2022 journal article

Simulated response of St. Joseph Bay, Florida, seagrass meadows and their belowground carbon to anthropogenic and climate impacts

MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH, 179.

By: M. Lebrasse  n, B. Schaeffer*, R. Zimmerman *, V. Hill *, M. Coffer *, P. Whitman *, W. Salls *, D. Graybill *, C. Osburn n 

author keywords: Seagrass; Climate; Water quality; GrassLight; Submerged aquatic vegetation
MeSH headings : Bays; Carbon; Chlorophyll A; Ecosystem; Florida; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Seawater
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
13. Climate Action (Web of Science)
14. Life Below Water (Web of Science; OpenAlex)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: September 26, 2022

Seagrass meadows are degraded globally and continue to decline in areal extent due to human pressures and climate change. This study used the bio-optical model GrassLight to explore the impact of climate change and anthropogenic stressors on seagrass extent, leaf area index (LAI) and belowground organic carbon (BGC) in St. Joseph Bay, Florida, using water quality data and remotely-sensed sea surface temperature (SST) from 2002 to 2020. Model predictions were compared with satellite-derived measurements of seagrass extent and shoot density from the Landsat images for the same period. The GrassLight-derived area of potential seagrass habitat ranged from 36.2 km