Edward P. Morris

• PhD Marine sciences
• PostDoc Position at Universidad de Cádiz

Cadiz Bay is a shallow mesotidal lagoon with extensive populations of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa at intertidal and shallow subtidal elevations. This work aims to understand the mechanisms behind the resilience of this species to gradual sea level rise by studying its acclimation capacity to depth along the shallow littoral, and therefore, to gra...

This study examines long-term burial rates of organic carbon (OC), organic nitrogen (ON), and total sulphur (TS) in a tidal-dominated coastal wetland with a high spatial heterogeneity and habitat diversity, and long history of human impacts, Cádiz Bay (SW Spain). Using replicate sediment cores, we quantified fluxes of these elements over a transect...

Recently, spatial organization in salt marshes was shown to contain vital information on system resilience. However, in salt marshes, it remains poorly understood what shaping processes regulate spatial patterns in soil or vegetation properties that can be detected in the surface reflectance signal. In this case study we compared the effect on surf...

High Amplitude Internal Waves (HAIWs) are physical processes observed in the Strait of Gibraltar (the narrow channel between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea). These internal waves are generated over the Camarinal Sill (western side of the strait) during the tidal outflow (toward the Atlantic Ocean) when critical hydraulic conditions ar...

Foreshore Assessment using Space Technology [1] (FAST, 2014-2018, EU-FP7 607131) has created a platform for EU Earth Observation (EO) Programme Copernicus services, to support cost-effective, nature-based shoreline protection. Called "MI-SAFE", it is developed with Open Source (OS) Intelligent Geographical Information System (IGIS) components from...

Wetlands are productive ecosystems that play an important role in the Earth's carbon cycle and thus global carbon budgets. Climate variability affects amount of material entering and the metabolic balance of wetlands, thereby modifying carbon dynamics. This study presents spatiotemporal changes in air-water CO2 exchange in the vast wetlands of Doña...

Many of the world's wetlands may be profoundly affected by climate change over the coming decades. Although wetland managers may have little control over the causes of climate change, they can help to counteract its effects through local measures. This is because direct anthropogenic impacts, such as water extraction and nutrient loading, work in c...

Many of the world's wetlands may be profoundly affected by climate change over the coming decades. Although wetland managers may have little control over the causes of climate change, they can help to counteract its effects through local measures. This is because direct anthropogenic impacts, such as water extraction and nutrient loading, work in c...

The Guadalquivir estuary has an important place in history as mainland Europe’s most southern large river-estuary-delta system. Intensification of human pressure combined with a limited understanding of its functioning have resulted in increasing socio-economic and environmental conflicts over the estuary. Within this context, the existing scientif...

Se localizaron nuevas poblaciones de la angiosperma marina Zostera marina en el saco interno de la bahía de Cádiz, lo que lleva a revisar las citas originales de la presencia de dicha especie en esta zona. Zostera marina fue ya citada en el siglo XIX en la provincia, y 80 años después el ficólogo español Seoane-Camba situó a Z. marina y Z. nana (Z....

This study examines the spatio-temporal variability of the turbidity plume and phytoplankton biomass (in terms of chlorophyll) in the marine region influenced by the Guadalquivir estuary using ocean colour images over a period of 11 years (2003-2013). The area of the turbidity plume was calculated using water-leaving radiance at 555 nm (nLw555). Cl...

Estuaries are hotspots of intense biogeochemical cycling that regulate land–ocean exchanges and support a broad range of ecosystem services. They are a particularly important, still under-resolved, component of the global carbon cycle and often flash points for local socioeconomic conflicts. The mesotidal Guadalquivir estuary is fed by one of the I...

This study examines the spatio-temporal variability of the turbidity plume and phytoplankton biomass (in terms of chlorophyll) in the marine region influenced by the Guadalquivir estuary using ocean colour images over a period of 11 years (20032013). The area of the turbidity plume was calculated using water-leaving radiance at 555 nm (nLw555). Cli...

In low-nutrient, macrophyte-dominated coastal zones, benthic ammonium (NH4+) uptake may be influenced by the structural properties of plant canopies via their effect on near-bed hydrodynamics. Using a dual-tracer (uranine and 15NH4+) method that does not require enclosures, we examined how this process affects nutrient uptake rates within a tidally...

Inland and transitional aquatic systems play an important role in global carbon (C) cycling. Yet, the C dynamics of wetlands and floodplains are poorly defined and field data is scarce. Air-water [Formula: see text] fluxes in the wetlands of Doñana Natural Area (SW Spain) were examined by measuring alkalinity, pH and other physiochemical parameters...

We assessed the utilization of inorganic and organic nitrogen compounds of different complexity by primary producers and bacteria in a seagrass ecosystem. Using double-labeled (13C and 15N) substrates, the net transfers from the dissolved nitrogen and carbon pools to phytoplankton, planktonic bacteria, epiphytes, seagrasses (Zostera noltii and Cymo...

An in-depth knowledge of solutes advection and turbulent diffusion is crucial to estimate dispersion area and retention time (t(R)) of pollutants within seagrass habitats. However, there is little knowledge on the influence of seagrass habitat fragmentation on such mechanisms. A set of dye tracer experiments and acoustic Doppler velocimeter measure...

Macroalgae blooms, a frequent consequence of eutrophication in coastal areas, affect the photosynthetic activity of sediments dominated by microphytobenthos (MPB). Light spectra, steady-state (after 1 h) microprofiles of O2 , gross photosynthesis (Pg ), community respiration in light (RL ) and net community photosynthesis (Pn ) were measured in dia...

Satellite-borne sensors are an ideal tool for remotely assessing a number of water quality parameters that determine the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. For example, chlorophyll and total suspended solids in a body of water are critical variables for determining primary production and can help characterize nutrient loading and sediment dynamics....

Las praderas de angiospermas marinas del Parque Natural Bahía de Cádiz (PNBC) son un elemento clave para los procesos ecológicos que se desarrollan en este espacio protegido. Su interacción con el ambiente hidrodinámico repercute en procesos como la incorporación de nutrientes, la sedimentación de partículas, la microtopografía o el propio crecimie...

ABSTRACT: Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) acts as a large reservoir of fixed nitrogen. Whereas DON utilization is common in the microbial community, little is known about utilization by macrophytes. We investigated the ability of the coexisting temperate marine macrophytes Zostera noltii, Cymodocea nodosa, and Caulerpa prolifera to take up nitroge...

The widespread decline of seagrass beds within the Mediterranean often results in the replacement of seagrasses by opportunistic green algae of the Caulerpa family. Because Caulerpa beds have a different height, stiffness and density compared to seagrasses, these changes in habitat type modify the interaction of the seafloor with hydrodynamics, inf...

La bahía de Cádiz es un humedal costero protegido por figuras de protección nacionales (Parque Natural) e internacionales (LIC, Convención Ramsar) dada su importancia ecológica. La biodiversidad biológica incluye numerosas especies de macroalgas, invertebrados, peces y aves. Un hecho de singular importancia, y poco conocido por las administraciones...

We assessed the uptake of inorganic and organic nitrogen compounds by several macrophytes, epiphytes and phytoplankton in a seagrass meadow. Using double labeled (13C and 15N) substrates of differential complexity, the net transfers from the dissolved nitrogen and carbon pools to phytoplankton, heterotrophic bacteria, seagrasses, and a macroalga we...

Mapping of the nutrient content and isotopic composition of the native, rooted, green macroalga Caulerpa prolifera and the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa was conducted in the summer of 2006 within the inner Bay of Cadiz, SW Spain. Isotope values of suspended solids from aquaculture (delta N-15 = 9 +/- 0.88) and urban effluent (delta N-15 = 7 +/- 1.97) w...

Within intertidal areas of European Atlantic coasts the distribution of the small seagrass Zostera noltii and the halophyte Spartina anglica can partially overlap, despite numerous bio-mechanical, demographic and ecophysiological differences. Both species are known to be ecosystem engineers that modify their habitat by reducing hydrodynamic energy...

The single-beam acoustic ground discrimination system QTC View, Series V, was used in the Bay of Cadiz, Southwest Spain, for the identification and mapping of the bottom acoustic diversity. The acoustic data were obtained through two successive surveys, each conducted with one of the following echo sounder frequencies: 50 kHz and 200 kHz. The perfo...

The hypotheses that (1) different seagrass morphologies may facilitate different nutrient uptake rates under similar hydrodynamic forcing and (2) this effect on nutrient uptake rates is spatially explicit, with the highest uptake rates at edges of patches, where currents and turbulence are highest, were examined under unidirectional flow conditions...

Photosynthetic parameters of a microphytobenthic (MPB) biofilm grown in a tidal mesocosm were measured on undisturbed sediment using variable fluorescence-based measurements of electron transport rate (ETR), as well as by ETR and 14C assimilation measurements in optically thin suspensions of algal cells. Absorption cross-sections of the MPB suspens...

Estimating biomass of microphytobenthos (MPB) on intertidal mud flats is extremely difficult due to their patchy occurrence, especially at the scale of an entire mud flat. We tested two optical approaches that can be applied in situ: spectral reflectance and chlorophyll fluorescence. These two approaches were applied in 4 European estuaries with di...

In this paper we investigate the temperature sensitivity of the photosynthetic process of the benthic diatom Cylindrotheca closterium grown in light-limited turbidostat cultures at two different growth rates. Photosynthesis was measured as the rate of oxygen evolution and as the photosystem II (PSII) electron transport rate (ETR). The photosyntheti...