Abstract
Aquatic macrophytes drive sediment stoichiometry and the suspended particulate organic carbon composition of a tropical coastal lagoon
Highlights
Coastal lagoons are among the most productive aquatic environments in the planet with primary production close to estuaries (Knoppers, 1994)
The advances in stoichiometric theory strongly suggest that high C:P and C:N ratios in consumers impose a nutritional constraint on growth (Hessen, 1992; Elser, 2000), such that the stoichiometric ratio in their food resource may be related to their growth rate. These findings demonstrate the importance of aquatic macrophytes at multiple time scales to the detritus food chain and their importance as a supply of dissolved (DOM) and particulate organic matter (POM), the latter being quite important to the chemical composition of the sediment
Nitrogen concentration in the sediment was significantly higher at the T. domingensis and E. interstincta stands than the limnetic region (1.21, 1.04 and 0.08 mmolN.g-1, respectively) KW statistic = 16.417, p = 0.0009; Dunn’s test p < 0.05 e p < 0.01, respectively
Summary
Coastal lagoons are among the most productive aquatic environments in the planet with primary production close to estuaries (Knoppers, 1994). They are usually shallow and have a high proportion of shoreline relative to area and volume, which suggests that their littoral zone is very important to ecosystem dynamics (Panosso et al, 1998). This compartment may become really important once large stands of aquatic macrophytes get established.
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