Impact of Extreme Disturbances on Suspended Sediment in Western Florida Bay: Implications for Seagrass Resilience
Seagrasses are threatened worldwide due to anthropogenic and natural disturbances disrupting the multiple feedbacks needed to maintain these ecosystems. If the disturbance is severe enough, seagrass systems may undergo a regime shift to a degraded system state that is resistant to recovery. In Flori...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.633240/full |
| _version_ | 1819140732504506368 |
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| author | Jonathan R. Rodemann W. Ryan James Rolando O. Santos Bradley T. Furman Zachary W. Fratto Valentina Bautista Jan Lara Hernandez Natasha M. Viadero Joshua O. Linenfelser Lulu A. Lacy Margaret O. Hall Christopher R. Kelble Christopher Kavanagh Jennifer S. Rehage |
| author_facet | Jonathan R. Rodemann W. Ryan James Rolando O. Santos Bradley T. Furman Zachary W. Fratto Valentina Bautista Jan Lara Hernandez Natasha M. Viadero Joshua O. Linenfelser Lulu A. Lacy Margaret O. Hall Christopher R. Kelble Christopher Kavanagh Jennifer S. Rehage |
| author_sort | Jonathan R. Rodemann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Seagrasses are threatened worldwide due to anthropogenic and natural disturbances disrupting the multiple feedbacks needed to maintain these ecosystems. If the disturbance is severe enough, seagrass systems may undergo a regime shift to a degraded system state that is resistant to recovery. In Florida Bay, Florida, United States, two recent, large-scale disturbances (a drought-induced seagrass die-off in 2015 and Hurricane Irma in 2017) have caused 8,777 ha of seagrass beds to degrade into a turbid, unvegetated state, causing a large sediment plume. Using satellite imagery digitization and long-term seagrass cover data, we investigate the expansion of this sediment plume between 2008 and 2020 and the potential interaction of this sediment plume with seagrass recovery in two focal basins in Florida Bay affected by the die-off, Johnson and Rankin. The average size of the sediment plume increased by 37% due to the die-off and Hurricane Irma, increasing from an average of 163.5 km2 before the disturbances to an average of 223.5 km2. The expansion of the plume was basin-specific, expanding into Johnson after the 2015 seagrass die-off with expansive and long-lasting effects, but only expanding into Rankin after Hurricane Irma with less severe and short-term effects. Furthermore, the sediment plume was negatively correlated with seagrass cover in Johnson, but held no relationship with seagrass cover in Rankin. Thus, different disturbances can act upon seagrass ecosystems at varying scales with varying consequences. This study illustrates the advantage of combining satellite imagery with field data to monitor disturbances as well as highlights the importance of investigating disturbances of seagrass ecosystems at various scales to comprehend seagrass resilience in the context of future extreme events. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T11:43:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9ca8ca08a7714baba049c3e33fa49e23 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T11:43:14Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-9ca8ca08a7714baba049c3e33fa49e232022-12-21T18:27:14ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452021-07-01810.3389/fmars.2021.633240633240Impact of Extreme Disturbances on Suspended Sediment in Western Florida Bay: Implications for Seagrass ResilienceJonathan R. Rodemann0W. Ryan James1Rolando O. Santos2Bradley T. Furman3Zachary W. Fratto4Valentina Bautista5Jan Lara Hernandez6Natasha M. Viadero7Joshua O. Linenfelser8Lulu A. Lacy9Margaret O. Hall10Christopher R. Kelble11Christopher Kavanagh12Jennifer S. Rehage13Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesInstitute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesInstitute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, St. Petersburg, FL, United StatesSouth Florida Natural Resources Center, National Park Service, Homestead, FL, United StatesDepartment of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesDepartment of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesDepartment of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesDepartment of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesDepartment of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, St. Petersburg, FL, United StatesAtlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Miami, FL, United StatesSouth Florida Natural Resources Center, National Park Service, Homestead, FL, United StatesInstitute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United StatesSeagrasses are threatened worldwide due to anthropogenic and natural disturbances disrupting the multiple feedbacks needed to maintain these ecosystems. If the disturbance is severe enough, seagrass systems may undergo a regime shift to a degraded system state that is resistant to recovery. In Florida Bay, Florida, United States, two recent, large-scale disturbances (a drought-induced seagrass die-off in 2015 and Hurricane Irma in 2017) have caused 8,777 ha of seagrass beds to degrade into a turbid, unvegetated state, causing a large sediment plume. Using satellite imagery digitization and long-term seagrass cover data, we investigate the expansion of this sediment plume between 2008 and 2020 and the potential interaction of this sediment plume with seagrass recovery in two focal basins in Florida Bay affected by the die-off, Johnson and Rankin. The average size of the sediment plume increased by 37% due to the die-off and Hurricane Irma, increasing from an average of 163.5 km2 before the disturbances to an average of 223.5 km2. The expansion of the plume was basin-specific, expanding into Johnson after the 2015 seagrass die-off with expansive and long-lasting effects, but only expanding into Rankin after Hurricane Irma with less severe and short-term effects. Furthermore, the sediment plume was negatively correlated with seagrass cover in Johnson, but held no relationship with seagrass cover in Rankin. Thus, different disturbances can act upon seagrass ecosystems at varying scales with varying consequences. This study illustrates the advantage of combining satellite imagery with field data to monitor disturbances as well as highlights the importance of investigating disturbances of seagrass ecosystems at various scales to comprehend seagrass resilience in the context of future extreme events.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.633240/fullseagrasssuspended sedimentdisturbanceresilienceFlorida BayEverglades |
| spellingShingle | Jonathan R. Rodemann W. Ryan James Rolando O. Santos Bradley T. Furman Zachary W. Fratto Valentina Bautista Jan Lara Hernandez Natasha M. Viadero Joshua O. Linenfelser Lulu A. Lacy Margaret O. Hall Christopher R. Kelble Christopher Kavanagh Jennifer S. Rehage Impact of Extreme Disturbances on Suspended Sediment in Western Florida Bay: Implications for Seagrass Resilience Frontiers in Marine Science seagrass suspended sediment disturbance resilience Florida Bay Everglades |
| title | Impact of Extreme Disturbances on Suspended Sediment in Western Florida Bay: Implications for Seagrass Resilience |
| title_full | Impact of Extreme Disturbances on Suspended Sediment in Western Florida Bay: Implications for Seagrass Resilience |
| title_fullStr | Impact of Extreme Disturbances on Suspended Sediment in Western Florida Bay: Implications for Seagrass Resilience |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of Extreme Disturbances on Suspended Sediment in Western Florida Bay: Implications for Seagrass Resilience |
| title_short | Impact of Extreme Disturbances on Suspended Sediment in Western Florida Bay: Implications for Seagrass Resilience |
| title_sort | impact of extreme disturbances on suspended sediment in western florida bay implications for seagrass resilience |
| topic | seagrass suspended sediment disturbance resilience Florida Bay Everglades |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.633240/full |
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