square, Perth, WA 6842, Australia
| | - Peter Scanes
- NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, PO Box A290, Sydney South, NSW 1232, Australia
| | - Len J McKenzie
- Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia
| | - Kathryn McMahon
- School of Sciences, Edith Cowan University, WA, 6027, Australia; Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, WA, 6027, Australia
| | - Matthew P Adams
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jimena Samper-Villarreal
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia; Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, 11501-2060, San José, Costa Rica
| | - Catherine Collier
- Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia
| | - Mitchell Lyons
- Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, 2052 NSW, Australia
| | - Peter J Mumby
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Lynda Radke
- Coastal, Marine and Climate Change Group, Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Marjolijn J A Christianen
- Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11103, 9700, CC, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - William C Dennison
- University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge, MD 21613, USA
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Leigh C, Burford MA, Roberts DT, Udy JW. Predicting the vulnerability of reservoirs to poor water quality and cyanobacterial blooms. Water Res 2010; 44:4487-4496. [PMID: 20598731 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2010.06.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2010] [Revised: 06/02/2010] [Accepted: 06/07/2010] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Cyanobacterial blooms in drinking water reservoirs present a major ecosystem functioning and human health issue. The ability to predict reservoir vulnerability to these blooms would provide information critical for decision making, hazard prevention and management. We developed a new, comparative index of vulnerability based on simple measures of reservoir and catchment characteristics, rather than water quality data, which were instead used to test the index's effectiveness. Testing was based on water quality data collected over a number of seasons and years from 15 drinking water reservoirs in subtropical, southeast Queensland. The index correlated significantly and strongly with algal cell densities, including potentially toxic cyanobacteria, as well as with the proportions of cyanobacteria in summer months. The index also performed better than each of the measures of reservoir and catchment characteristics alone, and as such, was able to encapsulate the physical characteristics of subtropical reservoirs, and their catchments, into an effective indicator of the vulnerability to summer blooms. This was further demonstrated by calculating the index for a new reservoir to be built within the study region. Under planned dimensions and land use, a comparatively high level of vulnerability was reached within a few years. However, the index score and the number of years taken to reach a similar level of vulnerability could be reduced simply by decreasing the percentage of grazing land cover via revegetation within the catchment. With climate change, continued river impoundment and the growing demand for potable water, our index has potential decision making benefits when planning future reservoirs to reduce their vulnerability to cyanobacterial blooms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine Leigh
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan QLD 4111, Australia.
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Albert S, O'Neil JM, Udy JW, Ahern KS, O'Sullivan CM, Dennison WC. Blooms of the cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula in coastal Queensland, Australia: disparate sites, common factors. Mar Pollut Bull 2005; 51:428-437. [PMID: 15757741 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2004.10.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
During the last decade there has been a significant rise in observations of blooms of the toxic cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula along the east coast of Queensland, Australia. Whether the increase in cyanobacterial abundance is a biological indicator of widespread water quality degradation or also a function of other environmental change is unknown. A bioassay approach was used to assesses the potential for runoff from various land uses to stimulate productivity of L. majuscula. In Moreton Bay, L. majuscula productivity was significantly (p<0.05) stimulated by soil extracts, which were high in phosphorus, iron and organic carbon. Productivity of L. majuscula from the Great Barrier Reef was also significantly (p<0.05) elevated by iron and phosphorus rich extracts, in this case seabird guano adjacent to the bloom site. Hence, it is possible that other L. majuscula blooms are a result of similar stimulating factors (iron, phosphorus and organic carbon), delivered through different mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Albert
- University of Queensland, Centre for Marine Studies, Brisbane, Qld. 4072, Australia.
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