Effects of shading and simulated grazing on carbon sequestration in a tropical seagrass meadow

1. There is an ongoing world-wide decline of seagrass ecosystems, one of the world's most efficient carbon sink habitats. In spite of this, there is a clear lack of studies experimentally testing the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on carbon sequestration of seagrass systems. 2. We assessed the effects of two disturbances of global concern on the carbon sink function in a five-month in situ experiment within a tropical seagrass (Thalassia hemprichii) meadow by testing the impacts of shading and simulated grazing at two levels of intensity using shading cloths and clipping of shoot tissue. We measured the effects of these disturbances on the carbon sequestration process by assessing the net community production (NCP), carbon and nitrogen content in tissue biomass, and organic matter and THAA (total hydrolysable amino acids) in the sediment down to 40 cm depth. 3. Treatments of high-intensity shading and high-intensity clipping were similarly impacted and showed a significantly lower NCP and carbon content in the below-ground biomass compared to the seagrass control. No significant effects were seen in organic carbon, total nitrogen, C:N ratio and THAA in the sediment for the seagrass treatments. However, both clipping treatments showed different depth profiles of carbon and THAA compared to the seagrass control, with lower organic carbon and THAA content in the surface sediment. This can be explained by the clipping of shoot tissue causing a less efficient trapping of allochthonous carbon and reduced input of shredded seagrass leaves to the detritus sediment layer. In the clipping plots, erosion of the surface sediment occurred, which was also most likely caused by the removal of above-ground plant biomass. 4. Synthesis. Our findings show that during the course of this experiment, there were no impacts on the sedimentary carbon while the high-intensity disturbances caused a clear depletion of carbon biomass and reduced the seagrass meadow's capacity to sequester carbon. From a long-term perspective, the observed effect on the carbon biomass pool in the high-intensity treatments and the sediment erosion in the clipping plots may lead to loss in sedimentary carbon

Groundwater effects on diversity and abundance of lagoonal seagrasses in Kenya and on Zanzibar Island (East Africa)

Seagrass species diversity and abundance were studied in East African back-reef lagoons with contrasting groundwater-outflow rates. The selection of the lagoons was based on a groundwater flow model. A total of 10 seagrass species was observed at all sites together. Sites with a higher groundwater outflow displayed a lower species diversity than sites with a lower groundwater outflow. Thalassodendron ciliatum dominated at sites with high groundwater outflow rates, while Thalassia hemprichii showed higher coverage at sites with low groundwater outflow. Porewater salinities were up to 5 psu lower at locations with predicted high groundwater-outflow rates indicating supply of freshwater. The reduction in porewater salinity at groundwater outflow sites is relatively low, which makes it unlikely that a difference in optimum salinity for growth is the main factor causing reduced diversity at these sites. Nitrogen-stable isotope signatures of seagrass leaves showed a significant increase with increased groundwater outflow rates. This suggests that the nitrogen source for these plants was, at least in part, groundwater. Differences in competition for nitrogen may explain the observed pattern in species diversity and abundance. To establish a substantive link between the observed reduced seagrass diversity or enhanced δ15N values of T. ciliatum leaves on the one hand and increased groundwater outflow rates on the other, further exploration through detailed measurements of groundwater outflow rates and groundwater nitrogen isotopic composition are needed.. This research is part of the GROFLO project which was supported by grant no. IC18-CT96-0065 of the Commission of the European Communities within the framework of the INCO Programme. This is NIOO-CEMO publication no. 2854Peer Reviewe