Effect of trampling and digging from shellfishing on Zostera noltei (Zosteraceae) intertidal seagrass beds
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.04482.17AKeywords:
Zostera noltei, seagrass, tidal flats, invertebrate harvesting, impact, field experimentAbstract
Seagrass beds are among the most valuable ecosystems in the world but they are also among the ones most affected by human activities, and they have decreased significantly in recent decades. In many areas, such as in the Basque Country (northern Spain), seagrass beds occupy areas that are also of interest for human activities such as recreation and shellfishing. They may therefore face a number of pressures that cause damage or irreversible states. Taking into account the limited distribution of seagrass beds in the Basque Country and the interest in their conservation, an eight-month field experiment focusing on the Zostera noltei growing season was carried out to evaluate the effect of shellfish gathering. We used generalized linear models to assess different intensities of trampling and digging, as the most important pressures of shellfishing applied to Zostera noltei beds. The results indicated that shoot density of Z. noltei was negatively altered by trampling treatments and positively affected (as a recovery) by digging treatments. This finding suggests that shellfishing adversely affects seagrass abundance and is potentially responsible for its low density in the Oka estuary. Our findings are important for management and should be taken into account in seagrass conservation and restoration programmes.
Downloads
References
Alexandre A., Santos R., Serrão E. 2005. Effects of clam harvesting on sexual reproduction of the seagrass Zostera noltii. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 298: 115-122 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps298115
Auby I., Bost C.-A., Budzinski H., et al. 2011. Régression des herbiers de zostères dans le Bassin d'Arcachon: état des lieux et recherche des causes. Rapport Ifremer RST/LER/AR 11.007 Gironde Conseil Général, Arcachon, 195 pp.
Baden S., Gullström M., Lundén B., et al. 2003. Vanishing seagrass (Zostera marina, L.) in Swedish coastal waters. Ambio 32: 374-377 https://doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447-32.5.374
PMid:14571969
Bates D., Maechler M., Bolker B., et al. 2015. Fitting Linear Mixed- Effects Models using lme4. J. Stat. Soft. 67(1): 1-48 https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01
Boese B.L. 2002. Effects of recreational clam harvesting on eelgrass (Zostera marina) and associated infaunal invertebrates: in situ manipulative experiments. Aquat. Bot. 73: 63-74 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3770(02)00004-9
Breslow N.E., Clayton D.G. 1993. Approximate inference in Generalized Linear Mixed Models. J. Am. Stat. Assoc. 88: 9-25 https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1993.10594284
Brun F.G., Vergara J.J., Navarro G., et al. 2003. Effect of shading by Ulva rigida canopies on growth and carbon balance of the seagrass Zostera noltii. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 265: 85-96 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps265085
Cabaço S., Alexandre A., Santos S. 2005. Population-level effects of clam harvesting on the seagrass Zostera noltii. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 298: 123-129 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps298123
Cabaço S., Santos R., Duarte C.M. 2008. The impact of sediment burial and erosion on seagrasses: A review. Estuar. Coast. Shelf S. 79: 354-366 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2008.04.021
Cochón G., Sánchez J.M. 2005. Variations of seagrass beds in Pontevedra (North-Western Spain): 1947-2001. Thalassas 21: 9-19.
Costanza R., de Groot R., Sutton P., et al. 2014. Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global Environ. Chang. 26: 152-158 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.04.002
Cullen-Unsworth L., Unsworth R. 2013. Seagrass meadows, ecosystem services, and sustainability. Environment 55: 14-28 https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.2013.785864
Cunha A.H., Marbà N., Van Katwijk M., et al. 2012. Changing paradigms in seagrass restoration. Restor. Ecol. 20: 427-430 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2012.00878.x
de la Torre-Castro M., Rönnbäck O. 2004. Links between humans and seagrasses-an example from tropical East Africa. Ocean Coast. Manage. 47: 361-387 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2004.07.005
Dolch T., Reise K. 2010. Long-term displacement of intertidal seagrass and mussel beds by expanding large sandy bedforms in the northern Wadden Sea. J. Sea Res. 63: 93-101 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2009.10.004
Eckrich C.E., Holmquist J.G. 2000. Trampling in a seagrass assemblage: direct effects, response of associated fauna, and the role of substrate characteristics. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 201: 199-209 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps201199
García-García F.J., Reyes-Martínez M.J., Ruiz-Delgado M.C., et al. 2015. Does the gathering of shellfish affect the behavior of gastropod scavengers on sandy beaches? A field experiment. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 467: 1-6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2015.02.016
Garmendia J.M., Valle M., Borja Á., et al. 2013. Cartografía de Zostera noltii en la costa vasca: cambios recientes en su distribución (2008-2012). Rev. Invest. Mar. 20: 1-22.
Guimarães M.H.M.E., Cunha A.H., Nzinga R.L., et al. 2012. The distribution of seagrass (Zostera noltii) in the Ria Formosa lagoon system and the implications of clam farming on its conservation. J. Nat. Conserv. 20: 30-40 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2011.07.005
Green E.P., Short F.T. 2003. World atlas of seagrasses. Prepared by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. University of California Press, Berkeley, USA, 298 pp.
Hastings K., Hesp P., Kendrick G.A. 1995. Seagrass loss associated with boat moorings at Rottnest Island, Western Australia. Ocean Coast. Manage. 26: 225-246 https://doi.org/10.1016/0964-5691(95)00012-Q
Jiang J. 2007. Linear and Generalized Linear Mixed Models and their applications. Springer-Verlag, New York, 257 pp.
McCullagh P., Nelder J. 1989. Generalized Linear Models. Monographs on statistics and applied probability, 37. Chapman and Hall, London, 511 pp PMCid:PMC1385319
Moore K.A., Short F.T. 2006. Zostera: biology, ecology and management. In: Larkum A.W.D., Orth R.J., Duarte C.M. (eds), Seagrasses: Biology, Ecology and Conservation. Springer, Netherlands, pp. 361-386 PMCid:PMC1850945
Nordlund L.M., Gullström M. 2013. Biodiversity loss in seagrass meadows due to local invertebrate fisheries and harbour activities. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 135: 231-240 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2013.10.019
Park S.R., Kim Y.K., Kim J.H., et al. 2011. Rapid recovery of the intertidal seagrass Zostera japonica following intense Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) harvesting activity in Korea. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 407: 275-283 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2011.06.023
Pitanga M.E., Montes M.J.F., Magalhaes K.M., et al. 2012. Quantification and classification of the main environmental impacts on a Halodule wrightii seagrass meadow on a tropical island in northeastern Brazil. Ann. Brazilian Acad. Sci. 84: 35-42 https://doi.org/10.1590/S0001-37652012005000010
Short F.T., Wyllie-Echeverria S. 1996. Natural and human-induced disturbance of seagrasses. Environ. Conserv. 23: 17-27 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892900038212
Short F.T., Wyllie-Echeverria S. 2000. Global seagrass declines and effects of climate change. In: Sheppard C. (ed.), Seas at the millennium: an environmental evaluation, 10-11. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam.
Short F.T., Koch E.W., Creed J.C., et al. 2006. SeagrassNet monitoring across the Americas: case studies of seagrass decline. Mar. Ecol. 27: 277-289 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0485.2006.00095.x
Short F.T., Polidoro B., Livingstone S.R., et al. 2011. Extinction risk assessment of the world's seagrass species. Biol. Conserv. 144: 1961-1971 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.04.010
Travaille K.L., Salinas-de-León P., Bell J.J. 2015. Indication of visitor trampling impacts on intertidal seagrass beds in a New Zealand marine reserve. Ocean Coast. Manage. 114: 145-150 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.06.002
Valle M., Garmendia J.M., Chust G., et al. 2015. Increasing the chance of a successful restoration of Zostera noltii meadows. Aquat. Bot. 127: 12-19 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2015.07.002
van Alstyne K.L., Flanagan J.C., Gifford S.A. 2011. Recreational clam harvesting affects sediment nutrient remineralization and the growth of the green macroalga Ulva lactuca. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 401: 57-62 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2011.03.002
Zuur A.F., Ieno E.N., Walker N.J., et al. 2009. Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with R. Springer Science, New York https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-87458-6
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the printed and online versions of this Journal are the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International” (CC BY 4.0) License. You may read here the basic information and the legal text of the license. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 License must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the published by the Editor, is not allowed.