Seagrass Photosynthesis

Like land plants seagrass produce oxygen.

Seagrass photosynthesis.

The role of shoot photosynthesis as a means of supporting aerobic respiration in the roots of the seagrass zostera marina was examined. Seagrasses are known as the lungs of the sea because one square meter of seagrass can generate 10 liters of oxygen every day through photosynthesis. Of the 60 species of seagrass found worldwide seven grow in florida waters. The rates of photosynthesis of the seagrass syringodium isoetifolium aschers dandy were measured by a gas release technique with whole shoots incubated in the field.

Seagrasses also need an adequate supply of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and stable sediments in which to grow. The seasonal light patterns in which the quantum irradiance exceeded the light compensation point h comp and light saturation point h sat for eelgrass photosynthesis were determined. The highest rates of transport were in shoots possessing the greatest biomass and leaf area. Greater than 95 of the variation of the photosynthetic data could be accommodated by the photosythesis irradiance pi model presented here.

However they cannot produce enough to support the living cells in roots and rhizomes so seagrasses absorb additional oxygen from the surrounding water. O 2 was transported rapidly 10 15 minutes from the shoots to the root rhizome tissues upon shoot illumination. The relationships between light regime photosynthesis growth and depth distribution of a temperate seagrass zostera marina l. Footage captured at a sea grass bed in the bahamas june 2012.

Applications advantages and disadvantages of the most common methods used in seagrass photosynthesis and community metabolism studies aquat biol 7. Light is required for the plants to make food through photosynthesis. Like all autotrophic plants seagrasses photosynthesize in the submerged photic zone and most occur in shallow and sheltered coastal waters. The name seagrass stems from the many species with long and narrow leaves which grow by rhizome extension and often spread across large meadows resembling grassland.

Many species superficially resemble terrestrial grasses of the family poaceae. Through photosynthesis seagrasses also generate oxygen. Eelgrass were investigated in a subtidal eelgrass meadow near woods hole ma. The role of shoot photosynthesis as a means of supporting aerobic respiration in the roots of the seagrass zostera marina was examined.