Role of sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus grazing in regulating subtropical turtlegrass Thalassia testudinum meadows in the Florida Keys (USA)

In previous work, in St. Joseph Bay, Florida (30° N, 85.5° W), in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, we found that sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus grazing usually controlled seasonal changes in turtlegrass Thalassia testudinum abundance. In this study, we tested the generality of those conclusions by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine ecology. Progress series (Halstenbek) 2000-07, Vol.200, p.213-228
Main Authors: Valentine, John F., Heck, Kenneth L., Kirsch, Kevin D., Webb, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aboveground biomass
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Belowground biomass
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass production
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Grazing
Grazing experiments
Hawks
Herbivores
Keys
Lytechinus variegatus
Marine
Meadows
Sea urchins
Sea water ecosystems
Synecology
Thalassia testudinum
USA, Florida
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Summary:In previous work, in St. Joseph Bay, Florida (30° N, 85.5° W), in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, we found that sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus grazing usually controlled seasonal changes in turtlegrass Thalassia testudinum abundance. In this study, we tested the generality of those conclusions by conducting new grazing studies in 2 turtlegrass habitats in the subtropical Florida Keys (USA). In the first experiment, we varied the duration of sea urchin grazing bouts in order to understand the impacts of temporally varying herbivory on seasonal changes in turtlegrass biomass in shallow water (
ISSN:0171-8630
1616-1599
DOI:10.3354/meps200213