[Coral-List] sargassum in mangroves

[Goodbody, Ivan]

Marie,
I did not see postings on the Sargassum event prior to yours so what follows may no longer be relevant.
At Twin Cays iin Belize   we encountered large masses of Sargassum drifting into the Main Channel where it was forced by wind action against the  shore-line. Wave action and.or the wash from passing boats  carried the masss of weeds up and down against the hanging Rhizophora roots thereby damaging sessile communities growing on the roots.Soft bodied organisms such as sponges and colony forming ascidians were particularly affected. This event has been documented in a paper by Klaus Rutzler et al. "The Aquatic Environment of Twin Cays, Belize" (2004) Atoll Research BulletinNo. 512p.32


IVAN GOODBODY
Emeritus Professor of Zoology. University of the West Indies
and Honorary Reearch Fellow, University of Aberdeen
e-mail i.goodbody at abdn.ac.uk<mailto:i.goodbody at abdn.ac.uk>


The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683..