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Thesis
Relationship between Light Attenuation and Seagrass Cover in the Pensacola Bay System
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida
2025
Abstract
Seagrasses are important to the health of estuaries around the world, these grasses being keystone species for their environments. Water quality conditions controlling light availability such as phytoplankton biomass, total suspended solids, and the color of the water are important for understanding seagrass success. Six locations with seagrass beds of Halodule wrightii and Thalassia testudinum in the Pensacola Bay System were sampled monthly between May and October 2023, the growing season for seagrasses. Water quality data, irradiance and light attenuation, and seagrass coverage data were collected during each sampling event, to create simple linear regression models explaining how light attenuation (Kd) and seagrass coverage are influenced by environmental conditions. Throughout the study period seagrass cover increased and Kd varied between 0.3 /m and 1.8 /m. In regards to Kd, color was consistently found to have significant explanatory power, though site-specific dynamics were observed for chlorophyll a and salinity, with total suspended solids being consistently non-significant. Water depth was significantly related to the cover of Halodule wrightii and Thalassia testudinum, whereas the relationships with other variables were site specific. These results highlight the need for larger surveys with more opportunistic sampling (e.g. following rain events), as this may provide data with clearer relationships to Kd and seagrass cover. Surveys that extend to the deepwater edge of the seagrass beds should also be done in the future to provide a clearer picture of the changes in the beds.
Details
- Title
- Relationship between Light Attenuation and Seagrass Cover in the Pensacola Bay System
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- Jane M Caffrey (Committee Chair)Wade H Jeffrey (Committee Member)Sarah Tominack (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries; Argo Scholar Commons
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 86
- Copyright
- © 2025 Morgan Armstrong
- Identifiers
- 99381357279706600
- Academic Unit
- Biology
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Science (MS)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida