The Estuary As a Filter

The Estuary As a Filter

1984, Pages 395-413
The Estuary As a Filter

THE SEAGRASS FILTER: PURIFICATION OF ESTUARINE AND COASTAL WATERS

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Abstract: Seagrasses can provide a “filtering” mechanism in estuarine waters by trapping suspended sediments and taking up dissolved water column nutrients. These two processes are discussed from the perspective of water filtration by seagrasses in an effort to establish the plants1 benefit to the estuarine system. Previous examinations of such processes have stressed environmental influences on seagrass plants, overlooking the impact that seagrasses may have on the environment. Our approach to the concept of seagrass as a filter has been to examine previous work and combine it with results of measurements of suspended sediment and dissolved nutrient removal in culture tank systems with and without seagrasses. In manipulation experiments, suspended sediment removal was measured by the increase in light penetration, and varied according to added sediment type. Nutrient addition and subsequent depletion in the water column of the culture tanks was measured to determine seagrass community uptake rates. These rates were then extrapolated to a somewhat eutrophic coastal environment for evaluation of potential nutrient removal by seagrasses. A synopsis of these filtering experiments and other studies indicates that seagrass communities remove material of natural or human origin from estuarine waters, but excessive loading of nutrients or suspended material upsets the balance of the seagrass ecosystem, promoting degradation of the seagrass beds and loss of the filtering mechanism.

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