Marine Biology 9th Edition by Michael Huber,Peter Castro

Exercise 2

Eelgrass communities in Europe and the eastern coast of North America were severely affected by wasting disease in the 1930s, which caused many eelgrass beds to disappear. What changes would you expect to take place if an eelgrass community vanishes from a given area? Consider changes to the substrate, the benthos, and other types of marine animals. Are there any possible changes among animals living on land? What type of community do you think replaced the eelgrass communities after they disappeared?