Assessing Faunal Community Composition in Newly Restored Seagrass Beds Across a Depth Gradient

Coastal ecosystems formed by foundation species act as important habitat for diverse faunal communities. As nursery areas, seagrasses enable the young in an ecosystem to escape high-mortality life stages faster than in other habitats. While seagrasses are important habitats for many fish, they are being lost, with rates of loss accelerating. Restoration efforts are increasing to combat this loss. Patch configuration plays an important role in restoration, with aggregated patches enhancing seagrass growth more than dispersed patches. Seagrass configuration may also impact the habitat provisioning provided to organisms utilizing seagrass as habitat. I propose to test if seagrass configuration of restored seagrass patches influences faunal community assembly and composition in Back Sound, North Carolina. I will restore the seagrass, Halodule wrightii, along a depth and wave energy gradient in two configurations, square and rectangular. All patches will have the same are, but differing edge to area ratios. I hypothesize species richness and faunal abundances will increase over time and be influenced by depth and wave energy which can influence the availability of fish recruits. I also hypothesize community composition will differ between configurations with species preferring seagrass edges or interiors more abundant in rectangular or square patches respectively.

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