Monthly eelgrass data at selected sites in Nova Scotia

This dataset includes metrics of seagrass productivity and resilience collected from field sites along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Field sites were located across a gradient of temperature and light conditions. Sampling was conducted monthly from May 2018 to July 2019. Seagrass density and plants were sampled at 10 haphazardly distributed sampling stations within each seagrass bed at approximately the same depth. Stations were ~10m apart and at least 2m from any seagrass-bare interface. Quadrats were used to determine vegetative and reproductive shoot density, and hand corers to collect seagrass above and belowground biomass. Three plants from each sampling station were also collected and processed in the laboratory for length and width leaf 3, number leaves per shoot, rhizome width, and rhizome water soluble carbohydrates. Also included in this data set are time-series records of bottom temperature at each site measured in 15-mins intervals using HOBO TidbiTv2 loggers. Cite this data as: Wong, Melisa C., and Michael Dowd. 2023. “The Role of Short-Term Temperature Variability and Light in Shaping the Phenology and Characteristics of Seagrass Beds.” Ecosphere 14(11): e4698. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4698