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Quantification of epiphyte biomass accumulation on artificial seagrass leaves in Culebra, Puerto Rico

Published by Office for Coastal Management | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 02, 2026 at 11:49 PM | Dataset Last Updated: January 01, 2025 at 12:00 AM
This record provides estimates of epiphyte biomass accumulation on artificial seagrass leaves at 13 monitoring stations in Ensenada Honda and Puerto Manglar in the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico. Currently the island of Culebra is implementing a ridge-to reef-monitoring to assess Land-based sources of pollution (LBSP) mitigation success and identifying adaptive management needs. The goal of this study was to test whether metrics of epiphyte load accumulation on seagrass leaves can be used as a biological response indicator for nutrient impacts on Culebra's nearshore habitats. More specifically identify the presence of spatial patterns and examine potential linkages with nearshore water quality conditions in locations where upland watershed restoration interventions have been implemented vs. locations where no interventions have been conducted. Artificial seagrass installations were deployed at 13 nearshore fixed monitoring stations downstream from select coastal watershed drainage delivery points, and co-located with water quality, sediment trap, and seagrass monitoring stations. These sites were selected to represent: 1) Repeat locations where nearshore water quality and sedimentation are being monitored. 2) Repeat locations previously sampled in 2014 for water quality and seagrass community status assessment. Epiphyte accumulation was quantified on artificial seagrass following the methods outlined in Virnstein & Curran (1986) with slight modifications At each monitoring station three replicate shoots containing 6 blades each (2 each, approx. length: ~23cm, ~13cm, and ~8cm; approx. width: ~1cm) attached to plastic augers were deployed. Augers were inserted into the substrate and anchored to existing (previously installed) rebar markers. The experiment was run twice and installations remained underwater for 60–90 days: 1) 7 Aug, 2023–7 Nov, 2023; and 2) 11 Dec, 2023–5 Feb, 2024. Recovered artificial leaves were carefully rinsed in fresh water to remove salt, gently scraped with a blade, and scraped material dried at 60 degrees celcius to constant weight. Artificial leaf dimensions were measured to the nearest 0.5 mm and the quadrangular (rectangle / trapezoid) leaf surface area was estimated accordingly. Recovered shoots that were frayed or tattered were discarded and excluded from analyses. Mean epiphyte biomass accumulation was computed in mg/cm2/day

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EARTH SCIENCE EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > PLANTS EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > PLANTS > MACROALGAE (SEAWEEDS) EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > COMMUNITY DYNAMICS EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > COMMUNITY DYNAMICS > COMMUNITY STRUCTURE EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > ANTHROPOGENIC/HUMAN INFLUENCED ECOSYSTEMS EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS

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@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "Vandiver, Lisa",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:lisa.vandiver@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description This record provides estimates of epiphyte biomass accumulation on artificial seagrass leaves at 13 monitoring stations in Ensenada Honda and Puerto Manglar in the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico. Currently the island of Culebra is implementing a ridge-to reef-monitoring to assess Land-based sources of pollution (LBSP) mitigation success and identifying adaptive management needs. The goal of this study was to test whether metrics of epiphyte load accumulation on seagrass leaves can be used as a biological response indicator for nutrient impacts on Culebra's nearshore habitats. More specifically identify the presence of spatial patterns and examine potential linkages with nearshore water quality conditions in locations where upland watershed restoration interventions have been implemented vs. locations where no interventions have been conducted. Artificial seagrass installations were deployed at 13 nearshore fixed monitoring stations downstream from select coastal watershed drainage delivery points, and co-located with water quality, sediment trap, and seagrass monitoring stations. These sites were selected to represent: 1) Repeat locations where nearshore water quality and sedimentation are being monitored. 2) Repeat locations previously sampled in 2014 for water quality and seagrass community status assessment. Epiphyte accumulation was quantified on artificial seagrass following the methods outlined in Virnstein & Curran (1986) with slight modifications At each monitoring station three replicate shoots containing 6 blades each (2 each, approx. length: ~23cm, ~13cm, and ~8cm; approx. width: ~1cm) attached to plastic augers were deployed. Augers were inserted into the substrate and anchored to existing (previously installed) rebar markers. The experiment was run twice and installations remained underwater for 60–90 days: 1) 7 Aug, 2023–7 Nov, 2023; and 2) 11 Dec, 2023–5 Feb, 2024. Recovered artificial leaves were carefully rinsed in fresh water to remove salt, gently scraped with a blade, and scraped material dried at 60 degrees celcius to constant weight. Artificial leaf dimensions were measured to the nearest 0.5 mm and the quadrangular (rectangle / trapezoid) leaf surface area was estimated accordingly. Recovered shoots that were frayed or tattered were discarded and excluded from analyses. Mean epiphyte biomass accumulation was computed in mg/cm2/day
distribution 
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Culebra epiphyte biomass accumulation on artificial seagrass",
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/nos/ocm/iso/xml/76340.xml
issued 2025-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "EARTH SCIENCE",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > PLANTS",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > PLANTS > MACROALGAE (SEAWEEDS)",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > COMMUNITY DYNAMICS",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > COMMUNITY DYNAMICS > COMMUNITY STRUCTURE",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > ANTHROPOGENIC/HUMAN INFLUENCED ECOSYSTEMS",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > COASTAL",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > COASTAL > SAV/SEA GRASS BED",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > ESTUARY > SAV/SEA GRASS BED",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > VEGETATION",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > VEGETATION > MACROPHYTES",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > HUMAN DIMENSIONS > HABITAT CONVERSION/FRAGMENTATION > REFORESTATION/REVEGETATION",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > COASTAL PROCESSES > ESTUARIES",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > MARINE ENVIRONMENT MONITORING",
  "Water Oceans and Coasts Theme",
  "Decadal",
  "CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > CENTRAL AMERICA",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > CARIBBEAN SEA > PUERTO RICO",
  "10 meters - < 30 meters",
  "MISCELLANEOUS Gear > Diving",
  "Data Analysis",
  "Data Collections",
  "ZODIACS",
  "Land-based sources of pollution",
  "NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program",
  "NOAA Restoration Center",
  "Seagrass epiphytes",
  "Seagrasses",
  "Culebra Island",
  "Ensenada Honda",
  "Nearshore",
  "Puerto Manglar",
  "Biomass",
  "Quadrats",
  "Scuba",
  "Small boat",
  "DOC/NOAA/NOS/OCM > Office of Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "CaribbeanRegion"
]
landingPage https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/76340
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2025-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "Office for Coastal Management",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
rights otherRestrictions, unclassified
spatial -65.24444444444,18.28861111111,-65.30833333333,18.31388888889
temporal 2023-08-01T00:00:00+00:00/2024-02-01T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title Quantification of epiphyte biomass accumulation on artificial seagrass leaves in Culebra, Puerto Rico

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