Courage under fire: Seagrass persistence adjacent to a highly urbanised city-state

Siti Maryam Yaakub, Len J. McKenzie, Paul L.A. Erftemeijer, Tjeerd Bouma, Peter A. Todd*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Due to increasing development Southeast Asia's coastlines are undergoing massive changes, but the associated impacts on marine habitats are poorly known. Singapore, a densely populated island city-state, is a quintessential example of coastal modification that has resulted in the (hitherto undocumented) loss of seagrass. We reconstructed the historic extent and diversity of local seagrass meadows through herbarium records and backwards extrapolation from contemporary seagrass locations. We also determined the current status of seagrass meadows using long-term monitoring data and identified the main threats to their presence in Singapore. Results show that, even though ~45% of seagrass has been lost during the last five decades, species diversity remains stable. The main cause of seagrass loss was, and continues to be, land reclamation. We conclude that strict controls on terrestrial runoff and pollution have made it possible for seagrass to persist adjacent to this highly urbanised city-state.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)417-424
Number of pages8
JournalMarine Pollution Bulletin
Volume83
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Jun 2014

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank TeamSeaGrass volunteers for the use of their monitoring data and the National Parks Board for funding and support of TeamSeaGrass monitoring activities. Special thanks to Prof. C. den Hartog for the helpful discussions on seagrass in Singapore, Ms. Rachel Lim of the National Biodiversity Centre for rendering her awesome mapping skills, Ms. Samantha Lai for sharing data on Singapore’s land area, and Ms. Serena Lee and colleagues at the Singapore Herbarium for their assistance and patience. Many thanks to the interview respondents (especially Uncle Ronnie) who were very forthcoming with their historical knowledge. We also thank the participants of the Singapore Seagrass Workshop for sharing their knowledge and expertise in the Vulnerability Analysis for seagrass in Singapore. The Singapore Seagrass Workshop was funded by Singapore-Delft Water Alliance’s Marine & Coastal Research Programme (Theme 2): “Dredging and infrastructure development near critical marine ecosystems” (R-264-001-007-272). Supplementary mapping of seagrass meadows was conducted as part of the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey (CMBS).

Funding

The authors would like to thank TeamSeaGrass volunteers for the use of their monitoring data and the National Parks Board for funding and support of TeamSeaGrass monitoring activities. Special thanks to Prof. C. den Hartog for the helpful discussions on seagrass in Singapore, Ms. Rachel Lim of the National Biodiversity Centre for rendering her awesome mapping skills, Ms. Samantha Lai for sharing data on Singapore’s land area, and Ms. Serena Lee and colleagues at the Singapore Herbarium for their assistance and patience. Many thanks to the interview respondents (especially Uncle Ronnie) who were very forthcoming with their historical knowledge. We also thank the participants of the Singapore Seagrass Workshop for sharing their knowledge and expertise in the Vulnerability Analysis for seagrass in Singapore. The Singapore Seagrass Workshop was funded by Singapore-Delft Water Alliance’s Marine & Coastal Research Programme (Theme 2): “Dredging and infrastructure development near critical marine ecosystems” (R-264-001-007-272). Supplementary mapping of seagrass meadows was conducted as part of the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey (CMBS).

Keywords

  • Coastal modification
  • Historical distribution
  • Long-term monitoring
  • Singapore

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