Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS37 Linking Dynamic Temporal Processes with Spatial Domains (Spatial and Temporal Connections)

Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2001, Time: 2:30:00 PM

Location: San Miguel

Palacios, S, L, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, USA, spalacios@mlml.calstate.edu

Zimmerman, R, C, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, USA, rzimmer197@aol.com

COMBINING COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTIVITY AND GIS MODELING APPROACHES TO ASSESS FACTORS LIMITING SEAGRASS DISTRIBUTION

We coupled a bio-optical model of photosynthesis and carbon gain to a Geographic Information System (GIS) visualization tool to predict spatial distribution of Zostera marina (eelgrass) in a turbid, light limited estuary at Elkhorn Slough, CA. Combining the two approaches yielded seagrass distribution maps that were immediately useful for validation of the bio-optical model against field data. The combined methods also allowed us to evaluate how seagrass distributions and system-wide productivity might change under different water clarity regimes. When we applied the method to a non-light limited environment at Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas, predicted seagrass distribution maps overestimated observed seagrass densities in many areas, suggesting other factors such as water motion and sediment geochemistry control seagrass density. Spatial visualization of predictions made by this combined approach provides a useful means for conveying complex processes in a readily understandable form to resource managers, policy decision makers, and other applied disciplines.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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