Ruppia

Abstract: The impact of macrophyte communities on benthic fluxes has been analyzed in three shallow coastal environments: Etang du Prevost (Mediterranean coast of France), characterized by the large floating macro-alga Ulva rigida; Certes fishponds (Bassin d’Arcachon), covered by Ruppia cirrhosa; and the inner intertidal mud-flat in the Arcachon Bay (French Atlantic coast), which has extensive Zostera noltii meadows. In these bodies of water, primary production is dependent primarily on the dominant seagrasses and macroalgae that are also responsible for the large quantity of organic matter deposited on the sediment surface. In 1993 and 1994, fluxes of oxygen, sulphide and nutrients were measured in early and late summer, which were selected in order to represent the production and decomposition phases of the dominant macrophytes. Experimental work was undertaken to measure: (1) standing crop of dominant macroalgae and rooted phanerogams and the elemental and macromolecular composition of plant biomass; (2) benthic fluxes of oxygen, sulphide, nitrogen and phosphorus using incubation of multiple dark and light benthic chambers; (3) water-sediment profiles of free-sulphide in sediment cores with rooted phanerogams (Ruppia) as well as with floating seaweeds (Ulva).

Abstract: In an experimental mesocosm system during late summer-fall, we examined shoot production by eelgrass Zostera marina without nitrate additions (generally with ambient water-column concentrations c 2 pM N03--N) versus production by eelgrass that previously had been exposed to low nitrate enrichment (pulsed additions of 5 pM NO,--N d-' to the water for 12 wk during an unusually cool spring season). During late summer-fall, the previously enriched plants were subjected to higher nitrate loading (10 pM NO<-N d-' for 14 wk), while control plants were maintained without nitrate additions as in spring. We also compared shoot production in fall by recent field transplants of Z. manna, Halodule wrightii, and Ruppia rnarit~rna with and without additions of 10 pM water-column NO3--N d' . Low water exchange (10% d-l) was used to s~mulate conditions in sheltered embayments or lagoons, and light reduct~on from high tide was simulated by covering the mesocosnls with neutraldensity screens that reduced incident light by 30 % for 3 h d.' on a rotating schedule. Shoot production by both enriched and unenriched Z. marina was comparable dunng the spring low-level NO3--N exposure. However, eelgrass enriched with nitrate in both spring and fall attained significantly lower shoot production than control plants without enrichment. This decrease, unrelated to light reduction from algal growth, suggests a direct adverse effect of long-term water-column nitrate exposure on Z. marina. The more recent transplants of eelgrass without prior enrichment history also showed a trend for decreased lateral growth under moderately elevated nitrate. In contrast, H. wrightii was slightly stimulated and R. rnaritima was highly stimulated by water-column nitrate relative to growth of controls. By the end of the fall experiment, Z. marina (f NO3--N), H. wrightii (k NO3--N), and unenriched R. maritima had increased shoot densities by <50%, whereas nitrate-enriched R. maritima increased shoot production by >300%. The data indicate that H. wrightii or R. maritima could be established successfully by transplanting efforts as a management strategy in nitrate-enriched waters where eelgrass meadows have disappeared. Unlike 2. marina, these species apparently have developed physiological mechanisms to more effectively control nitrate uptake and metabolism.