Seagrass meadows are important sources of reef island-building sediment
dc.contributor.author | East, HK | |
dc.contributor.author | Johnson, JA | |
dc.contributor.author | Perry, CT | |
dc.contributor.author | Finlay, G | |
dc.contributor.author | Musthag, A | |
dc.contributor.author | Zahir, H | |
dc.contributor.author | Floyd, M | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2023-01-30T11:37:51Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2023-02-14 | |
dc.date.updated | 2023-01-30T08:59:06Z | |
dc.description.abstract | The future vulnerability of low-lying atoll nations is inextricably linked to the production of island-building carbonate sediments by organisms living in their adjacent marine environments. Seagrass meadows are commonly found adjacent to reef islands, but their potential role as sources of reef island-building sediments has been overlooked. Here, we quantify rates of sediment production by seagrass epibionts in a reef island sediment supply context. Total seagrass epibiont sediment production at our study site (Huvadhoo Atoll, Maldives) was 853,000 ± 90,000 kg CaCO3 yr-1 over an area of 1.1 km2. Of this total sediment production, 541,000 ± 23,000 kg CaCO3 yr-1 was estimated to be suitable to contribute to reef island building (i.e., sand-sized, post-agitation). Our findings highlight a previously unrecognised and highly valuable ecosystem service provided by tropical seagrass meadows as important potential sources of reef island-building sediment. This study, therefore, presents a new and compelling geomorphic argument for seagrass conservation. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | British Society for Geomorphology | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Vol. 4, article 33 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1038/s43247-023-00675-y | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/132367 | |
dc.identifier | ORCID: 0000-0001-9398-2418 (Perry, Chris) | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Nature Research | en_GB |
dc.rights | © The Author(s) 2023. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
dc.title | Seagrass meadows are important sources of reef island-building sediment | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2023-01-30T11:37:51Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 2662-4435 | |
dc.description | This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this record | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | Communications Earth & Environment | en_GB |
dc.relation.ispartof | Communications Earth & Environment | |
dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | en_GB |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2023-01-04 | |
dcterms.dateSubmitted | 2022-08-17 | |
rioxxterms.version | VoR | en_GB |
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate | 2023-01-04 | |
rioxxterms.type | Journal Article/Review | en_GB |
refterms.dateFCD | 2023-01-30T08:59:08Z | |
refterms.versionFCD | AM | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2023-03-03T15:54:56Z | |
refterms.panel | C | en_GB |
Files in this item
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © The Author(s) 2023. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give
appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative
Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party
material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless
indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the
article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory
regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/