Posidonia oceanica as a Source of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter for the Oligotrophic NW Mediterranean Coast
Type
ArticleAuthors
Iuculano, Francesca
Duarte, Carlos M.

Otero, Jaime
Álvarez-Salgado, Xosé Antón

Agusti, Susana

KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionMarine Science Program
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
Date
2020-11-12Submitted Date
2020-09-30Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/665975
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Show full item recordAbstract
Posidonia oceanica is a well-recognized source of dissolved organic matter (DOM) derived from exudation and leaching of seagrass leaves, but little is known about its impact on the chromophoric fraction of DOM (CDOM). In this study, we monitored for two years the optical properties of CDOM in two contrasting sites in the Mallorca Coast (Balearic Islands). One site was a rocky shore free of seagrass meadows, and the second site was characterized by the accumulation of non-living seagrass material in the form of banquettes. On average, the integrated color over the 250–600 nm range was almost 6-fold higher in the beach compared with the rocky shore. Furthermore, the shapes of the CDOM spectra in the two sites were also different. A short incubation experiment suggested that the spectral differences were due to leaching from P. oceanica leaf decomposition. Furthermore, occasionally the spectra of P. oceanica was distorted by a marked absorption increase at wavelength < 265 nm, presumably related to the release of hydrogen sulfide (HS−) associated with the anaerobic decomposition of seagrass leaves within the banquettes. Our results provide the first evidence that P. oceanica is a source of CDOM to the surrounding waters.Citation
Iuculano, F., Duarte, C. M., Otero, J., Álvarez-Salgado, X. A., & Agustí, S. (2020). Posidonia oceanica as a Source of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter for the Oligotrophic NW Mediterranean Coast. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 8(11), 911. doi:10.3390/jmse8110911Sponsors
This work is a contribution to the StressX project, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Innovation (MICINN CTM2012-32603). F.I. was supported by a fellowship from the “Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios” (JAE-preDOC program 2011) from Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).We thank J.C. Martinez, P. Carrillo de Albornoz, and M.J. Pazó for their help with sampling, Chl a, and for DOC measurements, respectively.
Publisher
MDPI AGAdditional Links
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/8/11/911ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.3390/jmse8110911
Scopus Count
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