Courage under fire: seagrass persistence adjacent to a highly urbanised city-state

Siti Maryam Yaakub; Len J McKenzie; Paul L A Erftemeijer; Tjeerd Bouma; Peter A Todd

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.012

Courage under fire: seagrass persistence adjacent to a highly urbanised city-state

Mar Pollut Bull. 2014 Jun 30;83(2):417-24. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.012. Epub 2014 Feb 6.

Authors

Siti Maryam Yaakub¹, Len J McKenzie², Paul L A Erftemeijer³, Tjeerd Bouma⁴, Peter A Todd⁵

Affiliations

¹ Experimental Marine Ecology Laboratory, National University of Singapore, Blk S3 Level 2, Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; Singapore-Delft Water Alliance, National University of Singapore, Blk E1 Engineering Drive 2, #08-25, Singapore 117567, Singapore; Tropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore, 18 Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119227, Singapore.
² Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University, P.O. Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia.
³ The UWA Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, 6009 Crawley, WA, Australia; Sinclair Knight Merz, P.O. Box H615, Perth, WA 6001, Australia.
⁴ Singapore-Delft Water Alliance, National University of Singapore, Blk E1 Engineering Drive 2, #08-25, Singapore 117567, Singapore; Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Korringaweg 7, 4401 NT Yerseke, The Netherlands.
⁵ Experimental Marine Ecology Laboratory, National University of Singapore, Blk S3 Level 2, Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; Singapore-Delft Water Alliance, National University of Singapore, Blk E1 Engineering Drive 2, #08-25, Singapore 117567, Singapore; Tropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore, 18 Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119227, Singapore. Electronic address: dbspat@nus.edu.sg.

PMID: 24508045
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.012

Abstract

Due to increasing development Southeast Asia's coastlines are undergoing massive changes, but the associated impacts on marine habitats are poorly known. Singapore, a densely populated island city-state, is a quintessential example of coastal modification that has resulted in the (hitherto undocumented) loss of seagrass. We reconstructed the historic extent and diversity of local seagrass meadows through herbarium records and backwards extrapolation from contemporary seagrass locations. We also determined the current status of seagrass meadows using long-term monitoring data and identified the main threats to their presence in Singapore. Results show that, even though ∼45% of seagrass has been lost during the last five decades, species diversity remains stable. The main cause of seagrass loss was, and continues to be, land reclamation. We conclude that strict controls on terrestrial runoff and pollution have made it possible for seagrass to persist adjacent to this highly urbanised city-state.

Keywords: Coastal modification; Historical distribution; Long-term monitoring; Singapore.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Alismatales / physiology*
Cities*
Conservation of Natural Resources
Ecosystem*
Population Dynamics