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Structure of major seagrass beds from three coral reef atolls of Lakshadweep, Arabian Sea, India

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title Structure of major seagrass beds from three coral reef atolls of Lakshadweep, Arabian Sea, India
 
Creator Jagtap, T.G.
 
Subject sea grass
biomass
ecology
epiphytes
sediments
associated species
dominant species
Thalassia hemprichii
Cymodocea rotundata
Melobesia
Microcoleus lyngbyaceus
Ceramium
 
Description Detritus-based marine ecosystems such as mangrove and seagrass are of immense ecological importance. Major seagrass meadows from three coral atolls of the Lakshadweep group (Arabian Sea) were studied for their floral components. Seagrass beds were heterogeneous, comprising mainly of Thalassia hemprichii) and Cymodocea rotundata) , in Agatti and Kavaratti and it was observed to be monospecific (T. hemprichii) in the Kalpeni lagoon. Maximum (0.34 km sup(2)) and minimum (0.005 km sup(2)) extent of seagrass beds were observed in Kavaratti and Agatti lagoons, respectively. Seagrass weight (dry) of 43.97, 30.88 and 0.74 t were estimated from Kavaratti, Kalpeni, and Agatti, respectively. Maximum biomass occurred from 0-2 m depth, mainly contributed by the above ground shoots, and was found to be negatively correlated with depth (r = 0.71, p less than 0.05). Sediments were devoid of seed reserves indicating seagrass growth mainly by vegetative propagation. Epiphytes, on an average, contributed 7.5% of the seagrass biomass and were dominated by algae such as Melobesia spp. Microcoleus lyngbyaceus and Ceramium spp. Epiphytic biomass, too, decreased with increasing depth. Associated marine algae were represented by 66 species, dominated by rhodophytes
 
Date 2009-01-11T11:51:28Z
2009-01-11T11:51:28Z
1998
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Aquatic Botany, Vol.60; 397-408p.
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/1893
 
Language en
 
Rights Copyright [1998]. All efforts have been made to respect the copyright to the best of our knowledge. Inadvertent omissions, if brought to our notice, stand for correction and withdrawal of document from this repository.
 
Publisher Elsevier