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Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings

Richard Unsworth Orcid Logo, Beth Williams, Benjamin L. Jones, Leanne C. Cullen-Unsworth

Frontiers in Plant Science, Volume: 8

Swansea University Author: Richard Unsworth Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.3389/fpls.2017.01309

Abstract

Seagrass meadows commonly reside in shallow sheltered embayments typical of the locations that provide an attractive option for mooring boats. Given the potential for boat moorings to result in disturbance to the seabed due to repeated physical impact, these moorings may present a significant threat...

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Published in: Frontiers in Plant Science
ISSN: 1664-462X
Published: 2017
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa34938
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last_indexed 2018-02-09T05:25:34Z
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fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2017-09-26T10:39:03.8705035</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>34938</id><entry>2017-08-18</entry><title>Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>b0f33acd13a3ab541cf2aaea27f4fc2f</sid><ORCID>0000-0003-0036-9724</ORCID><firstname>Richard</firstname><surname>Unsworth</surname><name>Richard Unsworth</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2017-08-18</date><deptcode>SBI</deptcode><abstract>Seagrass meadows commonly reside in shallow sheltered embayments typical of the locations that provide an attractive option for mooring boats. Given the potential for boat moorings to result in disturbance to the seabed due to repeated physical impact, these moorings may present a significant threat to seagrass meadows. The seagrass Zostera marina (known as eelgrass) is extensive across the northern hemisphere, forming critical fisheries habitat and creating efficient long-term stores of carbon in sediments. Although boat moorings have been documented to impact seagrasses, studies to date have been conducted on the slow growing Posidonia species&#x2019; rather than the fast growing and rapidly reproducing Z. marina that may have a higher capacity to resist and recover from repeated disturbance. In the present study we examine swinging chain boat moorings in seagrass meadows across a range of sites in the United Kingdom to determine whether such moorings have a negative impact on the seagrass Zostera marina at the local and meadow scale. We provide conclusive evidence from multiple sites that Z. marina is damaged by swinging chain moorings leading to a loss of at least 6 ha of United Kingdom seagrass. Each swinging chain mooring was found to result in the loss of 122 m2 of seagrass. Loss is restricted to the area surrounding the mooring and the impact does not appear to translate to a meadow scale. This loss of United Kingdom seagrass from boat moorings is small but significant at a local scale. This is because it fragments existing meadows and ultimately reduces their resilience to other stressors. Boat moorings are prevalent in seagrass globally and it is likely this impairs their ecosystem functioning. Given the extensive ecosystem service value of seagrasses in terms of factors such as carbon storage and fish habitat such loss is of cause for concern. This indicates the need for the widespread use of seagrass friendly mooring systems in and around seagrass.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Frontiers in Plant Science</journal><volume>8</volume><publisher/><issnElectronic>1664-462X</issnElectronic><keywords/><publishedDay>25</publishedDay><publishedMonth>7</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2017</publishedYear><publishedDate>2017-07-25</publishedDate><doi>10.3389/fpls.2017.01309</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Biosciences</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>SBI</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm/><lastEdited>2017-09-26T10:39:03.8705035</lastEdited><Created>2017-08-18T14:42:56.2218255</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Science and Engineering</level><level id="2">School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Richard</firstname><surname>Unsworth</surname><orcid>0000-0003-0036-9724</orcid><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Beth</firstname><surname>Williams</surname><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Benjamin L.</firstname><surname>Jones</surname><order>3</order></author><author><firstname>Leanne C.</firstname><surname>Cullen-Unsworth</surname><order>4</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>0034938-26092017103825.pdf</filename><originalFilename>34938.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2017-09-26T10:38:25.4630000</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>1754615</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><embargoDate>2017-09-26T00:00:00.0000000</embargoDate><documentNotes>This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2017-09-26T10:39:03.8705035 v2 34938 2017-08-18 Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings b0f33acd13a3ab541cf2aaea27f4fc2f 0000-0003-0036-9724 Richard Unsworth Richard Unsworth true false 2017-08-18 SBI Seagrass meadows commonly reside in shallow sheltered embayments typical of the locations that provide an attractive option for mooring boats. Given the potential for boat moorings to result in disturbance to the seabed due to repeated physical impact, these moorings may present a significant threat to seagrass meadows. The seagrass Zostera marina (known as eelgrass) is extensive across the northern hemisphere, forming critical fisheries habitat and creating efficient long-term stores of carbon in sediments. Although boat moorings have been documented to impact seagrasses, studies to date have been conducted on the slow growing Posidonia species’ rather than the fast growing and rapidly reproducing Z. marina that may have a higher capacity to resist and recover from repeated disturbance. In the present study we examine swinging chain boat moorings in seagrass meadows across a range of sites in the United Kingdom to determine whether such moorings have a negative impact on the seagrass Zostera marina at the local and meadow scale. We provide conclusive evidence from multiple sites that Z. marina is damaged by swinging chain moorings leading to a loss of at least 6 ha of United Kingdom seagrass. Each swinging chain mooring was found to result in the loss of 122 m2 of seagrass. Loss is restricted to the area surrounding the mooring and the impact does not appear to translate to a meadow scale. This loss of United Kingdom seagrass from boat moorings is small but significant at a local scale. This is because it fragments existing meadows and ultimately reduces their resilience to other stressors. Boat moorings are prevalent in seagrass globally and it is likely this impairs their ecosystem functioning. Given the extensive ecosystem service value of seagrasses in terms of factors such as carbon storage and fish habitat such loss is of cause for concern. This indicates the need for the widespread use of seagrass friendly mooring systems in and around seagrass. Journal Article Frontiers in Plant Science 8 1664-462X 25 7 2017 2017-07-25 10.3389/fpls.2017.01309 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences COLLEGE CODE SBI Swansea University 2017-09-26T10:39:03.8705035 2017-08-18T14:42:56.2218255 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Richard Unsworth 0000-0003-0036-9724 1 Beth Williams 2 Benjamin L. Jones 3 Leanne C. Cullen-Unsworth 4 0034938-26092017103825.pdf 34938.pdf 2017-09-26T10:38:25.4630000 Output 1754615 application/pdf Version of Record true 2017-09-26T00:00:00.0000000 This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). true eng
title Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings
spellingShingle Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings
Richard Unsworth
title_short Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings
title_full Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings
title_fullStr Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings
title_full_unstemmed Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings
title_sort Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings
author_id_str_mv b0f33acd13a3ab541cf2aaea27f4fc2f
author_id_fullname_str_mv b0f33acd13a3ab541cf2aaea27f4fc2f_***_Richard Unsworth
author Richard Unsworth
author2 Richard Unsworth
Beth Williams
Benjamin L. Jones
Leanne C. Cullen-Unsworth
format Journal article
container_title Frontiers in Plant Science
container_volume 8
publishDate 2017
institution Swansea University
issn 1664-462X
doi_str_mv 10.3389/fpls.2017.01309
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Seagrass meadows commonly reside in shallow sheltered embayments typical of the locations that provide an attractive option for mooring boats. Given the potential for boat moorings to result in disturbance to the seabed due to repeated physical impact, these moorings may present a significant threat to seagrass meadows. The seagrass Zostera marina (known as eelgrass) is extensive across the northern hemisphere, forming critical fisheries habitat and creating efficient long-term stores of carbon in sediments. Although boat moorings have been documented to impact seagrasses, studies to date have been conducted on the slow growing Posidonia species’ rather than the fast growing and rapidly reproducing Z. marina that may have a higher capacity to resist and recover from repeated disturbance. In the present study we examine swinging chain boat moorings in seagrass meadows across a range of sites in the United Kingdom to determine whether such moorings have a negative impact on the seagrass Zostera marina at the local and meadow scale. We provide conclusive evidence from multiple sites that Z. marina is damaged by swinging chain moorings leading to a loss of at least 6 ha of United Kingdom seagrass. Each swinging chain mooring was found to result in the loss of 122 m2 of seagrass. Loss is restricted to the area surrounding the mooring and the impact does not appear to translate to a meadow scale. This loss of United Kingdom seagrass from boat moorings is small but significant at a local scale. This is because it fragments existing meadows and ultimately reduces their resilience to other stressors. Boat moorings are prevalent in seagrass globally and it is likely this impairs their ecosystem functioning. Given the extensive ecosystem service value of seagrasses in terms of factors such as carbon storage and fish habitat such loss is of cause for concern. This indicates the need for the widespread use of seagrass friendly mooring systems in and around seagrass.
published_date 2017-07-25T03:43:22Z
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