Biomass and pigment values varied nonlinearly with temperature. Mortality occurred in transplanted Thalassia after seven weeks of exposure to 35.0$sup 0$ to 36.4$sup 0$C. Visual signs of stress were noted in transplanted Thalassia samples after two weeks of exposure to temperatures of 34.5$sup 0$ to 35$sup 0$C. Biomass of Thalassia was inversely correlated with temperature in established turtle grass flats near a thermal plume. « lessĪ study of the effect of a thermal effluent on Thalassia testudinum was made at Guayanilla Bay, Puerto Rico, and at the laboratory of the Puerto Rico Nuclear Center at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. It was felt that the predator population was limited by the small stock of polychaetes and peracaridean crustaceans which had a maximum biomass in any one sample equivalent to 1.40 g dry/m/sup 2/. The main residents were the syngnathids and the goldspotted killifish, Floridichthys carpio. The majority of the fishes captured were foragers over a wide area. The more » maximum biomass in any benthic and cryptic samples was 3.35 g dry/m/sup 2/. The mollusks which contributed significantly to the benthic biomass were not a preferred food for the animals frequenting the study site. Based on digestive tract analysis, the principal interaction between the primary consumers of the study area and the higher trophic level predators was via the polychaetes and peracaridean crustaceans. The trophic interaction between the fishes and the macrobenthic and cryptic fauna found in the area was examined. The marine spermatophyte, Thalassia testudinum Konig, is the dominant seagrass in southeast Florida and the Florida Gulf coast. Seagrass communities are a major feature of shallow marine areas throughout the world.
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