Structure and functioning of the benthic communities associated with macrophytes meadows in the Gulf of Gdańsk = Struktura i funkcjonowanie zespołów bentosowych związanychz łąkami makrofitów w Zatoce Gdańskiej
Jankowska, E.K. (2017). Structure and functioning of the benthic communities associated with macrophytes meadows in the Gulf of Gdańsk = Struktura i funkcjonowanie zespołów bentosowych związanychz łąkami makrofitów w Zatoce Gdańskiej. PhD Thesis. Instytut Oceanologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk: Sopot. 142 pp.
Seagrass meadows are among the most diverse and productive coastal ecosystems in the world. Seagrass plants are habitat builders by forming a dense three-dimensional structures and ecosystem engineers as they can modify the availability of resources for other organisms. Seagrass vegetated sediments often support enhanced biodiversity, biomass of benthic organisms and food webs fuelled by larger number of food sources, compared to the neighbouring unvegetated systems. Nowadays, in the era of global warming, seagrass meadows play an important function of the effective carbon storages ("blue carbon sinks"). The dissertation is based on studies conducted in the southern Baltic Sea (the Gulf of Gdańsk), where a dramatic reduction in Zostera marina meadows area occurred between 70s and 80s of the last century. Recently, a natural recovery of eelgrass habitats in this area is observed. The aim of the present dissertation is to investigate if and how the recovering eelgrass meadows affect the functioning of the benthic systems in the Gulf of Gdańsk. The seagrass meadows in the Gulf of Gdańsk remain at relatively low densities and biomass, whereas the benthic fauna communities are characterized by low biodiversity. Thus the Gulf of Gdańsk study gives the opportunity to compare the obtained results with those from stable seagrass systems with better developed vegetation and regions with higher diversity of benthic fauna. It will help to understand the effects of the meadow development on its ability to modify the functioning of the seabed in coastal areas.
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