Macrophyte-epiphyte biomass and productivity in an eelgrass ( Zostera marina L.) community

Abstract

The biomass, productivity ( 14C), and photosynthetic response to light and temperature of eelgrass, Zostera marina L. and its epiphytes was measured in a shallow estuarine system near Beaufort, North Carolina, during 1974. The maximum of the biomass (above-ground) was measured in March; this was followed by a general decline throughout the rest of the year. The average biomass was 105.0 g dry wt m −2; 80.3 g dry wt m −2 was eelgrass and 24.7 g dry wt m −2 was epiphytes. The productivity of eelgrass averaged 0.88 mg C g −1 h −1 which was similar to that of the epiphytes, 0.65 mg C g −1 h −1. Eelgrass and epiphyte productivity was low during the spring and early summer, gave a maximum during late summer and fall, and declined during the winter; this progression was probably due to environmental factors associated with tidal heights. On an areal basis, the average annual productivity was 0.9 g C m −2 day −1 for eelgrass and 0.2 g C m −2 day −1 for the epiphytes. Rates of photosynthesis of both eelgrass and epiphytes increased with increasing temperature to an asymptotic value at which the system was light saturated. Both eelgrass and epiphytes had a temperature optimum of < 29 °C. A negative response to higher temperatures was also reflected in biomass measurements which showed the destruction of eelgrass with increasing summer temperatures. The data suggest that the primary productivity cycles of macrophytes and epiphytes are closely interrelated.