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Temperature Drives Seagrass Recovery Across the Western North Atlantic
Fee O H Smulders1,2, Justin E Campbell3,4, Andrew H Altieri5,6
1Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Global Change Biology
|April 14, 2025
Summary
Warmer temperatures can help turtlegrass recover from disturbances, but nutrient runoff combined with herbivore grazing threatens its resilience. Coastal ecosystem health depends on understanding these complex interactions.
Area of Science:
- Marine ecology
- Ecosystem resilience
- Climate change impacts
Background:
- Coastal ecosystems face threats from climate-driven shifts in herbivores, temperature, and nutrient runoff.
- Ecological resilience of foundation species is poorly understood due to limited large-scale, multi-stressor field experiments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the resilience of turtlegrass (a tropical marine plant) to disturbances across its geographic range.
- To examine how environmental gradients in abiotic and biotic factors influence turtlegrass recovery.
Main Methods:
- Assessed turtlegrass resilience by monitoring recovery rates for one year after simulated pulse disturbance (biomass removal).
- Investigated the influence of temperature, nutrient runoff, herbivore grazing (meso and megaherbivores), and light availability on recovery.
Main Results:
- Higher temperatures generally enhanced seagrass recovery, contrary to temperate studies.
- Nutrients minimally affected recovery individually but reduced aboveground recovery when combined with high herbivore grazing.
- Belowground recovery was impacted by combined high nutrients and megaherbivore grazing; light had minimal effects.
Conclusions:
- Tropical seagrass resilience, especially in cooler subtropical waters, may initially benefit from warming.
- Shifting nutrient supply and grazing pressure pose future threats to seagrass recovery and coastal ecosystem stability.
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