One of the most frequently quoted ecosystem services of seagrass meadows is their value for coastal protection. Many studies emphasize the role of above-ground shoots in attenuating waves, enhancing sedimentation and preventing erosion. This raises the question if short-leaved, low density (grazed) seagrass meadows with most of their biomass in belowground tissues can also stabilize sediments. ...

A microcosm experiment was carried out to determine the effects of the activity of the burrowing polychaete Nereis virens (Sars) on the associated meiofauna. The sediment basin (76 3 41 cm) was filled with 10 cm of sandy sediment previously sieved with a 1-mm mesh to remove any undesired macrofauna and macrodetritus. Fifteen 13-cm long polyvinyl-chloride (PVC) tubes (I.D. 5 10 cm) were pushed i...

Mangroves are intertidal ecosystems that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. At the low tidal limits of their range, they face swamping by rising sea levels; at the high tidal limits, they face increasing stress from desiccation and high salinity. Facilitation theory may help guide mangrove management and restoration in the face of these threats by suggesting how and when positive in...

Viruses are now recognized as a key component in pelagic systems, but their role in marine sediment has yet to be assessed. In this study bacterial and viral densities were determined at nine deep-sea stations selected from three main sites (i.e., the Sporades Basin, the Cretan Sea, and the Ierapetra Trench at depths of 1,232, 1,840, and 4,235 m, respectively) of the Eastern Mediterranean. The ...

Design of vegetative filter strips for trapping sediment and sediment-borne chemicals can be done on a storm event basis using VFSMOD. This approach requires confidence in a number of input parameters such as soil infiltration characteristics, surface topography, vegetative composition and roughness, and incoming sediment load and particle size distribution. We have developed a simple program, ...

The accumulation of 14C-benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) sorbed to sediment was examined in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) to compare uptake from sediment with a high organic carbon (OC) content (7.7%), to that with a low OC content (2%). Ingestion of sediments was quantified by co-labeling the sediment with 141Cerium, which was not assimilated by the fish. Results of this study indicated that (1) s...

In this paper, the effect of plant density, sediment type, and macrophyte fragment size on the fragment colonization ability of Myriophyllum spicatum was evaluated in an outdoor experiment. The relative growth rate (RGR) was higher in the mud and low-density treatments than in the sand and high-density treatments. The relative elongation rate (RER) decreased with increasing density and fragment...