Epiphyte load and seagrass performance are decoupled in an estuary with low eutrophication risk

In many experimental studies, microalgal epiphytes on seagrasses have been augmented by adding nutrients or reducing grazers. Typically, seagrasses suffer as a result, as shown by negative slopes in the summary graph. In this study, microalgal epiphytes were removed from eelgrass (Z. marina) by direct manipulation in the field. Treatments spanned a range of epiphyte loads but did not reveal evidence of competition from microalgal epiphytes in the Willapa Bay, Washington, a site of low eutrophication risk and rapid eelgrass leaf turnover.330