Eelgrass recovery after nutrient enrichment reversal |
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Authors: | Jamie MP Vaudrey James N Kremer Frederick T Short |
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Institution: | a Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, 1080 Shennecossett Road, Groton, CT 06340, USA b Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA |
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Abstract: | Mumford Cove, a 48 ha Connecticut embayment on Long Island Sound, has a history of excessive nutrient inputs and corresponding eutrophic conditions with concomitant eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) loss. From 1945 to 1987, a municipal wastewater treatment facility discharged into the cove. In 1987, when the wastewater outfall was diverted to another location, the cove supported a near monoculture of the green algae Ulva lactuca L., covering 74% of the bottom. By 1988, macroalgal areal cover in Mumford Cove had declined to 9%. When we first sampled the cove in 1992, Z. marina and Ruppia maritima L. were present. By 1999, areal distribution of Z. marina and R. maritima had expanded to cover a third of the bottom. Periodic summertime surveys from 2002 through 2004 indicated that Z. marina was present in approximately half of the cove; R. maritima was sparse. Fifteen years after termination of nutrient enrichment, this cove had recovered from 40 years of point source anthropogenic nutrient input, returning from an Ulva-dominated to a Zostera-dominated state. |
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Keywords: | Seagrass Eelgrass Widgeon grass Zostera marina L Ruppia maritima L Eutrophication Nutrient reduction Estuary Natural recovery |
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