Over the past few years, the O’Connor lab has been hard at work exploring and researching eelgrass-based animal communities in BC. Our research to date has primarily focused on identifying key species and species interactions between eelgrass epiphytes and grazers, quantifying spatial and temporal patterns of grazer biodiversity, and looking at the impact of introduced species on local eelgrass communities. We have also participated in ZEN, the global Zostera Experimental Network, representing western Canada in an international effort to quantify the ecological role of grazer biodiversity in eelgrass meadows. We were inspired to create this website to document the progress we’ve made, to facilitate communication with other groups working in eelgrass, and to provide tools that might help students, researchers, and beachcombers better understand biodiversity in eelgrass.
Our research goals include quantifying the dispersal of eelgrass-associated grazers and their use of other habitats, determining if eelgrass meadows are true metacommunities, linking grazer biodiversity with ecosystem function, and developing conservation objectives. Along the way, we hope to collaborate with local communities and citizen scientists, and to coordinate with other researchers to develop a more holistic understanding of how eelgrass ecosystems function and how they can be conserved.
Our research goals include quantifying the dispersal of eelgrass-associated grazers and their use of other habitats, determining if eelgrass meadows are true metacommunities, linking grazer biodiversity with ecosystem function, and developing conservation objectives. Along the way, we hope to collaborate with local communities and citizen scientists, and to coordinate with other researchers to develop a more holistic understanding of how eelgrass ecosystems function and how they can be conserved.