Evidence for the influence of seagrasses on the benthic nitrogen cycle in a coastal plain estuary near Beaufort, North Carolina (USA)

Abstract

A study was undertaken to evaluate the interrelationship between the presence of seagrasses, Zostera marina and Halodule wrightii, and the physical and chemical properties of sediments in a coastal plain estuary near Beaufort, North Carolina. In sediments underlying a cover of seagrass, silt-clay, organic matter, exchangeable ammonium, ammonium dissolved in pore waters and total nitrogen were larger than in unvegetated profiles. The magnitude of the physical and chemical properties of sediments varied according to the location of the station in relation to the vegetation, as well as the continuity in the distribution of the seagrass. The largest pools of nitrogen, the finest sediment texture, and the greatest organic matter content were in sediments associated with the mid bed regions of seagrass meadows, intermediate at the edges of the bed and small isolated patches of grass, and least in unvegetated substrate.

General conclusions from this study are: 1) once established, seagrasses appear capable of modifying the sediment texture as well as the organic matter and nitrogen content; 2) nitrogen accumulates beneath the vegetation suggesting that vegetated sediments are sinks; however, functional recycling mechanisms seem to be operating as suggested by the larger magnitude of remineralized nitrogen in the vegetated profiles; and 3) the establishment of seagrasses in this geographical region are not necessarily restricted by the sediment properties measured in this study. These data and conclusions are discussed in regard to an application of contemporary theories of ecosystem development to seagrass systems.