Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A Dynamic Model of an Estuarine Invasion by a Non-Native Seagrass

  • Published:
Estuaries and Coasts Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mathematical and simulation models provide an excellent tool for examining and predicting biological invasions in time and space; however, traditional models do not incorporate dynamic rates of population growth, which limits their realism. We developed a spatially explicit simulation model that allows patch or population growth rate to change with population size through the incorporation of field data. We used the model to evaluate the invasion of a west coast estuary by the non-indigenous Japanese eelgrass, Zostera japonica (Zosteraceae). Specifically, we tested the relative importance of stochastic, abiotic disturbance, interspecific competition, and vegetative and seedling survival. Our model predicted that vegetative shoot and seedling survival limited by competition are the most important limiting factors for Z. japonica growth, although stochastic disturbance was also a limiting factor. Population cycles and patchy distribution were also predicted, with the eelgrass apparently coexisting with the competitor. The model should be applicable to a variety of invasive species, with various types of disturbance and limiting factors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bando, K. 2006. The roles of competition and disturbance in a marine invasion. Biological Invasions 8: 755–763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayer, R.D. 1979. Intertidal zonation of Zostera marina in the Yaquina Estuary, Oregon. Syesis 12: 147–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayer, R.D. 1996. Macrophyton and tides at Yaquina Estuary, Lincoln County, Oregon. Journal of Oregon Ornithology 6: 781–795.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beissinger, S.R., and M.I. Westphal. 1998. On the use of demographic models of population viability in endangered species management. Journal of Wildlife Management 62: 821–841.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkenbusch, K., A.A. Rowden, and T.E. Myers. 2007. Interactions between seagrasses and burrowing ghost shrimps and their influence on infaunal assemblages. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 341: 70–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caye, G., and A. Meinesz. 1985. Observation on the vegetative development, flowering and seeding of Cymodocea nodosa (Ucria) Ascherson on the Mediterranean coasts of France. Aquatic Botany 22: 277–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cubasch, U., G.A. Meehl, G.J. Boer, R.J. Stouffer, M. Dix, A. Noda, C.A. Senior, S. Raper, and K.S. Yap. 2001. Projections of future climate change. Chapter 9 in Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis, Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Graaf, Ramona. Zostera marina and Zostera japonica Sensitive Habitat Inventory: a comparison of seagrass distribution and abundance 1995, 2002, and 2004. Blackie Spit 2004, Crescent Beach, Surrey, British Columbia. Report prepared for Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society, June 2006. http://www.shim.bc.ca/atlases/bb/FINAL%20BLACKIE%20SPIT%20REPORT%20Nov%2006.pdf.

  • Dong, M., B-R. Lu, H-B. Zhang, J-K. Chen, and B. Li. 2006. Role of sexual reproduction in the spread of an invasive clonal plant Solidago canadensis revealed using intersimple sequence repeat markers. Plant Species Biology 21: 13–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duarte, C.M., and K. Sand-Jensen. 1990. Seagrass colonization: biomass development and shoot demography in Cymodocea nodosa patches. Marine Ecology Progress Series 67: 97–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duggin, J.A., and C.B. Gentle. 1998. Experimental evidence on the importance of disturbance intensity for invasion of Lantana camara L. in dry rainforest-open forest ecotones in north-eastern NSW, Australia. Forest Ecology and Management 101–3: 279–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dumbauld, B.R., and S. Wyllie-Echeverria. 2003. The influence of burrowing thalassinid shrimp on the distribution of intertidal seagrasses in Willapa Bay, Washington, USA. Aquatic Botany 771: 27–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durrett, R., and S. Levin. 1998. Spatial aspects of interspecific competition. Theoretical Population Biology 531: 30–43.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Easterling, D.R., G.A. Meehl, C. Parmesan, S.A. Changnon, T.R. Karl, and L.O. Mearns. 2000. Climate extremes: observations, modelling and impacts. Science 289: 2068–2074.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ewanchuk, P. 1995. Population Growth of Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.): the Relative Importance of Sexual Versus Asexual Reproduction. Masters Thesis, San Diego State University.

  • Gilpin, M.E. 1975. Limit cycles in competition communities. American Naturalist 109965: 51–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilpin, M.E., and M.E. Soule. 1986. Minimum viable populations: processes of species extinction. In Conservation biology: The science of scarcity and diversity, ed. M.E. Soule, 19–34. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grosholz, E.D. 1996. Contrasting rates of spread for introduced species in terrestrial and marine systems. Ecology 77: 1680–1686.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groth, A.T., L. Lovett-Doust, and J. Lovett-Doust. 1996. Population density and module demography in Trapa natans (Trapaceae), an annual, clonal aquatic macrophyte. American Journal of Botany 83: 1406–1415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hahn, D.R. 2003. Alteration of microbial community composition and changes in composition associated with an invasive intertidal macrophyte. Biological Invasions 51–2: 45–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, P.G. 1987. Natural expansion and experimental manipulation of seagrass (Zostera spp.) abundance and the response of infaunal invertebrates. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 246: 799–812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, P.G., and R.E. Bigley. 1982. The recent introduction of the seagrass Zostera japonica Aschers. and Graebn. to the Pacific Coast of North America. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 39: 1642–1648.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hastings, A. 1996. Models of spatial spread: is the theory complete? Ecology 776: 1675–1679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemminga, M.A., and C.M. Duarte. 2000. Seagrass ecology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs, R.J., and L.F. Huenneke. 1992. Disturbance, diversity, and invasion: implications for conservation. Conservation Biology 63: 324–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huisman, J., and F.J. Weissing. 2001. Biological conditions for oscillations and chaos generated by multispecies competition. Ecology 8210: 2682–2695.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kellogg, C.H., and S.D. Bridgham. 2004. Disturbance, herbivory, and propagule dispersal control dominance of an invasive grass. Biological Invasions 63: 319–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larned, S.T. 2003. Effects of the invasive, nonindigenous seagrass Zostera japonica on nutrient fluxes between the water column and benthos in a NE Pacific estuary. Marine Ecology Progress Series 254: 69–80.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li, B., and H.L. Smith. 2003. Periodic coexistence of four species competing for three essential resources. Mathematical Biosciences 1842003: 115–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mack, R.N., D. Simberloff, W.M. Lonsdale, H. Evans, M. Clout, and F.A. Bazzaz. 2000. Biotic invasions: causes, epidemiology, global consequences, and control. Ecological Applications 103: 689–710.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merrill, G.G. 1995. The effect of Zostera japonica on the growth of Zostera marina in their shared transitional boundary. Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Technical Report Number 12. Mount Vernon, Washington.

  • Okubo, A. 1980. Diffusion and ecological problems: Ecological models. New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olesen, B., and K. Sand-Jensen. 1994. Demography of shallow eelgrass (Zostera marina) populations – shoot dynamics and biomass development. Journal of Ecology 82: 379–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, I.M., D. Simberloff, W.M. Lonsdale, K. Goodell, M. Wonham, P. Kareiva, M.H. Williamson, B. Von Holle, P.B. Moyle, J.E. Byers, and L. Goldwasser. 1999. Impact: toward a framework for understanding the ecological effects of invaders. Biological Invasions 1: 3–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, R.C., W.S. Grant, and C.P. McRoy. 1983. Reproductive strategies of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.). Aquatic Botany 16: 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piquot, Y., D. Petit, M. Valero, J. Cuquen, P. De-Laquerie, and P. Vernet. 1998. Variation in sexual and asexual reproduction among young and old populations of the perennial macrophyte Sparganium erectum. Oikos 82: 139–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plus, M., A. Chapelle, A. Menesguen, J-M. Deslous-Paoli, and I. Auby. 2003. Modelling seasonal dynamics of biomasses and nitrogen contents in a aseagrass meadow (Zostera noltii Hornem.): application to the Thau lagoon (French Mediterranean coast). Ecological Modelling 1613: 213–238.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Posey, M.H. 1988. Community changes associated with the spread of an introduced seagrass, Zostera japonica. Ecology 694: 974–983.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruckelshaus, M.H. 1996. Estimation of genetic neighborhood parameters from pollen and seed dispersal in the marine angiosperm Zostera marina L. Evolution 502: 856–864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sagar, R., and J.S. Singh. 2004. Local plant species depletion in a tropical dry deciduous forest of northern India. Environmental Conservation 311: 55–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silvertown, J., S. Holtier, J. Johnson, and P. Dale. 1992. Cellular automaton models of interspecific competition for space – the effect of pattern on process. Journal of Ecology 80: 527–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silvertown, J., M. Franco, I. Pisanty, and A. Mendoza. 1993. Comparative plant demography – relative importance of life-cycle components to the finite rate of increase in woody and herbaceous perennials. Journal of Ecology 813: 465–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skellam, J.G. 1951. Random dispersal in theoretical populations. Biometrika 38: 196–218.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Specht, D.T., Young, D.R., and Clinton, P.J. 2002. Mapping Eelgrass Species Zostera japonica and Z. marina, Associated Macroalgae and Emergent Aquatic Vegetation Habitats in Pacific Northwest Estuaries Using Near-Infrared Color Aerial Photography and a Hybrid Image Classification Technique. In: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Remote Sensing for Marine and Coastal Environments, Miami, FL, 20–22 May, 2002. CD-ROM, Veridian, Ann Arbor, MI; ISSN 1066–3711. (WED-02–025).

  • Suchanek, T. 1983. Control of seagrass communities and sediment distribution by Callianassa (Crustacea, Thalassinidea) bioturbation. Journal of Marine Research 41: 281–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thom, R.M. 1990. Spatial and temporal patterns in plant standing stock and primary production in a temperate seagrass system. Botanica Marina 336: 497–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuyuzaki, S. 1995. Vegetation recovery patterns in early volcanic succession. Journal of Plant Research 1091090: 241–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiegand, T., E. Revilla, and F. Knauer. 2004. Dealing with uncertainty in spatially explicit population models. Biodiversity and Conservation 13: 53–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This research was financially supported by a Research Associateship from the National Research Council awarded to KNA. We are grateful to Charlotte T. Lee for help with the initial programming of the model and Pat Clinton of the Coastal Ecology Branch of the Environmental Protection Agency for GIS maps of Sally’s Bend and help with fractal dimension analysis. We thank Mohamed Abdelrhman, Charlotte Lee and Eric Singsaas for helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. KNA also thanks Dr. Alan J. Kohn for research and writing space during a time of need.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—Coastal Ecology Branch, WED/CEB, 2111 S.E. Marine Science Drive, Newport, OR, 97365, USA

    Kama N. Almasi & Peter M. Eldridge

Authors
  1. Kama N. Almasi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter M. Eldridge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter M. Eldridge.

Appendix

Appendix

A: Methods and Data Table for Patch Expansion of Zostera japonica in the field

In November 1998, we located, marked and measured 54 extant patches of Z. japonica in Yaquina Estuary. We estimated patch area by measuring the lengths and angles of each side, thus establishing polygons. One year later we measured the patches again to determine change in patch area. Presented in the table below are the raw data we used to fit a regression model, given in the manuscript. Initially we detected a strong relationship between original patch area and change in area after one year (R 2 = 0.66); however, these data did not meet the assumption of homogenous variance, so we ln-transformed the data for the regression equation given in the manuscript. Mean change in patch area for one year, all patches, was approximately 6 m2 (SE = 4.18); without the three greatest outliers, mean change in patch area was 3.2 m2 (SE = 0.82).

Table 4 Patch expansion raw data
Full size table

B: Methods and Data Table for Seed Dispersal of Zostera japonica in the field

Sediment cores (10 cm diameter, 30 cm depth) were collected at six different sites within Yaquina Estuary from seven different distances away from the parent patch: 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 m. For each distance at each site we collected two cores. We sifted through sediments in the lab with a series of mesh strainers to isolate Z. japonica seeds. Average number of seeds found per core at each distance is listed in the table below. Seeds were never found in the field past 15 m, so for the regression analysis, we disregarded any distances past 15 m.

Table 5 Seed dispersal data means
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Almasi, K.N., Eldridge, P.M. A Dynamic Model of an Estuarine Invasion by a Non-Native Seagrass. Estuaries and Coasts: J CERF 31, 163–176 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-007-9024-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-007-9024-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation