Contrasting recovery of shallow and deep water seagrass communities following climate associated losses in tropical north Queensland, Australia

•Major storms and climate events resulted in large scale losses of tropical seagrasses.•Recovery varied between meadows and species with many failing to re-establish.•Deep water seagrass species re-colonised but shallow species failed to recover.•The variable presence of seed banks was the main caus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2014-06, Vol.83 (2), p.491-499
Main Authors: Rasheed, Michael A., McKenna, Skye A., Carter, Alexandra B., Coles, Robert G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomass
Climate
Climate Change
Ecosystem
Halophila
Hydrocharitaceae - physiology
Loss
Marine
Oceans and Seas
Queensland
Recovery
Reproduction
Seagrass
Seed
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Summary:•Major storms and climate events resulted in large scale losses of tropical seagrasses.•Recovery varied between meadows and species with many failing to re-establish.•Deep water seagrass species re-colonised but shallow species failed to recover.•The variable presence of seed banks was the main cause of differences in seagrass recovery.•Meadows relying on clonal growth were highly vulnerable to large scale impacts. Tropical seagrass decline and recovery from severe storm impacts was assessed via quarterly measurements of seagrass biomass, species composition and experimental investigations of recovery in north Queensland. Shallow and deep seagrass meadows suffered major declines. Significant recovery in the two years following loss only occurred at deeper sites. Halophila spp. in deep water areas had a high capacity for recovery through the availability of seed banks. In contrast, the shallow species did not recover quickly from experimental disturbance, had poor seed reserves and relied on asexual propagation. The potential for shallow species to recover rapidly from widespread losses was limited as seed banks were limited or non-existent. Understanding inter- and intra-specific differences in seagrass recovery and how this interacts with location is critical to predict the consequences of climate events to tropical seagrasses. This is especially important as more frequent severe storms are predicted as a consequence of climate change.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.02.013