The importance of seagrasses (families Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae) to estuarine communities is widely accepted and this, combined with their continued decline throughout the world, have resulted in a need to better understand the factors affecting their growth and reproduction. Conservation and restoration of seagrasses will require an understanding...
Seagrasses and bivalves co-occur worldwide, and each plays a role in the structure, function, and services of coastal ecosystems. While seagrasses are declining, bivalve aquaculture is expanding, and impacts from culture practices, as opposed to the cultured organisms themselves, need to be distinguished. In 2 experiments, we tested the effects...
Disturbance regimes differ in type, magnitude, and frequency, but few field experiments have considered compounded effects of disturbance. In this study, we characterized gap recovery after complete removal of eelgrass (Zostera marina) in Willapa Bay, Washington, USA. In separate experiments, we imposed two disturbance types – shoot damage and shoot...