Competing uses for nearshore coastal space, such as aquaculture, have complex environmental and ecological interactions with surrounding seagrass meadows. Oyster aquaculture is among the fastest-growing aquaculture segments in the United States, and it brings concerns such as increased sedimentation from farm maintenance operations and altered water quality through oyster filtration. Changes in seagrass coverage and growth are common indicators of ecological health used to determine anthropogenic impacts on nearshore environments. This study characterized the effects of a research-scale adjustable long-line oyster aquaculture system on the health of adjacent seagrass meadows in Copano Bay, TX. Four Halodule wrightii meadows were identified at various distances from the research site: 100 m upstream (upstream), directly adjacent (0 m), 30 m downstream (30 m), and 60 m downstream (60 m). Sites were monitored for 1) seagrass health, 2) water quality parameters, and 3) sediment deposition. Over the 18-week sampling period, no significant differences (p>0.05) were found for water quality variables or sediment grain-size analysis using a one-way ANOVA. A linear mixed-effects model was used for repeated measures of seagrass data, with no effect of the site found on mean seagrass length, coverage, or maximum length (p>0.05). These results suggest that seagrass health indicators were unaffected by proximity to the oyster system. It was concluded that an oyster research aquaculture system of the type and size at the project location had no major negative or positive impact on seagrass meadow health due to high background variability and the overall minor footprint of the oyster farm across a comparatively large spatial extent.

中文翻译：

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研究规模的牡蛎网箱养殖系统对美国德克萨斯州科帕诺湾沉积物运输、水质和海草草甸健康的短期影响


近岸沿海空间的竞争用途（例如水产养殖）与周围的海草草甸存在复杂的环境和生态相互作用。牡蛎养殖是美国增长最快的水产养殖领域之一，它带来了诸如农场维护操作导致沉积物增加和牡蛎过滤改变水质等问题。海草覆盖率和生长的变化是生态健康的常见指标，用于确定人为对近岸环境的影响。本研究描述了研究规模的可调节长线牡蛎养殖系统对德克萨斯州科帕诺湾邻近海草草甸健康的影响。在距研究地点不同距离的地方确定了四个 Halodule wrightii 草甸：上游 100 m（上游）、紧邻 （0 m）、下游 30 m （30 m） 和下游 60 m （60 m）。监测地点 1） 海草健康状况，2） 水质参数，以及 3） 沉积物沉积。在 18 周的采样期内，使用单因素方差分析的水质变量或沉积物粒度分析未发现显著差异 （p>0.05）。线性混合效应模型用于海草数据的重复测量，发现的地点对平均海草长度、覆盖率或最大长度没有影响 （p>0.05）。这些结果表明，海草健康指标不受靠近牡蛎系统的影响。得出的结论是，由于高背景变化和牡蛎养殖场在相对较大的空间范围内的整体占地面积，项目地点的类型和大小的牡蛎研究水产养殖系统对海草草甸健康没有重大的消极或积极影响。