At least 18 major storms have struck the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean in the past 50 yr including Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm that passed over extensive seagrass beds in the western Gulf of Mexico and became the second‐most expensive U.S. hurricane. We sought to identify the effects of an extreme hurricane on sediment physicochemical characteristics and seagrass species with contrasting life histories and morphologies. Surprisingly, Harvey's intense wind speeds resulted in decreases in blade length, vegetative cover, and greater overall loss of Thalassia, a persistent climax species relative to Halodule, a prolific pioneer species. Sediment ammonium and grain size changed, but not organic carbon. Our results indicate that effects of wind intensity are not only restricted to the differential impacts on seagrasses, but on the physicochemical characteristics of the sediments. These changes, coupled with the slow colonization abilities of Thalassia, may prolong recovery of disturbed seagrass meadows.

中文翻译：

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在一场大飓风过后：对早期和晚期演替海草物种的差异影响

在过去的50年中，至少有18次大风暴袭击了墨西哥湾和加勒比海，其中包括哈维飓风。这是一场4级飓风，席卷了墨西哥湾西部广泛的海草层，成为美国第二贵的飓风。我们试图确定极端飓风对沉积物理化特性​​和海草种类的影响，并与生活史和形态形成鲜明对比。出乎意料的是，哈维的强风速导致叶片长度减少，植物覆盖减少，并且相对于Halodule而言，持久性高潮物种Thalassia的总体损失更大。，多产的先锋物种。沉积物的铵盐和晶粒尺寸改变了，但有机碳没有改变。我们的结果表明，风强度的影响不仅限于对海草的不同影响，而且还影响沉积物的理化特性。这些变化，再加上地中海藻的定殖能力较慢，可能会延长受干扰的海草草甸的恢复。