Short-term accumulation of fauna colonising natural versus artificial seagrass floating near to shore

Detached and floating macrophytes are commonly found along beaches in Southern Australia, but few studies have investigated their associations with animals along the drift pathway, particularly in the southern hemisphere. This study investigated the colonisation by macroinvertebrates and fish of nat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine biology 2019-05, Vol.166 (5), p.1-11, Article 57
Main Authors: Baring, Ryan J., Lester, Rebecca E., Fairweather, Peter G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic plants
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Clumps
Colonization
Environmental aspects
Fauna
Fish
Floating plants
Food resources
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Grasses
Habitats
Life Sciences
Macroinvertebrates
Macrophytes
Marine & Freshwater Sciences
Marine biology
Microbiology
Oceanography
Original Paper
Sea grasses
Seagrasses
Southern Hemisphere
Zoobenthos
Zoology
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Summary:Detached and floating macrophytes are commonly found along beaches in Southern Australia, but few studies have investigated their associations with animals along the drift pathway, particularly in the southern hemisphere. This study investigated the colonisation by macroinvertebrates and fish of natural and artificial tagged seagrass within 6 h of release and compared this to fauna found with in situ floating macrophyte clumps netted at different distances from shore in Southern Australia. We found some evidence that more macroinvertebrates may colonise floating macrophytes at distances closer to shore (i.e., 0.25 km) potentially due to shallower depths and increased proximity of source habitats. Particular fauna may stay with macrophytes as they arrive and accumulate as wrack in the surf-zone, while others may leave for more suitable habitats. Colonisation by fish to floating macrophytes was judged more likely to be for habitat and shelter rather than food resources. This study provides some further evidence for rapid colonisation of fauna and hence an important habitat function of detached and floating macrophytes along nearshore coastlines in Southern Australia.
ISSN:0025-3162
1432-1793
DOI:10.1007/s00227-019-3505-5