Spatio-temporal variability of nitrogen in leaves of Thalassia testudinum in the Mexican Caribbean
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37543/oceanides.v38i2.291Keywords:
Pasto de tortuga, Puerto Morelos, sargazo pelágico, arribazonesAbstract
Nitrogen is an essential and limiting nutrient for marine primary producers, under a delicate balance in oligotrophic environments i.e. Mexican Caribbean. The tourist and urban development of the Mexican Caribbean and now, the massive arrivals of pelagic sargassum, are identified as nitrogen sources that can alter the oligotrophic conditions of the reef lagoons of the Mexican Caribbean. The objective of the present work was to quantify the elemental nitrogen content in the leaves of turtle grass Thalassia testudinum under a scenario of diverse nitrogen sources to determine the possible contribution of these sources to turtle grass in the period from 1991 to 2019 in Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo. The average nitrogen content was 1.84±0.22% with a minimum of 1.71% and a maximum of 2.20%. This value was very similar to the range established for other coastal lagoons where this seagrass is present. In the period from 1991 to 2019, the leaves of T. testudinum showed no evidence of nitrogen enrichment, except for the period from 2014 to 2016, under a scenario of pelagic sargassum influx or intense grazing by sea turtles. Nitrogen content was within the nitrogen limit for growth, during the massive sargassum influx from 2018 to 2019, implying stress to the seagrass under a poor-quality marine environment.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Alberto Sanchez Gonzalez, Ma. Concepción Ortiz-Hernández, Dilian Noemi Anguas- Cabrera, Joan Alberto Sánchez-Sánchez
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