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Impact of the 2011 Tsunami on Seagrass and Seaweed Beds in Otsuchi Bay, Sanriku Coast, Japan

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Marine Productivity: Perturbations and Resilience of Socio-ecosystems

Abstract

The Sanriku Coast facing the Pacific Ocean is an important area for fishing and aquaculture. The Sanriku Coast was hit hard by the catastrophic tsunami event produced by the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011. The tsunami destroyed not only infrastructures of coastal fisheries and aquacultures but also coastal ecosystems, such as the seagrass and seaweed beds vital for sustainable fisheries. This study surveyed the seagrass and seaweed beds in Otsuchi Bay, Iwate prefecture in June 2011 and found that the seaweed beds around the mouth and middle of the bay were not impacted by the tsunami, but that the seagrass beds in the bay head had been destroyed. However, observations verified the growth of seagrass seedlings germinated from seeds produced in previous years. This response of the seagrass demonstrates its resilience to huge tsunami events occurring in an interval of several decades. Huge seawall construction plan against tsunami threatens their recovery. The recovery program in Sanriku Coast must be established on a holistic approach including social and ecological aspects between land and the sea because coastal areas are ecotone and also “sociotone” between them.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mr. Masataka Kurosawa and Mr. Masaaki Hirano, staffs of the International Centre for Coastal Oceanography, University of Tokyo, for their assistance during this study. We are also grateful to Mr. Kazuhiro Hantani of Toyo Corp. for his encouragement to carry out our research. This study was supported by grants from the Marine Alliance Organization of the University of Tokyo, the Environment Research and Technology Development Funds (S9) and (S13) of the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and the Tohoku Ecosystem-Associated Marine Sciences (TEAMS) research program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute (AORI), University of Tokyo, President of S.F.J.O. of Japan, 5-1-5, Kashiwanoha, 277-8564, Kashiwa-shi, Japan

    Teruhisa Komatsu, Takayoshi Ohtaki, Shingo Sakamoto, Shuhei Sawayama, Yasuaki Hamana & Shuji Sasa (President of S.F.J.O. (*) of Japan)

  2. Toyo Corporation, 1-1-6, Yaesu, Chuoku, Tokyo, 103-8234, Japan

    Michiharu Shibata & Kohji Shibata

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  1. Teruhisa Komatsu
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  2. Takayoshi Ohtaki
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  3. Shingo Sakamoto
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  4. Shuhei Sawayama
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  5. Yasuaki Hamana
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  6. Michiharu Shibata
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  7. Kohji Shibata
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  8. Shuji Sasa
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Correspondence to Teruhisa Komatsu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Directeur d’études (h) Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Institut Méditerranéen d’Océanologie (M.I.O.) Oceanomed, Bâtiment Méditerranée, Marseille cedex 09, France

    Hubert-Jean Ceccaldi

  2. General-Secretary of S.F.J.O. (*) of France Correspondant Asie-Pacifique (JAMSTEC), Institut Français pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (Ifremer) Conseiller Principal Politique Maritime et Gouvernance, Issy-les-Moulineaux cedex, France

    Yves Hénocque

  3. Conseillor of S.F.J.O. (*) of Japan Tokyo, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasuyuki Koike

  4. Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute ( AORI) President of S.F.J.O. (*) of Japan, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa-shi, Japan

    Teruhisa Komatsu

  5. Directeur de Recherche émérite, Institut Méditerranéen d’Océanologie (M.I.O.) Oceanomed, Bâtiment Méditerranée, Marseille cedex 09, France

    Georges Stora

  6. Responsable de la Direction scientifi que, Institut Français pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (Ifremer), Issy-les-Moulineaux, France

    Marie-Hélène Tusseau-Vuillemin

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Komatsu, T. et al. (2015). Impact of the 2011 Tsunami on Seagrass and Seaweed Beds in Otsuchi Bay, Sanriku Coast, Japan. In: Ceccaldi, HJ., Hénocque, Y., Koike, Y., Komatsu, T., Stora, G., Tusseau-Vuillemin, MH. (eds) Marine Productivity: Perturbations and Resilience of Socio-ecosystems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13878-7_5

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