Intertidal and Subtidal Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) Transplant Studies in San Diego Bay, California.
Abstract
Seagrass beds are frequently impacted by shallow water marine construction projects. A variety of seagrass transplant methods have been developed with varying degrees of success. Few studies however, have developed methods that are economical or applicable to large scale subtidal and intertidal transplants (i.e., greater than 0.5 hectare). This paper describes the development of a rapid and successful method of revegetating large areas using plugs of vegetative stock transplanted in biodegradable fiber pots. The use of fiber pots improves success by keeping the root-thizome-substrate complex intact, reducing damage during handling, providing a substrate for anaerobic sediment bacteria, and reducing the initial loss of transplants resulting from erosion. A 2.5 year pilot study involving a transplant of 46.5 sq m of subtidal vegetative stock demonstrated success of: 46% for 1,331 sq cm plugs, 35% for 410 sq cm plugs and less than 7% for 182 sq cm plugs. After 1.5 years, the number of emergent rhizomes from the two largest plugs sizes (i.e., 5.5 for 1,331 sq cm plugs and 6.3 for 410 sq cm plugs) were not significantly different (p<0.001). Based upon these findings a larger transplant project was conducted in March 1978 to vegetate approximately 1.62 hectares (i.e., 0.93 subtidal and 0.69 intertidal hectare) of recently deposited dredge material in San Diego Bay. The transplant utilized 12,000 plugs (324 sq cm ) planted on 0.6m centers in rows 1m apart and required 4,500 man hours. Transplant success after 7 months (one growing season) varied from 10-70% depending upon transplant site.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA084542
Entities
People
- H. W. Goforth Jr.
- T. J. Peeling