Positive feedbacks in seagrass ecosystems--evidence from large-scale empirical data.

Positive feedbacks cause a nonlinear response of ecosystems to environmental change and may even cause bistability. Even though the importance of feedback mechanisms has been demonstrated for many types of ecosystems, their identification and quantification is still difficult. Here, we investigated...

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Autores principales:	Tjisse van der Heide, Egbert H van Nes, Marieke M van Katwijk, Han Olff, Alfons J P Smolders
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/ca4ac0307ee14fa9b7276d1504d08996
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:ca4ac0307ee14fa9b7276d1504d089962021-11-18T06:59:59ZPositive feedbacks in seagrass ecosystems--evidence from large-scale empirical data.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0016504https://doaj.org/article/ca4ac0307ee14fa9b7276d1504d089962011-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21283684/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Positive feedbacks cause a nonlinear response of ecosystems to environmental change and may even cause bistability. Even though the importance of feedback mechanisms has been demonstrated for many types of ecosystems, their identification and quantification is still difficult. Here, we investigated whether positive feedbacks between seagrasses and light conditions are likely in seagrass ecosystems dominated by the temperate seagrass Zostera marina. We applied a combination of multiple linear regression and structural equation modeling (SEM) on a dataset containing 83 sites scattered across Western Europe. Results confirmed that a positive feedback between sediment conditions, light conditions and seagrass density is likely to exist in seagrass ecosystems. This feedback indicated that seagrasses are able to trap and stabilize suspended sediments, which in turn improves water clarity and seagrass growth conditions. Furthermore, our analyses demonstrated that effects of eutrophication on light conditions, as indicated by surface water total nitrogen, were on average at least as important as sediment conditions. This suggests that in general, eutrophication might be the most important factor controlling seagrasses in sheltered estuaries, while the seagrass-sediment-light feedback is a dominant mechanism in more exposed areas. Our study demonstrates the potentials of SEM to identify and quantify positive feedbacks mechanisms for ecosystems and other complex systems.Tjisse van der HeideEgbert H van NesMarieke M van KatwijkHan OlffAlfons J P SmoldersPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 1, p e16504 (2011)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Tjisse van der Heide Egbert H van Nes Marieke M van Katwijk Han Olff Alfons J P Smolders Positive feedbacks in seagrass ecosystems--evidence from large-scale empirical data.
description	Positive feedbacks cause a nonlinear response of ecosystems to environmental change and may even cause bistability. Even though the importance of feedback mechanisms has been demonstrated for many types of ecosystems, their identification and quantification is still difficult. Here, we investigated whether positive feedbacks between seagrasses and light conditions are likely in seagrass ecosystems dominated by the temperate seagrass Zostera marina. We applied a combination of multiple linear regression and structural equation modeling (SEM) on a dataset containing 83 sites scattered across Western Europe. Results confirmed that a positive feedback between sediment conditions, light conditions and seagrass density is likely to exist in seagrass ecosystems. This feedback indicated that seagrasses are able to trap and stabilize suspended sediments, which in turn improves water clarity and seagrass growth conditions. Furthermore, our analyses demonstrated that effects of eutrophication on light conditions, as indicated by surface water total nitrogen, were on average at least as important as sediment conditions. This suggests that in general, eutrophication might be the most important factor controlling seagrasses in sheltered estuaries, while the seagrass-sediment-light feedback is a dominant mechanism in more exposed areas. Our study demonstrates the potentials of SEM to identify and quantify positive feedbacks mechanisms for ecosystems and other complex systems.
format	article
author	Tjisse van der Heide Egbert H van Nes Marieke M van Katwijk Han Olff Alfons J P Smolders
author_facet	Tjisse van der Heide Egbert H van Nes Marieke M van Katwijk Han Olff Alfons J P Smolders
author_sort	Tjisse van der Heide
title	Positive feedbacks in seagrass ecosystems--evidence from large-scale empirical data.
title_short	Positive feedbacks in seagrass ecosystems--evidence from large-scale empirical data.
title_full	Positive feedbacks in seagrass ecosystems--evidence from large-scale empirical data.
title_fullStr	Positive feedbacks in seagrass ecosystems--evidence from large-scale empirical data.
title_full_unstemmed	Positive feedbacks in seagrass ecosystems--evidence from large-scale empirical data.
title_sort	positive feedbacks in seagrass ecosystems--evidence from large-scale empirical data.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2011
url	https://doaj.org/article/ca4ac0307ee14fa9b7276d1504d08996
work_keys_str_mv	AT tjissevanderheide positivefeedbacksinseagrassecosystemsevidencefromlargescaleempiricaldata AT egberthvannes positivefeedbacksinseagrassecosystemsevidencefromlargescaleempiricaldata AT mariekemvankatwijk positivefeedbacksinseagrassecosystemsevidencefromlargescaleempiricaldata AT hanolff positivefeedbacksinseagrassecosystemsevidencefromlargescaleempiricaldata AT alfonsjpsmolders positivefeedbacksinseagrassecosystemsevidencefromlargescaleempiricaldata
_version_	1718424132912152576

Positive feedbacks in seagrass ecosystems--evidence from large-scale empirical data.

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