Over a decade monitoring Fiji's seagrass condition demonstrates resilience to anthropogenic pressures and extreme climate events.

Mar Pollut Bull

Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University, Cairns, Qld 4870, Australia; SeagrassFutures Fiji, Ma'afu St, Suva, Fiji.

Published: November 2020

Seagrass are an important marine ecosystem of the Fiji Islands. We confirm six seagrass species from the archipelago and defined five broad categories of seagrass habitat. We report, with high confidence, seagrass meadows covering 59.19 km of Fiji's shallow water habitats from literature and this study. Long-term monitoring of seagrass abundance, species composition, and seed banks at eight sentinel sites, found no long-term trends. Examination of key attributes that affect seagrass resilience identified meadows as predominately enduring and dominated by opportunistic species which had moderate physiological resistance, and high recovery capacity. We examined threats to Fiji's seagrass meadows from extreme climatic events and anthropogenic activities using a suite of indicators, identifying water quality as a major pressure. Based on these findings, we assessed existing protections in Fiji afforded to seagrass and their services. This understanding will help to better manage for seagrass resilience and focus future seagrass research in Fiji.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111636DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

seagrass
11
fiji's seagrass
8
seagrass meadows
8
seagrass resilience
8
decade monitoring
4
monitoring fiji's
4
seagrass condition
4
condition demonstrates
4
demonstrates resilience
4
resilience anthropogenic
4

Similar Publications

We present the complete chloroplast genome of the eelgrass from Monterey, California. The genome is circular and 144,675  bp in length. It consists of 82 protein-coding, 31 transfer RNA, and 8 ribosomal RNA genes and is 99.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To halt the loss of biodiversity, collaboration among scientists, managers and decision-makers is vital. Although biodiversity loss is a global problem, management actions influencing diversity are often on a local to regional scale. Our study is an example of a regional conservation genomic assessment developed in collaboration between scientists and managers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Zostera marina is an important ecosystem engineer influencing shallow water environments and possibly shaping the microbiota in surrounding sediments and water. Z. marina is typically found in marine systems, but it can also proliferate under brackish conditions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

First evidence of molecular response of the shrimp Hippolyte inermis to biodegradable microplastics.

J Hazard Mater

December 2024

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Department of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Ischia Marine Centre, Via Francesco Buonocore, 42, Ischia 80077, Italy.

The increasing demand for sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics has propelled the interest in bioplastics. A few papers reported on the effects of plastics on crustaceans, but no indication about biodegradable polymers is available. Hippolyte inermis Leach, 1816 is a protandric shrimp commonly living on leaves of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica, in the Mediterranean Sea.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Exploring the separation, characterization and antioxidant activity of proteins and peptides from selected seagrasses in Palk Bay region of Tamil Nadu in India.

Int J Biol Macromol

January 2025

Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur 603 203, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address:

In this study, five seagrass species Halodule uninervis, Thalassia hemprichii, Enhalus acoroides, Cymodocea serrulata, and Syringodium isoetifolium collected from the Mandapam coastal region of Rameswaram (Palk Bay region), Tamil Nadu, India, were selected to identify the antioxidant-rich proteins/peptides. The primary objective was to identify the proteins/peptides present in these seagrass filtrates extracted by using four different pH-based buffer extracts and to assess their antioxidant activity. Among the various buffer extracts, 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!