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| Nope, no seagrass in the tank, only macro algae, but the tank is FULL. At times I see whole sections of algae pale and turn white, but in the end it seems to dissapear as it dies. Maybe algae does not 'litter' as much as seagrass. I do remember when I first set up the tank, that I would get small piles of dead algae on the sandbed. As the system matured, they stopped appearing. I don't really know what is consuming the detritus. My worm population crashed over a year ago, and has not recovered. Aside from amphipods, there is not much visible in the way of small critters. Fred
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| Hey Fred, I think you hit on a key word as per your disappearing detritus, "visible", check out my thread titled "playing in the sandbox" and you will likely see the culprits. The diversity of microscopic species that can be found within/on live sediment is amazing. Their sheer numbers also. Chuck
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| I have a small section at the end of my small reef for seagrass. I have had no luck growing it with the exception of manatee grass. It is growing and I have a dragonface pipefish that enjoys the grass. It grows slowly. If I could only get the lawn to grow that slow.
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Fabulous thread and thanks, Chuck and all for the well-thought out ideas and observations. Seagrass community ecology is fascinating and I really love the visuals of the storm induced blade removal. The appearance of beach litter and the appearance of floating blades on the surface and even being carried out beyond the shelf edge on the water is indeed an image that is very familiar. I also wonder about the effects of such events on seagrass meadows compared to the normal allochthonous deposition and whether periodic disruption and clearing works the same as intermediate disturbance maintaining high diversity as it does in other ecosystems, including coral reefs.
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Eric Borneman (2/27/2008)
Fabulous thread and thanks, Chuck and all for the well-thought out ideas and observations. Seagrass community ecology is fascinating and I really love the visuals of the storm induced blade removal. The appearance of beach litter and the appearance of floating blades on the surface and even being carried out beyond the shelf edge on the water is indeed an image that is very familiar. I also wonder about the effects of such events on seagrass meadows compared to the normal allochthonous deposition and whether periodic disruption and clearing works the same as intermediate disturbance maintaining high diversity as it does in other ecosystems, including coral reefs. For the last few weeks now, I have been working on part two of my series and at first thought that it would be a simple matter of some taxonomy and some infauna and epiphytic organisms, toss it into a tank and be done... wrong! The complexity of seagrass primary production, its sediments, nutrient pathways and on and on have caused me brain damage. For weeks now, I have done nothing but read papers from an hour after I get up in the morning until south park comes on at 1:30 am. I quite a tad early tonight, I can't hard focus anymore...lol Again, the complexity of it all just staggers me. I get on one subject and find two more within it and have to include that or miss the flow of what is going on. Even with constant work, I think I might be about 40 percent through it. And thats just with what happens in nature, I then have to apply all of that to the keeping of the seagrasses within a refugium setting.... Funny we are back to disturbances as I just got through that section with a bit more to go. Something we would not even notice, such as the difference between a one foot wave and an 18 inch wave can and does have a profound effect both immediately and for a long time afterwards as well, toss in the long term cycles between monsoon seasons, infaunal and faunal disturbances, predators and herbivores actions or anything and everything that so much as quivers within the seagrass community can be felt all the way up and down the nutrient web, which also extends far beyond the seagrass community, then.... apply or try to account for other habitats interactions as well....then...toss in human activities and......ahhhhhhh!!!! My brain hurts. Chuck
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Chuck, you are an amazing reader and thinker. I am beaming here behind my keyboard. Yes, indeed and the more you learn, the more your head hurts. We spent hours last week trying to figure out the "death by a thousand cuts" of reefs, especially the rapid decline of reefs where the water quality was still high and there was little terrestrial or anthropogenic impact and discussed in terms of nutrient cycles, currents, spatial dominance, food webs, changes in trophic structure, competition, normal and historical diversity, remaining species resilience and adaptation, etc. The unified theory is not easy, and so many reefs are so very different. It does make the head hurt and the more you learn, the less you realize we know. I did send you the nutrient enrichment paper from 2007 by McClanahan et al. didn't I?
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Eric Borneman (2/28/2008)
Chuck, you are an amazing reader and thinker. I am beaming here behind my keyboard. Yes, indeed and the more you learn, the more your head hurts. We spent hours last week trying to figure out the "death by a thousand cuts" of reefs, especially the rapid decline of reefs where the water quality was still high and there was little terrestrial or anthropogenic impact and discussed in terms of nutrient cycles, currents, spatial dominance, food webs, changes in trophic structure, competition, normal and historical diversity, remaining species resilience and adaptation, etc. The unified theory is not easy, and so many reefs are so very different. It does make the head hurt and the more you learn, the less you realize we know. I did send you the nutrient enrichment paper from 2007 by McClanahan et al. didn't I?It is nice to see that I'm not the only one with a headache.. Spent another day at it again and thought I was done with the tough stuff, but even something "easy" such as the grazers, goes off into so many tangents. Looking at something as seemingly benign as seagrass detritus took me four days and I mean DAYS to get to a point where I felt I could write something down. Even then, there is just no way I can do it any real justice, don't think anyone could though in a single article, not when it takes an entire paper to explore just one path out of a great many (the great many is putting it mildly). What I am trying to do, and I think with some success, is to take what I read within the papers and apply them to "my" seagrass meadow, which it turns out I am a lot more intimate with than I had thought. A written study will kick in memories that when taken within the context of the study allows me to understand observation(s) that I had not given any importance to, the old " so thats why that does...." which has been allowing me to tie other things in and come away thinking I might just have a clue...and a clue is about all one can really ask for when looking at such a massively big picture, and that is about all I hope to accomplish with this article, to try and pass along enough clues to where the big picture is a bit less fuzzy. Putting each possible aspect in a way (as in short enough) has been a big challenge as well. On top of it all, my vocabulary is getting a huge boost as well... A few more photos and a few more days of reading might see me moving into the aquarium half of it. Then as you know comes the really fun part, proof reading!!! By the way, anyone have a photo of a scribbled rabbitfish that I can use? I would hate to spend a month trying to catch one of those fast buggers just for one photo...lol Almost forgot, no, I don't think I have that paper on nutrients, I might, but I have downloaded and been sent (by you) so many that I am still trying to organize them. I know you are extremely busy but if you have the chance I can use some more reading, did I just say that?....aaahhhhhhhh!!! Thanks for the huge compliment as well, coming from you has some weight to it and am very flattered. Chuck
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Chuck: I agree strongly with Eric's compliments as well. What you have accomplished with your observations of the underwater life around you is totally amazing to me. Many of us wish that we could be in the same position & have all of that time to spend snorkeling & diving on a nearby reef. However, putting myself in your position I doubt that I personally would take the time to research & document things the way that you have. It takes a very scientifically astute mind & persistence to do what you do. Keep doing what you appear to do best as we all enjoy the knowledge that you impart on us. Thanks for making the marine environment "come alive" for many of us!  Steve
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| Thanks Steve, but hang on a sec, I have to open this relief valve on my head, its getting seriously inflated... In all honesty, were it not for the likes of all the good people here, I would never have been inspired to look closer and would most likely be just another consumer on the reef while remaining ignorant, not by choice mind you, but having access to the great minds of our hobby makes it possible to do the most important thing of all..... ask. I just happen to be blessed with having a great deal to ask. Eric, thanks for that article! I did not have that one afterall. And a brief read and one fact jumped out at me right away, given what I have previously studied (filamentous algae). Algae turf cover was least with only phosphate enrichment, It was at its highest (and a lot higher than expected) with equal enrichment with nitrate and phosphate and lower, yet still high, with just nitrogen enrichment. Also of note was the findings that single sources of pollution are cause for greater loss of diversity whereas previous studys seem to be stuck on the two nutrients being together. If I read that correctly that is. Chuck
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Right - and brown algae, now dominant space competitors on Caribbean reefs (Dictyota, Lobophora, Padina) in low nutrients. Why? Lack of herbivory (overfishing and Diadema loss) and increased space availability (dead and dying corals).
My colleague noted that fifteen years ago he did surveys in an area just offshore a tuna canning plant's effluent and found corals being smothered by abundant and very tall Enteromorpha. Nitrogen rich, the green alga flourished.
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