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Seagrass Stable Isotope Composition Provides Seascape-Scale Tracking of Anthropogenic Nitrogen Inputs in a Tropical Marine Lagoon

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Abstract

Anthropogenic nutrient loading has led to declines in the function and productivity of some tropical coastal ecosystems. We use the seagrass Thalassia testudinum as a sentinel for tracing nutrient inputs and movements in Ambergris Caye Lagoon, Belize, a region heavily dependent on ecotourism and in the process of expanding its network of marine protected areas. Seagrass samples were collected at stations distributed along a 24-km section of the lagoon, with stations bracketing the urban center of San Pedro. Leaf tissue carbon/nitrogen (C:N) stoichiometry, stable isotope composition (δ13C, δ15N), and epiphyte load (mg cm−2) were analyzed relative to spatial location and proximate land use conditions. Seagrass tissues showed a modal pattern in δ15N composition along the north–south axis of the lagoon, with maximum average values (1.5 ± 1.1 ‰ [SD]), occurring adjacent to or slightly down-current of the most urbanized areas of San Pedro (range = −3.0–3.7 ‰). Offshore seagrasses were enriched in δ13C relative to inshore areas, but there was no consistent relationship with adjacent land use. Tissue C:N and epiphyte load (mg cm−2) decreased monotonically from south to north, declining from average values of 25.3 to 19.2 (C:N) and from 4.2 to 0.8 mg cm−2 (epiphyte load). Impervious surface cover adjacent to lagoon sites was positively related to δ15N values (parameter estimate ± SE = 0.80 ± 0.36) but negatively related to tissue C:N (−2.78 ± 0.65) and epiphyte load (−1.04 ± 0.33). Isoscapes of spatially interpolated isotope values highlighted the location and potential sources of nutrient input to the lagoon, some of which occurred within marine protected areas. These results support the application of seagrass tissue stable isotope composition analysis as a low-cost and time-integrated means of tracing nutrient inputs in some naturally oligotrophic ecosystems. Spatially explicit information on nutrient inputs is vital for natural resource managers and land-use planners to identify, mitigate, and control sources of anthropogenic eutrophication in tropical coastal ecosystems such as Ambergris Caye Lagoon.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Britany Clark, Maureen Mattes, Gail Hatfield, Herb Moore, Gabriela Zabel, Carolin McManus, Zachary Mattes, Cameron Allen, and Cedric Magen for their assistance with logistics, field collections, and stable isotope analysis.

Funding

RJW was partially funded by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and the College of Southern Maryland (CSM). TM and DMQ received travel awards from CSM. This is the UMCES contribution # 6114.

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  1. Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Univ. Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Solomons, MD, 20688, USA

    Theresa E. Murphy, Joseph T. Molina, Danielle M. Quill & Ryan J. Woodland

  2. College of Southern Maryland, La Plata, MD, 20646, USA

    Theresa E. Murphy & Paul A. Billeter

  3. Tropical Research and Education Center, San Pedro, Belize

    Kenneth Mattes

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Murphy, T.E., Molina, J.T., Quill, D.M. et al. Seagrass Stable Isotope Composition Provides Seascape-Scale Tracking of Anthropogenic Nitrogen Inputs in a Tropical Marine Lagoon. Estuaries and Coasts 45, 1999–2011 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-022-01058-w

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