Wave energy and the upper depth limit distribution of Posidonia oceanica

It is widely accepted that light availability sets the lower limit of seagrass bathymetric distribution, while the upper limit depends on the level of disturbance by currents and waves. The establishment of light requirements for seagrass growth has been a major focus of research in marine ecology,...

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Autores: Infantes, Eduardo, Terrados, Jorge, Orfila, Alejandro, Cañellas, Bartomeu, Álvarez-Ellacuria, Amaya
Tipo de documento: artigo
Data de publicação:2009
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositório:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/99337
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/99337
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Wave energy
Seagrass distribution
Posidonia oceanica upper depth limit
Parabolic model
Near-bottom orbital velocity
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spelling Wave energy and the upper depth limit distribution of Posidonia oceanicaInfantes, EduardoTerrados, JorgeOrfila, AlejandroCañellas, BartomeuÁlvarez-Ellacuria, AmayaWave energySeagrass distributionPosidonia oceanica upper depth limitParabolic modelNear-bottom orbital velocityIt is widely accepted that light availability sets the lower limit of seagrass bathymetric distribution, while the upper limit depends on the level of disturbance by currents and waves. The establishment of light requirements for seagrass growth has been a major focus of research in marine ecology, and different quantitative models provide predictions for seagrass lower depth limits. In contrast, the influence of energy levels on the establishment, growth, and maintenance of seagrasses has received less attention, and to date there are no quantitative models predicting the evolution of seagrasses as a function of hydrodynamics at a large scale level. Hence, it is not possible to predict either the upper depth limit of the distribution of seagrasses or the effects that different energy regimes will have on these limits. The aim of this work is to provide a comprehensible methodology for obtaining quantitative knowledge and predictive capacity for estimating the upper depth limit of seagrasses as a response to wave energy dissipated on the seafloor. The methodology has been applied using wave data from 1958 to 2001 in order to obtain the mean wave climate in deep water seaward from an open sandy beach in the Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean Sea where the seagrass Posidonia oceanica forms an extensive meadow. Mean wave conditions were propagated to the shore using a two-dimensional parabolic model over the detailed bathymetry. The resulting hydrodynamics were correlated with bottom type and the distribution of P. oceanica. Results showed a predicted near-bottom orbital velocity of between 38 and 42 cm s-1 as a determinant of the upper depth limit of P. oceanica. This work shows the importance of interdisciplinary effort in ecological modeling and, in particular, the need for hydrodynamical studies to elucidate the distribution of seagrasses in shallow depths. Moreover, the use of predictive models would permit evaluation of the effects of coastal activities (construction of ports, artificial reefs, beach nutrient-input, dredging) on benthic ecosystems. © 2009 by Walter de Gruyter.E. Infantes would like to thank the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC) FPI scholarship program (BES-2006-12850) for financial support. Financial support from grants CTM2005-01434, CTM2006-12072/MAR, and the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (UGIZC) project are acknowledgedPeer ReviewedWalter de Gruyter2014201420092014info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501http://hdl.handle.net/10261/99337reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Ingléshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1515/BOT.2009.050info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/993372026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Wave energy and the upper depth limit distribution of Posidonia oceanica
title Wave energy and the upper depth limit distribution of Posidonia oceanica
spellingShingle Wave energy and the upper depth limit distribution of Posidonia oceanica
Infantes, Eduardo
Wave energy
Seagrass distribution
Posidonia oceanica upper depth limit
Parabolic model
Near-bottom orbital velocity
title_short Wave energy and the upper depth limit distribution of Posidonia oceanica
title_full Wave energy and the upper depth limit distribution of Posidonia oceanica
title_fullStr Wave energy and the upper depth limit distribution of Posidonia oceanica
title_full_unstemmed Wave energy and the upper depth limit distribution of Posidonia oceanica
title_sort Wave energy and the upper depth limit distribution of Posidonia oceanica
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Infantes, Eduardo
Terrados, Jorge
Orfila, Alejandro
Cañellas, Bartomeu
Álvarez-Ellacuria, Amaya
author Infantes, Eduardo
author_facet Infantes, Eduardo
Terrados, Jorge
Orfila, Alejandro
Cañellas, Bartomeu
Álvarez-Ellacuria, Amaya
author_role author
author2 Terrados, Jorge
Orfila, Alejandro
Cañellas, Bartomeu
Álvarez-Ellacuria, Amaya
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Wave energy
Seagrass distribution
Posidonia oceanica upper depth limit
Parabolic model
Near-bottom orbital velocity
topic Wave energy
Seagrass distribution
Posidonia oceanica upper depth limit
Parabolic model
Near-bottom orbital velocity
description It is widely accepted that light availability sets the lower limit of seagrass bathymetric distribution, while the upper limit depends on the level of disturbance by currents and waves. The establishment of light requirements for seagrass growth has been a major focus of research in marine ecology, and different quantitative models provide predictions for seagrass lower depth limits. In contrast, the influence of energy levels on the establishment, growth, and maintenance of seagrasses has received less attention, and to date there are no quantitative models predicting the evolution of seagrasses as a function of hydrodynamics at a large scale level. Hence, it is not possible to predict either the upper depth limit of the distribution of seagrasses or the effects that different energy regimes will have on these limits. The aim of this work is to provide a comprehensible methodology for obtaining quantitative knowledge and predictive capacity for estimating the upper depth limit of seagrasses as a response to wave energy dissipated on the seafloor. The methodology has been applied using wave data from 1958 to 2001 in order to obtain the mean wave climate in deep water seaward from an open sandy beach in the Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean Sea where the seagrass Posidonia oceanica forms an extensive meadow. Mean wave conditions were propagated to the shore using a two-dimensional parabolic model over the detailed bathymetry. The resulting hydrodynamics were correlated with bottom type and the distribution of P. oceanica. Results showed a predicted near-bottom orbital velocity of between 38 and 42 cm s-1 as a determinant of the upper depth limit of P. oceanica. This work shows the importance of interdisciplinary effort in ecological modeling and, in particular, the need for hydrodynamical studies to elucidate the distribution of seagrasses in shallow depths. Moreover, the use of predictive models would permit evaluation of the effects of coastal activities (construction of ports, artificial reefs, beach nutrient-input, dredging) on benthic ecosystems. © 2009 by Walter de Gruyter.
publishDate 2009
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2009
2014
2014
2014
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
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dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/99337
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/99337
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/BOT.2009.050
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Walter de Gruyter
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Walter de Gruyter
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
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repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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