2025/09/08 by Burmester, Annika, Cardenas, Stella, Nakamura, Ollie +1
#decapods #gastropods #habitat loss #rocky intertidal zone #seagrass (family Zosteraceae)
paper · doi:10.21973/n3837g
Human activities, including overfishing, coastal development, and pollution, significantly impact seagrass (family Zosteraceae) beds and meadows. Seagrass ecosystems are crucial for supporting highly biodiverse communities and providing vital ecosystem services. They are a feeding and breeding ground for grazers such as hermit crabs (order Decapoda), snails (order Gastropoda), and the generalist black turban snail (Tegula funebralis). In this study, we conducted a two-part investigation that included both an observational and experimental component to observe the effects of seagrass coverage on local grazing species, as well as to examine the small-scale and short-term effects of removing seagrass habitat. We believed we would find more abundant grazers in areas with higher seagrass coverage, as they rely on seagrass for habitat and food. We hypothesized that a loss of seagrass would cause grazers, and specifically black turban snails, to leave the plot area, meaning that human impact may displace important grazer species and disturb intertidal niches. However, we observed that with a higher percentage of seagrass coverage, there was a lower diversity of grazers on a medium scale. In our experimental plots, we found no effect of seagrass removal on the displacement of grazers or black turban snails found in the area. The findings of this study suggest that grazers may prefer external factors that are not massively influenced by seagrass presence and that seagrass loss on a smaller scale does not immediately influence grazer communities.