PANGAEA_992560
Seagrass morphological traits in Changuu Island (Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania) during a macrofauna exclusion and nutrient enrichment experiment
Moreira-Saporiti, Agustín; Teichberg, Mirta; O'Sullivan, Aoife
Seagrass morphological traits in Changuu Island (Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania) during a macrofauna exclusion and nutrient enrichment experiment
2026-04-13
PANGAEA
Dataset
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.992560
Investigator
Agustín
Moreira-Saporiti
am.saporiti@gmail.com
Earth Science
Event label
Sample code/label
Sampling date/time, experiment
Day of experiment
LATITUDE
LONGITUDE
Site
Station label
Experimental treatment
Treatment: nutrients
Species, unique identification
Sample type
Rhizome diameter
Sheath length
Leaf length, maximum
Leaf width, maximum
Type of study
geoscientificInformation
Changuu_C1_T0
Changuu_C1_T1
Changuu_C1_T2
Changuu_C1_T3
Changuu_C10_T0
Changuu_C10_T1
Changuu_C10_T2
Changuu_C10_T3
Changuu_C11_T0
Changuu_C11_T1
Changuu_C11_T2
Changuu_C11_T3
Changuu_C12_T0
Changuu_C12_T1
Changuu_C12_T2
Changuu_C12_T3
Changuu_C13_T0
Changuu_C13_T1
Changuu_C13_T2
Changuu_C13_T3
Changuu_C14_T0
Changuu_C14_T1
Changuu_C14_T2
Changuu_C14_T3
Changuu_C15_T0
Changuu_C15_T1
Changuu_C15_T2
Changuu_C15_T3
Changuu_C16_T0
Changuu_C16_T1
Changuu_C16_T2
Changuu_C16_T3
Changuu_C17_T0
Changuu_C17_T1
Changuu_C17_T2
Changuu_C17_T3
Changuu_C18_T0
Changuu_C18_T1
Changuu_C18_T2
Changuu_C18_T3
Changuu_C19_T0
Changuu_C19_T1
Changuu_C19_T2
Changuu_C19_T3
Changuu_C2_T0
Changuu_C2_T1
Changuu_C2_T2
Changuu_C2_T3
Changuu_C20_T0
Changuu_C20_T1
Changuu_C20_T2
Changuu_C20_T3
Changuu_C21_T0
Changuu_C21_T1
Changuu_C21_T2
Changuu_C21_T3
Changuu_C22_T0
Changuu_C22_T1
Changuu_C22_T2
Changuu_C22_T3
Changuu_C23_T0
Changuu_C23_T1
Changuu_C23_T2
Changuu_C23_T3
Changuu_C24_T0
Changuu_C24_T1
Changuu_C24_T2
Changuu_C24_T3
Changuu_C3_T0
Changuu_C3_T1
Changuu_C3_T2
Changuu_C3_T3
Changuu_C4_T0
Changuu_C4_T1
Changuu_C4_T2
Changuu_C4_T3
Changuu_C5_T0
Changuu_C5_T1
Changuu_C5_T2
Changuu_C5_T3
Changuu_C6_T0
Changuu_C6_T1
Changuu_C6_T2
Changuu_C6_T3
Changuu_C7_T0
Changuu_C7_T1
Changuu_C7_T2
Changuu_C7_T3
Changuu_C8_T0
Changuu_C8_T1
Changuu_C8_T2
Changuu_C8_T3
Changuu_C9_T0
Changuu_C9_T1
Changuu_C9_T2
Changuu_C9_T3
leaf
morphology
Sampling by hand
tropical seagrass
Western Indian Ocean
2017-07-19
2017-09-19
Complete
-6.118093
-6.117863
39.16728
39.167509
SEAMAC
Seagrass and Macroalgal Community Dynamics and Performance under Environmental Change
SEATRAIT
Seagrass Ecosystem Service Evaluation using a Trait-based Approach
unrestricted
CC-BY-4.0: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
English
PANGAEA
Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science
https://www.pangaea.de/
Data Center Contact
Michael
Diepenbroek
info@pangaea.de
Leobener Str.
Bremen
Bremen
28359
Germany
online
3748 data points
text/tab-separated-values
Moreira-Saporiti, Agustín; Teichberg, Mirta; O'Sullivan, Aoife (2026): Mesofauna density in seagrass meadows of Changuu Island (Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania) during nutrient enrichment and macrofauna exclusion experiment [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.992558
Seagrass morphological traits (leaf maximum length, leaf maximum width, sheath length and rhizome diameter) were measured during a nutrient enrichment and macrofauna exclusion experiment. A total of 24 plots were set up parallel to the shore, with presence of the three seagrass species (Syringodium isoetifolium, Thalassodendron ciliatum and Thalassia hemprichii) in each plot. The experiment was the factorial combination of two treatments: macrofauna exclusion using cages (three levels: open, closed and uncaged) and nutrient enrichment using garden NPK fertilizer (two levels: ambient and enriched). Each treatment combination was replicated four times. Exclusion treatment simulates the consequences for the food web of losing a top predators and macrograzers. Nutrient enrichment was simulated by issuing nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) [15:9:20] fertilizer pellets. NPK fertilizer fast release pellets were packed into cotton tubes and then into a perforated plastic tubes to simulate slow release of nutrients. The tubes were buried half-way into the sediment to ensure enrichment of both the water column and the sediment. Data was collected between July 19th and September 20th of 2017 in four sampling times. Day 0 (19.07.2017), Day 20 (09.08.2017), Day 38 (31.08.2017) and Day 63 (19.09.2017). Data collection and experiment took place in Changuu Island (Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania; 06˚11'S, 39˚16'E). Changu Island is located 3 km from Stone Town, Zanzibar's busiest town. Changuu remains relatively unaffected by nutrient runoff pollution. The study area is characterised by a fringing reef around a multi-specific seagrass ecosystem. The substrate is primarily carbonate sediment. Average water depth is approximately 30 cm at Spring Low and 5 m at Spring high tide with an average depth of 2 m. Seagrass morphological traits were measured to understand the morphological responses of the three seagrass species present in Changuu Island to the nutrient enrichment and macrofauna exclusion treatments. To determine the morphological responses of the seagrass species to the treatments, we measured traits linked to disturbance, and specifically nutrient enrichment and eutrophication. Three ramets of each species were collected per treatment plot and sampling time from the biomass cores used to determine seagrass biomass. One biomass core was taken per experimental plot, with a radius of 15cm. The morphological traits were measured once for each ramet collected. In the case of the traits measured at the shoot level, the biggest shoot was always selected to avoid the confounding effect of young and newly sprouted shoots. The traits measured were: Maximum leaf length (Leaf ML, cm), maximum leaf width (Leaf MW, cm; for S. isoetifolium, the maximum diameter of the leaf was measured), sheath length (SheathL, cm), and number of leaves per shoot (Leaves/Sh, leaves shoot -1) as indicators for changes in the aboveground structures. Rhizome diameter (RhD, cm) was measured as an indicator for changes in the belowground structures. The three values measured were then averaged per experimental plot. All the traits in length units were measured with a ruler to the nearest millimeter. ** For all details see the full metadata description at "https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.992560"!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_6709
LATITUDE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_6709
LONGITUDE
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.992558
Mesofauna density in seagrass meadows of Changuu Island (Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania) during nutrient enrichment and macrofauna exclusion experiment
https://www.leibniz-zmt.de/en/research/research-projects/seamac.html
SEAMAC
https://www.leibniz-zmt.de/en/research/research-projects/seatrait.html
SEATRAIT
DIF
9.4
2026-04-13
2026-04-14