Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Gilchrist, Sandra

Keywords

Seagrass Restoration, Fertilization, Birds, Guano

Area of Concentration

Environmental Science

Abstract

Seagrass beds provide many ecological services, such as diminishing shoreline erosion by dampening wave and carbon sequestration. Propeller scaring caused by careless boaters can inflict significant damage to seagrass ecosystems. Scars erode and when an area becomes heavily scared the integrity of the seagrass bed is threatened and large areas of grass can be lost. Studies in the Florida Keys and elsewhere found that when bird stakes, PVC perches, were placed along the length of propeller scars the healing time was greatly reduced. A similar effect should be seen around bird rookery islands, which provide nutrient inputs of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) rich guano. In Sarasota, Florida water and sediment nutrient levels were compared between bird rookery islands and mangrove islands. Scar healing in these areas and in seagrass beds not connected to shorelines was compared using ArcMap 10.1. There was a significantly higher levels of aquatic N and P as well as higher sedimentary P in seagrass beds at bird rookery islands. This difference in nutrient availability did not have an effect on propeller scar healing times.

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