El pasto marino Ruppia maritima en la laguna costera Mar Chiquita. (“The seagrass Ruppia maritima in the coastal lagoon Mar Chiquita

BORTOLUS A

Reserva de Biosfera Mar Chiquita: Características físicas, biológicas y ecológicas.

Martin

Lugar: Mar del Plata; Año: 2001; p. 89 - 91

the seagrass R. maritima was recently recorded in Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon (Argentina). This organism populates open areas with shallow estuarine waters within the lagoon, afecting their geomorphology, and the structure of the native community. R. maritima increase the sedimentation and offers shelter to many benthic organisms. Seagrass patches are strongly related with the spatial distribution of many herbivore birds. Waterfoul affect seagrass production in a short time by eating them, and they also affetc the spatial distribution of the associated epi- and infauna by inducing changes in the proportion of above- and bellowground structures of the plants. Since this R. maritima could be considered as an exotic invasive species for Argentinean coasts, more effort should be focused on the study of its ecology in the SW Atlantic coasts.