Experimental evidence of reduced particle resuspension within a seagrass (

Dried leaf fragments of the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica were used as tracer particles to test if seagrass leaf canopies reduce particle resuspension. Half Petri dishes containing a known mass of tracer particles were deployed for 24 h, five times during the summer period inside a 15-m deep P. oceanica meadow and on an adjacent sandy bottom devoid of vegetation. The loss of tracer particles was consistently high ( . 62.9% of initial particle mass) at sand stations, while both high ( . 79.2% of initial particle mass) and low ( , 47.7% of initial particle mass) losses were recorded at P. oceanica stations. The loss of tracer particles was lower (P , 0.01) within the P. oceanica meadow than over barren sand, which supports the hypothesis that seagrass leaf canopies are able to reduce particle resuspension.  2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.