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The Optical Properties of Greater Florida Bay: Implications for Seagrass Abundance

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Abstract

Water column optical properties of Greater Florida Bay were investigated in the context of their impacts on seagrass distribution. Scattering played an important role in light attenuation throughout the shallow water system. The northwest region was characterized by an absence of seagrasses and the highest scattering by particles, mostly from resuspended carbonate sediments. Higher seagrass densities were observed in the open waters just north of the Florida Keys, where absorption coefficients were dominated by colored dissolved organic material and scattering was lower than in the northwest region. Patchy dense seagrass meadows were observed in the clear waters south of the Keys where scattering and absorption were low and contributed equally to light attenuation. In general, seagrasses were observed in areas where >7.5% of surface irradiance reached the plants and where optical properties were not dominated by scattering. Although the prevention of eutrophication and nuisance algal blooms may be necessary for preserving seagrass meadows in this system, our observations and model calculations indicate that nutrient control alone may be insufficient to permit seagrass recolonization if optical properties are dominated by particulate scattering from resuspended sediments.

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks to D. Ruble, M. Stoughton, C. Buonassissi, A. Branco, J. Godfrey, D. Aurin, and J. Cousins for their assistance, persistence, and camaraderie in the field and lab. Financial support was provided by the Ocean Biology & Biogeochemistry Program, NASA (project number: NNG04GN84G).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, 4600 Elkhorn Avenue, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

    Meredith L. McPherson, Victoria J. Hill & Richard C. Zimmerman

  2. Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, 1080 Shennecossett Road, Groton, CT, 06340-6048, USA

    Heidi M. Dierssen

Authors
  1. Meredith L. McPherson
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  2. Victoria J. Hill
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Correspondence to Meredith L. McPherson.

Electronic Supplementary Materials

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Electronic Supplemental Material Table 1

(a) ANOVA results comparing K d(440) values among regions A, B, and C. p values less than or equal to 0.05 indicate significant differences among regions. (b) Post hoc tests from ANOVA testing of K d(440). A p value of less than 0.05 indicates that a significant difference is found between regions. (DOCX 11 kb)

Electronic Supplemental Material Table 2

(a) ANOVA results comparing b p(440) values among regions A, B, and C. p values less than or equal to 0.05 indicate significant differences among regions. (b) Post hoc tests from ANOVA testing of b p(440). A p value of less than 0.05 indicates that a significant difference is found between regions. (DOCX 11 kb)

Electronic Supplemental Material Table 3

(a) ANOVA results comparing b bp(550)/b p(555) values among regions A, B, and C. p values less than or equal to 0.05 indicate significant differences among regions. (b) Post hoc tests from ANOVA testing of b bp(550)/b p(555). A p value of less than 0.05 indicates that a significant difference is found between regions. (DOCX 11 kb)

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McPherson, M.L., Hill, V.J., Zimmerman, R.C. et al. The Optical Properties of Greater Florida Bay: Implications for Seagrass Abundance. Estuaries and Coasts 34, 1150–1160 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-011-9411-9

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