Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Edge Effects along a Seagrass Margin Result in an Increased Grazing Risk on Posidonia australis Transplants.

    Access Status
    Open access via publisher
    Authors
    Statton, J.
    Gustin-Craig, S.
    Dixon, Kingsley
    Kendrick, G.
    Date
    2015
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Statton, J. and Gustin-Craig, S. and Dixon, K. and Kendrick, G. 2015. Edge Effects along a Seagrass Margin Result in an Increased Grazing Risk on Posidonia australis Transplants. PLoS One. 10 (10): pp. e0137778-e0137778.
    Source Title
    PLoS One
    DOI
    10.1371/journal.pone.0137778
    School
    Department of Environment and Agriculture
    Funding and Sponsorship
    http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP130100155
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5804
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    A key issue in habitat restoration are the changes in ecological processes that occur when fragments of habitat are lost, resulting in the persistence of habitat-degraded margins. Margins often create or enhance opportunities for negative plant-herbivore interactions, preventing natural or assisted re-establishment of native vegetation into the degraded area. However, at some distance from the habitat margin these negative interactions may relax. Here, we posit that the intensity of species interactions in a fragmented Posidonia australis seagrass meadow may be spatially dependent on proximity to the seagrass habitat edge, whereby the risk of grazing is high and the probability of survival of seagrass transplants is low. To test this, transplants were planted 2 m within the meadow, on the meadow edge at 0m, and at 2m, 10m, 30m, 50m and 100m distance from the edge of the seagrass meadow into the unvegetated sand sheet. There was an enhanced grazing risk 0-10m from the edge, but decreased sharply with increasing distances (>30m). Yet, the risk of grazing was minimal inside the seagrass meadow, indicating that grazers may use the seagrass meadow for refuge but are not actively grazing within it. The relationship between short-term herbivory risk and long-term survival was not straightforward, suggesting that other environmental filters are also affecting survival of P. australis transplants within the study area. We found that daily probability of herbivory was predictable and operating over a small spatial scale at the edge of a large, intact seagrass meadow. These findings highlight the risk from herbivory can be high, and a potential contributing factor to seagrass establishment in restoration programs.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Geomorphological and sedimentological surrogates for the understanding of seagrass distribution within a temperate nearshore setting (Esperance Western Australia)
      Tecchiato, Sira ; Buosi, C.; Ibba, A.; Del Deo, C.; Parnum, Iain ; O’Leary, Mick; De Muro, S. (2019)
      © 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Seagrass meadows are important benthic habitats contributing to many aspects of ecological community health, beach stability and sediment supply. Relationships ...
    • Benthic habitat mapping using multibeam sonar systems
      Parnum, Iain Michael (2007)
      The aim of this study was to develop and examine the use of backscatter data collected with multibeam sonar (MBS) systems for benthic habitat mapping. Backscatter data were collected from six sites around the Australian ...
    • Accelerating tropicalization and the transformation of temperate seagrass meadows
      Hyndes, G.; Heck, K.; Verges, A.; Harvey, Euan; Kendrick, G.; Lavery, P.; McMahon, K.; Orth, R.; Pearce, A.; Vanderklift, M.; Wernberg, T.; Whiting, S.; Wilson, S. (2016)
      Climate-driven changes are altering production and functioning of biotic assemblages in terrestrial and aquatic environments. In temperate coastal waters, rising sea temperatures, warm water anomalies and poleward shifts ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.