Seagrass shoot density and benthic chlorophyll density from the Seagrass Recovery Experiment, South Bay, VA 2020-2022

To understand intra-meadow stability, the Seagrass Recovery Experiment was designed to ask 1) is recovery faster at sites with less thermal stress owing to greater exchange with cooler oceanic water at the meadow edge? 2) what is the shape of recovery? and 3) what are the recovery mechanisms? To conduct this experiment, aboveground seagrass biomass was removed from 28.3 m2 plots within the interior and along an edge of a restored seagrass meadow in South Bay, VA. Sites 1-3 correspond to the meadow interior while sites 4-6 correspond to the northern edge. Each site was comprised of a control (i.e., C) where no seagrass was disturbed and a treatment (i.e., T) where seagrass was removed (n = 12 sites total, e.g., 1C, 1T, 2C...). This dataset includes monthly seagrass shoot counts between June-October 2020, May-October 2021, and April-October 2022. To further characterize differences between the meadow interior and edge, benthic chlorophyll samples were also collected.

为探究海草床（seagrass meadow）内部的群落稳定性，本研究设计了海草恢复实验，旨在回答以下三个问题：1）相较于海草床边缘与较冷水域交换更强的区域，热胁迫（thermal stress）更低的位点是否具备更快的恢复速度？2）恢复过程的形态特征如何？3）恢复的潜在机制是什么？为开展本实验，研究人员于美国弗吉尼亚州南湾一处修复后海草床的内部及边缘区域，在28.3平方米的样地中移除了地上海草生物量（aboveground seagrass biomass）。其中位点1至3对应海草床内部区域，位点4至6对应北部边缘区域。每个位点均设置对照组（标记为C，未对海草进行扰动）与处理组（标记为T，移除海草），共计12个样点（例如1C、1T、2C等）。本数据集包含2020年6月至10月、2021年5月至10月以及2022年4月至10月期间的月度海草茎枝计数（seagrass shoot counts）数据。为进一步表征海草床内部与边缘区域的生态差异，研究团队同时采集了底栖叶绿素（benthic chlorophyll）样本。