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Seagrass Isoscapes and Stoichioscapes Reveal Linkages to Inorganic Nitrogen Sources in the Lower Laguna Madre, Western Gulf of Mexico

  • Special Issue: Low Inflow Estuaries
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Abstract

Seagrasses assimilate nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from their environment over the course of the growing period, reflecting long-term, system-wide environmental conditions. We examined the role of two Texas seagrasses, Halodule wrightii and Thalassia testudinum, as indicators of N and P conditions in the western Gulf of Mexico via their tissue isotopic (δ15N) and stoichiometric (N:P) ratios. Leaf tissue samples were collected from 285 sampling sites in the Lower Laguna Madre from 2011 to 2018. Data were used to develop interpolated maps of δ15N signatures and N:P ratios across the region. We found that higher variability in H. wrightii metrics reflected the higher sensitivity of this species to short term changes in nutrient sources. T. testudinum exhibited a narrower range in isotopic ratios and N:P values (mean standard deviation of 1.6‰ and 11, respectively compared to 2.4‰ and 12.5 for H. wrightii), indicative of its relatively slow leaf turnover. The highest δ15N values (7–9‰) were recorded near the mouth of the Arroyo Colorado, which carries discharges from a large, urbanized region into an otherwise highly oligotrophic lagoon. Elevated N:P ratios in both species (60–80) were prevalent in the upper reaches of the lower Laguna, likely reflecting inorganic-N inputs by large expanses of N-fixing cyanobacterial mats on nearby wind tidal flats. These metrics reveal that seagrass tissues can serve as valuable indicators of inorganic-N sources in low-inflow estuarine systems where freshwater input is negligible or absent for extended periods of time.

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Data Availability

Seagrass canopy height, water depth, chlorophyll-a concentration and other plant and water quality indicators in Coastal Waters of Texas (NCEI Accession 0181898). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0181898. Also see: https://www.texasseagrass.org

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Acknowledgements

This work would not have been possible without the tireless field efforts of V. Congdon, K. Darnell, F. Ernst, K. Jackson, S. Wilson, L. Young and numerous UTMSI undergraduate and graduate students. T. Whiteaker and S. Schonberg contributed to early GIS mapping efforts that were nicely supplemented by V. Congdon. We are very grateful to K. Capistrant-Fossa who provided the updated graphics for this manuscript. We thank R. Hladyniuk and P. Garlough of the UTMSI Core Lab and the UC Davis stable isotope facility for their support in processing samples.

Funding

This work received continued funding support provided by the General Land Office (GLO) for our work in the Lower Laguna Madre on GLO contracts 12-166-000-4960, 15-035-000-8379, 18-083-000-A592, and 18-097-000-A606.

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  1. University of Texas Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Dr., Port Aransas, TX, 78373, USA

    Meaghan R. Cuddy & Kenneth H. Dunton

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Correspondence to Meaghan R. Cuddy.

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Communicated by Jill A. Olin

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Cuddy, M.R., Dunton, K.H. Seagrass Isoscapes and Stoichioscapes Reveal Linkages to Inorganic Nitrogen Sources in the Lower Laguna Madre, Western Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries and Coasts 46, 2115–2127 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-023-01206-w

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