Seagrass
Since the time of the dinosaurs, three groups of
flowering plants (angiosperms) colonised the oceans.
Known as ‘seagrasses’, they are the only flowering
plants that can live underwater. More closely related to
terrestrial lilies and gingers than to true grasses, they
grow in sediment on the sea floor with erect, elongate
leaves and a buried root-like structure (rhizome).
Seagrasses live in the coastal waters of most of the
worlds’ continents. They are the main diet of dugongs
and green turtles and provide a habitat for many,
smaller marine animals, some of which, like prawns
and fish, are commercially important. They also absorb
nutrients from coastal run-off and stabilise sediment,
helping to keep the water clear.
• Seagrasses are unique amongst flowering plants, in that all but one
genus can live entirely immersed in seawater. Enhalus plants are the
exception, as they must emerge to the surface to reproduce; all
others can flower and be pollinated under water. Adaptation to a
marine environment imposes major constraints on morphology and
structure. The restriction of seagrasses to seawater has obviously
influenced their geographic distribution and speciation.
• Seagrass can reproduce through sexual or asexual methods. In
sexual reproduction, the plants produce flowers and transfer pollen
from the male flower to the ovary of the female flower. Most
seagrass species produce flowers of a single sex on each individual,
so there are separate male and female plants.
Composite illustration demonstrating morphological features used to distinguish main seagrass taxonomic groups. By Len
McKenzie (2008).
Types of sea grass
http://www.seagrasswatch.org/id_seagrass.html
Where does seagrass grow?
•
A number of environmental parameters are critical to whether seagrass will
grow and persist. These include physical parameters that regulate the
physiological activity of seagrasses (temperature, salinity, waves, currents,
depth, substrate and day length), natural phenomena that limit the
photosynthetic activity of the plants (light, nutrients, epiphytes and
diseases), and anthropogenic inputs that inhibit access to available light for
growth (nutrient and sediment loading). Various combinations of these
parameters will permit, encourage or eliminate seagrass from a specific
location.
• Seagrasses occupy a variety of coastal habitats. Seagrass meadows typically
occur in most shallow, sheltered soft-bottomed marine coastlines and
estuaries. These meadows may be monospecific or may consist of
multispecies communities, sometimes with up to 12 species present within
one location.
• The depth range of seagrass is usually controlled at its deepest edge by the
availability of light for photosynthesis. Exposure at low tide, wave action and
associated turbidity and low salinity from fresh water inflow determine
seagrass species survival at the shallow edge. Seagrasses survive in the
intertidal zone especially in sites sheltered from wave action or where there
is entrapment of water at low tide, (e.g., reef platforms and tide pools),
protecting the seagrasses from exposure (to heat, drying) at low tide.
Why conserve seagrass?
• The habitat complexity within seagrass meadows enhances the diversity
and abundance of animals. Seagrasses on reef flats and near estuaries
are also nutrient sinks, buffering or filtering nutrient and chemical inputs
to the marine environment. They also stabilise coastal sediments.
• They also provide food and shelter for many organisms, and are a nursery
ground for commercially important prawn and fish species. The high
primary production rates of seagrasses are closely linked to the high
production rates of associated fisheries. These plants support numerous
herbivore- and detritivore-based food chains, and are considered very
productive pastures of the sea. The associated economic values of
seagrass meadows are very large, although not always easy to quantify.
• Seagrass/algae beds are rated the 3rd most valuable ecosystem globally
(on a per hectare basis), only preceded by estuaries and wetlands. The
average global value of seagrasses for their nutrient cycling services and
the raw product they provide has been estimated at 1994US$ 19,004 ha1 yr-1 (Costanza et al. 1997). This value would be significantly greater if
the habitat/refugia and food production services of seagrasses were
included.
Algae (seaweed): often confused with seagrass
• Algae are plants that also colonised the sea and
are often confused with seagrasses, however,
they are more primitive than seagrasses. In
contrast to seagrasses, algae do not have a true
root system (they have holdfasts) and do not
have veins that carry molecules around the plant.
• Algae have spores and do not flower or produce
fruit, while seagrasses have seeds and fruit.
Seagrass vs Algae
Seagrass
Marine Algae
Complex root structure to anchor Simple holdfast to anchor to hard
plant in the sediment, and extract substrate such as rocks or shells
nutrients and minerals
Photosynthesis restricted to cells in Photosynthesis undertaken by all
leaves
cells
Transport minerals and nutrients in Uptake of minerals and nutrients
aerenchyma and the lacunae (veins) from water column via diffusion
Reproduction via flowers, fruits and Reproduction via spores
seeds
http://www.seagrasswatch.org/publica
tions.html
• What two related ecosystems are important to
coral reef ecology?
Mangroves – tropical inshore forests dominated
by trees and shrubs that grow in salt water
– Trap and break down
organic matter
– Filter pollutants
and sediments
– Habitat for juveniles
and invertebrates
• Related ecosystems. . .
Seagrass Beds
– Facilitate sediment settlement
– Recycle nutrients
Seagrass-Coral-Mangrove interactions
• Tropical seagrasses are important in their interactions with
mangroves and coral reefs. All these systems exert a
stabilizing effect on the environment, resulting in important
physical and biological support for the other communities
(Amesbury and Francis 1988).
• Barrier reefs protect coastlines, and the lagoon formed
between the reef and the mainland is protected from waves,
allowing mangrove and seagrass communities to develop.
Seagrasses trap sediment and slow water movement, causing
suspended sediment to fall out. This trapping of sediment
benefits coral by reducing sediment loads in the water.
• Mangroves trap sediment from the land, reducing the chance
of seagrasses and corals being smothered. Sediment banks
accumulated by seagrasses may eventually form substrate
that can be colonized by mangroves. All three communities
trap and hold nutrients from being dispersed and lost into the
surrounding oceanic waters.
In the tropics, mangrove destruction is a serious concern.
Mangrove is a general term used to describe a variety of
tropical inshore ecosystems dominated by several species of
trees or shrubs that grow in salt water. At one time, 60-75
percent of the earth’s tropical coastline and semi-tropical
regions were lined with mangrove forests, but not any longer.
It’s estimated that mangroves now occupy less than 50
percent of their original range and are disappearing faster
than tropical rainforests.
In many parts of Southeast Asia and South America, for
example, large areas of mangroves were chopped down to
build aquaculture ponds, or for use as firewood or charcoal.