Low-canopy seagrass beds still provide important coastal protection services.

One of the most frequently quoted ecosystem services of seagrass meadows is their value for coastal protection. Many studies emphasize the role of above-ground shoots in attenuating waves, enhancing sedimentation and preventing erosion. This raises the question if short-leaved, low density (grazed)...

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Autores principales:	Marjolijn J A Christianen, Jim van Belzen, Peter M J Herman, Marieke M van Katwijk, Leon P M Lamers, Peter J M van Leent, Tjeerd J Bouma
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c82c9021e82d456495467ed1c3f69210
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c82c9021e82d456495467ed1c3f692102021-11-18T07:44:12ZLow-canopy seagrass beds still provide important coastal protection services.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0062413https://doaj.org/article/c82c9021e82d456495467ed1c3f692102013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23723969/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203One of the most frequently quoted ecosystem services of seagrass meadows is their value for coastal protection. Many studies emphasize the role of above-ground shoots in attenuating waves, enhancing sedimentation and preventing erosion. This raises the question if short-leaved, low density (grazed) seagrass meadows with most of their biomass in belowground tissues can also stabilize sediments. We examined this by combining manipulative field experiments and wave measurements along a typical tropical reef flat where green turtles intensively graze upon the seagrass canopy. We experimentally manipulated wave energy and grazing intensity along a transect perpendicular to the beach, and compared sediment bed level change between vegetated and experimentally created bare plots at three distances from the beach. Our experiments showed that i) even the short-leaved, low-biomass and heavily-grazed seagrass vegetation reduced wave-induced sediment erosion up to threefold, and ii) that erosion was a function of location along the vegetated reef flat. Where other studies stress the importance of the seagrass canopy for shoreline protection, our study on open, low-biomass and heavily grazed seagrass beds strongly suggests that belowground biomass also has a major effect on the immobilization of sediment. These results imply that, compared to shallow unvegetated nearshore reef flats, the presence of a short, low-biomass seagrass meadow maintains a higher bed level, attenuating waves before reaching the beach and hence lowering beach erosion rates. We propose that the sole use of aboveground biomass as a proxy for valuing coastal protection services should be reconsidered.Marjolijn J A ChristianenJim van BelzenPeter M J HermanMarieke M van KatwijkLeon P M LamersPeter J M van LeentTjeerd J BoumaPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 5, p e62413 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Marjolijn J A Christianen Jim van Belzen Peter M J Herman Marieke M van Katwijk Leon P M Lamers Peter J M van Leent Tjeerd J Bouma Low-canopy seagrass beds still provide important coastal protection services.
description	One of the most frequently quoted ecosystem services of seagrass meadows is their value for coastal protection. Many studies emphasize the role of above-ground shoots in attenuating waves, enhancing sedimentation and preventing erosion. This raises the question if short-leaved, low density (grazed) seagrass meadows with most of their biomass in belowground tissues can also stabilize sediments. We examined this by combining manipulative field experiments and wave measurements along a typical tropical reef flat where green turtles intensively graze upon the seagrass canopy. We experimentally manipulated wave energy and grazing intensity along a transect perpendicular to the beach, and compared sediment bed level change between vegetated and experimentally created bare plots at three distances from the beach. Our experiments showed that i) even the short-leaved, low-biomass and heavily-grazed seagrass vegetation reduced wave-induced sediment erosion up to threefold, and ii) that erosion was a function of location along the vegetated reef flat. Where other studies stress the importance of the seagrass canopy for shoreline protection, our study on open, low-biomass and heavily grazed seagrass beds strongly suggests that belowground biomass also has a major effect on the immobilization of sediment. These results imply that, compared to shallow unvegetated nearshore reef flats, the presence of a short, low-biomass seagrass meadow maintains a higher bed level, attenuating waves before reaching the beach and hence lowering beach erosion rates. We propose that the sole use of aboveground biomass as a proxy for valuing coastal protection services should be reconsidered.
format	article
author	Marjolijn J A Christianen Jim van Belzen Peter M J Herman Marieke M van Katwijk Leon P M Lamers Peter J M van Leent Tjeerd J Bouma
author_facet	Marjolijn J A Christianen Jim van Belzen Peter M J Herman Marieke M van Katwijk Leon P M Lamers Peter J M van Leent Tjeerd J Bouma
author_sort	Marjolijn J A Christianen
title	Low-canopy seagrass beds still provide important coastal protection services.
title_short	Low-canopy seagrass beds still provide important coastal protection services.
title_full	Low-canopy seagrass beds still provide important coastal protection services.
title_fullStr	Low-canopy seagrass beds still provide important coastal protection services.
title_full_unstemmed	Low-canopy seagrass beds still provide important coastal protection services.
title_sort	low-canopy seagrass beds still provide important coastal protection services.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/c82c9021e82d456495467ed1c3f69210
work_keys_str_mv	AT marjolijnjachristianen lowcanopyseagrassbedsstillprovideimportantcoastalprotectionservices AT jimvanbelzen lowcanopyseagrassbedsstillprovideimportantcoastalprotectionservices AT petermjherman lowcanopyseagrassbedsstillprovideimportantcoastalprotectionservices AT mariekemvankatwijk lowcanopyseagrassbedsstillprovideimportantcoastalprotectionservices AT leonpmlamers lowcanopyseagrassbedsstillprovideimportantcoastalprotectionservices AT peterjmvanleent lowcanopyseagrassbedsstillprovideimportantcoastalprotectionservices AT tjeerdjbouma lowcanopyseagrassbedsstillprovideimportantcoastalprotectionservices
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Low-canopy seagrass beds still provide important coastal protection services.

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