The cycle of seagrass life: From flowers to new meadows
Abstract Understanding sexual reproduction and recruitment in seagrasses is crucial to their conservation and restoration. Flowering, seed production, seed recruitment, and seedling establishment data for the seagrass Posidonia australis was collected annually between 2013 and 2018 in meadows at six...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10456 |
| _version_ | 1827698792250474496 |
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| author | Gary A. Kendrick Marion L. Cambridge Robert J. Orth Matthew W. Fraser Renae K. Hovey John Statton Charitha B. Pattiaratchi Elizabeth A. Sinclair |
| author_facet | Gary A. Kendrick Marion L. Cambridge Robert J. Orth Matthew W. Fraser Renae K. Hovey John Statton Charitha B. Pattiaratchi Elizabeth A. Sinclair |
| author_sort | Gary A. Kendrick |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Understanding sexual reproduction and recruitment in seagrasses is crucial to their conservation and restoration. Flowering, seed production, seed recruitment, and seedling establishment data for the seagrass Posidonia australis was collected annually between 2013 and 2018 in meadows at six locations around Rottnest Island, Western Australia. Variable annual rates of flowering and seed production were observed among meadows between northern and southern sides of the island and among years. Meadows on the northern shore consistently flowered more intensely and produced more seeds across the years of the survey. Inter‐site variation in clonal diversity and size of clones, seed production, wind and surface currents during pollen and seed release, and the large, but variable, impact of seed predation are likely the principal drivers of successful recruitment into established meadows and in colonizing unvegetated sands. The prolific but variable annual reproductive investment increases the probability of low levels of continuous recruitment from seed in this seagrass, despite high rates of abiotic and biotic disturbance at seedling, shoot, and patch scales. This strategy also imparts a level of ecological resilience to this long‐lived and persistent species. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:37:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c42da10352b64b249b001e944cf9e82a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:37:06Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-c42da10352b64b249b001e944cf9e82a2023-11-21T07:26:25ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582023-09-01139n/an/a10.1002/ece3.10456The cycle of seagrass life: From flowers to new meadowsGary A. Kendrick0Marion L. Cambridge1Robert J. Orth2Matthew W. Fraser3Renae K. Hovey4John Statton5Charitha B. Pattiaratchi6Elizabeth A. Sinclair7School of Biological Sciences and UWA Oceans Institute The University of Western Australia Western Australia Crawley AustraliaSchool of Biological Sciences and UWA Oceans Institute The University of Western Australia Western Australia Crawley AustraliaVirginia Institute of Marine Science College of William and Mary Gloucester Point Virginia USASchool of Biological Sciences and UWA Oceans Institute The University of Western Australia Western Australia Crawley AustraliaSchool of Biological Sciences and UWA Oceans Institute The University of Western Australia Western Australia Crawley AustraliaSchool of Biological Sciences and UWA Oceans Institute The University of Western Australia Western Australia Crawley AustraliaOceans Graduate School and UWA Oceans Institute The University of Western Australia Crawley Western Australia AustraliaSchool of Biological Sciences and UWA Oceans Institute The University of Western Australia Western Australia Crawley AustraliaAbstract Understanding sexual reproduction and recruitment in seagrasses is crucial to their conservation and restoration. Flowering, seed production, seed recruitment, and seedling establishment data for the seagrass Posidonia australis was collected annually between 2013 and 2018 in meadows at six locations around Rottnest Island, Western Australia. Variable annual rates of flowering and seed production were observed among meadows between northern and southern sides of the island and among years. Meadows on the northern shore consistently flowered more intensely and produced more seeds across the years of the survey. Inter‐site variation in clonal diversity and size of clones, seed production, wind and surface currents during pollen and seed release, and the large, but variable, impact of seed predation are likely the principal drivers of successful recruitment into established meadows and in colonizing unvegetated sands. The prolific but variable annual reproductive investment increases the probability of low levels of continuous recruitment from seed in this seagrass, despite high rates of abiotic and biotic disturbance at seedling, shoot, and patch scales. This strategy also imparts a level of ecological resilience to this long‐lived and persistent species.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10456clonal diversityfloweringmicrosatellite DNAPosidonia australisrecruitmentreproductive effort |
| spellingShingle | Gary A. Kendrick Marion L. Cambridge Robert J. Orth Matthew W. Fraser Renae K. Hovey John Statton Charitha B. Pattiaratchi Elizabeth A. Sinclair The cycle of seagrass life: From flowers to new meadows Ecology and Evolution clonal diversity flowering microsatellite DNA Posidonia australis recruitment reproductive effort |
| title | The cycle of seagrass life: From flowers to new meadows |
| title_full | The cycle of seagrass life: From flowers to new meadows |
| title_fullStr | The cycle of seagrass life: From flowers to new meadows |
| title_full_unstemmed | The cycle of seagrass life: From flowers to new meadows |
| title_short | The cycle of seagrass life: From flowers to new meadows |
| title_sort | cycle of seagrass life from flowers to new meadows |
| topic | clonal diversity flowering microsatellite DNA Posidonia australis recruitment reproductive effort |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10456 |
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