168
8.1 A Few Words About the Systems Approach
The complexity of life has always fascinated mankind, but the development of a
systems perspective in the biological sciences has been a gradual one. During the
twentieth century, the science of biology evolved from descriptive natural history to
the development of mechanistic insights derived from painstaking reductionist
experimentation increasingly informed by evolutionary theory. However, integrating that knowledge across levels of organization from molecule through individuals
to ecosystems has been hindered by important gaps in our understanding of the
genome, its physiological regulation, and organismal responses to environmental
forcing. The dawn of the twenty-first century has witnessed significant breakthroughs in data collection, processing, and interpretation at all levels or organization such that it is now possible to translate the complex network diagrams of
metabolic processes, food webs, and even global biogeochemical cycles into predictive mathematical models. In addition to providing a quantitative understanding, the
resulting system-wide perspective provides pathways for exploring emergent properties not readily apparent in the individual pieces of reductionist information used
to construct the networks. The ability to influence emergent properties by manipulating specific components of complex systems helps provide rational approaches
for identifying critical steps that may be responsive to external forcing.
Seagrasses (marine angiosperms) provide critical ecosystem services in shallow
coastal seas through the world and are presently at risk from human impacts derived
from coastal development, regional eutrophication, resource extraction, and global
climate change (Orth et al. 2006). Growing interest into all scientific aspects of
seagrasses during the past 30 years has provided a remarkable archive of information (e.g., Larkum et al. 2006) from which to develop a systems-level appreciation
of these remarkable plants from molecules to ecosystems. This chapter will explore
physiological, or bottom-up, aspects of seagrasses that must adapt to local environments in order to transform solar energy and dissolved nutrients into biochemical
products required to sustain individual plants. We will also explore seagrasses as a
component of complex coastal food webs and place particular emphasis on the
Contents
8.1 A Few Words About the Systems Approach .................................................................... 168
8.2 Seagrasses as Biological Systems .................................................................................... 169
8.2.1 Key Anatomical Features and Functions .............................................................. 169
8.2.2 Sensitivity to Environmental Change Results from High Light Requirements ...... 171
8.2.3 A Surprising Mechanism Responsible for High Light Requirements .................. 172
8.2.4 Integrating Transcriptomic Information into Predictive Seagrass Models ........... 175
8.3 Seagrasses as Ecosystem Engineers ................................................................................. 177
8.3.1 Seagrass-Sediment Interactions............................................................................ 177
8.3.2 Interactions with Other Organisms ...................................................................... 179
8.3.3 Interactions with Humans..................................................................................... 180
8.4 Implications of the Seagrass Paradox for the Future of Seagrass Systems ...................... 182
References ................................................................................................................................. 183
R.C. Zimmerman
8.1 A Few Words About the Systems Approach
The complexity of life has always fascinated mankind, but the development of a
systems perspective in the biological sciences has been a gradual one. During the
twentieth century, the science of biology evolved from descriptive natural history to
the development of mechanistic insights derived from painstaking reductionist
experimentation increasingly informed by evolutionary theory. However, integrating that knowledge across levels of organization from molecule through individuals
to ecosystems has been hindered by important gaps in our understanding of the
genome, its physiological regulation, and organismal responses to environmental
forcing. The dawn of the twenty-first century has witnessed significant breakthroughs in data collection, processing, and interpretation at all levels or organization such that it is now possible to translate the complex network diagrams of
metabolic processes, food webs, and even global biogeochemical cycles into predictive mathematical models. In addition to providing a quantitative understanding, the
resulting system-wide perspective provides pathways for exploring emergent properties not readily apparent in the individual pieces of reductionist information used
to construct the networks. The ability to influence emergent properties by manipulating specific components of complex systems helps provide rational approaches
for identifying critical steps that may be responsive to external forcing.
Seagrasses (marine angiosperms) provide critical ecosystem services in shallow
coastal seas through the world and are presently at risk from human impacts derived
from coastal development, regional eutrophication, resource extraction, and global
climate change (Orth et al. 2006). Growing interest into all scientific aspects of
seagrasses during the past 30 years has provided a remarkable archive of information (e.g., Larkum et al. 2006) from which to develop a systems-level appreciation
of these remarkable plants from molecules to ecosystems. This chapter will explore
physiological, or bottom-up, aspects of seagrasses that must adapt to local environments in order to transform solar energy and dissolved nutrients into biochemical
products required to sustain individual plants. We will also explore seagrasses as a
component of complex coastal food webs and place particular emphasis on the
Contents
8.1 A Few Words About the Systems Approach .................................................................... 168
8.2 Seagrasses as Biological Systems .................................................................................... 169
8.2.1 Key Anatomical Features and Functions .............................................................. 169
8.2.2 Sensitivity to Environmental Change Results from High Light Requirements ...... 171
8.2.3 A Surprising Mechanism Responsible for High Light Requirements .................. 172
8.2.4 Integrating Transcriptomic Information into Predictive Seagrass Models ........... 175
8.3 Seagrasses as Ecosystem Engineers ................................................................................. 177
8.3.1 Seagrass-Sediment Interactions............................................................................ 177
8.3.2 Interactions with Other Organisms ...................................................................... 179
8.3.3 Interactions with Humans..................................................................................... 180
8.4 Implications of the Seagrass Paradox for the Future of Seagrass Systems ...................... 182
References ................................................................................................................................. 183
R.C. Zimmerman