Flow and epiphyte growth effects on the thermal, optical and chemical microenvironment in the leaf phyllosphere of seagrass (Zostera marina).

ABSTRACT: Intensified coastal eutrophication can result in an overgrowth of seagrass leaves by epiphytes, which is a major threat to seagrass habitats worldwide, but little is known about how epiphytic biofilms affect the seagrass phyllosphere. The physico-chemical microenvironment of Zostera marina L. leaves with and without epiphytes was mapped with electrochemical, thermocouple and scalar irradiance microsensors as a function of four irradiance conditions (dark, low, saturating and high light) and two water flow velocities (approx. 0.5 and 5 cm s^-1), which resemble field conditions. The presence of epiphytes led to the build up of a diffusive boundary layer and a thermal boundary layer which impeded O₂ and heat transfer between the leaf surface and the surrounding wat

SUBMITTER: Noisette F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7653392 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature