UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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    Water Flow and Sediment Texture as Co-Varying Submersed Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Habitat Requirements
    (2013) Swerida, Rebecca M.; Koch, Evamaria W; Sanford, Lawrence P; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study examined the importance of water flow and sediment texture as co-varying habitat parameters of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the Chesapeake Bay. An outdoor mesocosm experiment was conducted to test the response of SAV (Zostera marina and Ruppia maritima) to combinations of water flows and sediment grain sizes characterized by sediment deposition, bedload transport and erosion. Water flow, sediment and SAV characteristics were also determined at vegetated and adjacent unvegetated areas at 11 study sites and sediment motion conditions assessed. Greater SAV biomass was developed by Z. marina and R. maritima experiencing sediment motion than sediment deposition. Although habitat parameter thresholds in situ were site-specific, overall SAV presence was limited to moderate ranges of both water flow and sediment grain size. All SAV habitat observed was characterized by sediment bedload transport. Consideration of both water flow and sediment habitat requirements will improve SAV restoration success.