Testing the efficacy of a seagrass nutrient pollution indicator in native and invasive seagrasses in the Bahia de Jobos NERR, Puerto Rico
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Marine angiosperms, collectively known as seagrasses, are a foundation of healthy marine ecosystems and provide important ecosystem services. Seagrasses are often considered sentinel species for nutrient pollution because they are long term integrators of environmental conditions, including nutrient levels (C, N & P). Additionally, in some areas including the Caribbean, colonization by non-native seagrasses H. stipulacea out-competes native Caribbean seagrass species, negatively impacts fish diversity, and reduces feeding grounds for green sea turtles, an Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species. The goals of this project are to evaluate the efficacy of a seagrass Nutrient Pollution Indicator (NPI) as an early warning of nutrient impairment for tropical seagrasses and to evaluate the relationship between shoot density of three native and one invasive seagrass species and nutrients using nitrogen stable isotopes δ15N. We collected seagrass samples from Bahia de Jobos NERR, Guánica and Condado Lagoon in Puerto Rico. Sample analysis is ongoing at this time. This presentation is an outreach effort as part of an EPA with partners at San Juan NEP and Dept. De Recursos Naturales Y Ambientales to evaluate how seagrasses may be used as an indicator of nutrient availability as well as how nutrient conditions may influence non-native seagrass colonization.