Grazer Functional Roles, Induced Defenses, and Indirect Interactions: Implications for Eelgrass Restoration in  San Francisco Bay

Lewis, Jeffrey T.; Boyer, Katharyn E.

doi:10.3390/d6040751

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…In August 2018, we harvested ramets to compare epifaunal counts and biomass of the species Phyllaplysia taylori, a marine gastropod and the marine isopod, Pentidotea resecata. Both are known to be important in controlling epiphytic growth on seagrass (Williams andRuckelshaus 1993, Lewis andBoyer 2014), especially in Elkhorn Slough (Hughes et al 2013). A single ramet from each restoration plot (strata A-E; n = 71) and five representative ramets from each reference plot (strata A-C; n = 15) were harvested and later processed at University of California, Santa Cruz's Coastal Science Campus Laboratory.…”

Section: Biodiversity Of Seagrass Epifaunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid enhancement of multiple ecosystem services following the restoration of a coastal foundation species

Beheshti

Williams

Boyer

et al. 2021

Ecological Applications

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The global decline of marine foundation species (kelp forests, mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses) has contributed to the degradation of the coastal zone and threatens the loss of critical ecosystem services and functions. Restoration of marine foundation species has had variable success, especially for seagrasses, where a majority of restoration efforts have failed. While most seagrass restorations track structural attributes over time, rarely do restorations assess the suite of ecological functions that may be affected by restoration. Here we report on the results of two small‐scale experimental seagrass restoration efforts in a central California estuary where we transplanted 117 0.25‐m2 plots (2,340 shoots) of the seagrass species Zostera marina. We quantified restoration success relative to persistent reference beds, and in comparison to unrestored, unvegetated areas. Within three years, our restored plots expanded ~8,500%, from a total initial area of 29 to 2,513 m2. The restored beds rapidly began to resemble the reference beds in (1) seagrass structural attributes (canopy height, shoot density, biomass), (2) ecological functions (macrofaunal species richness and abundance, epifaunal species richness, nursery function), and (3) biogeochemical functions (modulation of water quality). We also developed a multifunctionality index to assess cumulative functional performance, which revealed restored plots are intermediate between reference and unvegetated habitats, illustrating how rapidly multiple functions recovered over a short time period. Our comprehensive study is one of few published studies to quantify how seagrass restoration can enhance both biological and biogeochemical functions. Our study serves as a model for quantifying ecosystem services associated with the restoration of a foundation species and demonstrates the potential for rapid functional recovery that can be achieved through targeted restoration of fast‐growing foundation species under suitable conditions.

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Section: Biodiversity Of Seagrass Epifaunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid enhancement of multiple ecosystem services following the restoration of a coastal foundation species

Beheshti

Williams

Boyer

et al. 2021

Ecological Applications

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“…Eelgrass shows considerable physiological and morphological variation across populations and individual genotypes ( Hughes, Stachowicz & Williams, 2009 ; Tomas et al, 2011 ; Salo, Pedersen & Boström, 2014 ; Salo, Reusch & Boström, 2015 ); thus, some populations may possess traits that make them more resilient to the transplanting process than others. There is some evidence that population-level plant traits serve a role in transplant success: van Katwijk et al (1998) found that two of five Zostera marina populations failed to establish in a mesocosm transplant experiment and that morphology (shoot size) was one factor related to transplant success; likewise, Lewis & Boyer (2014) found differences in growth characteristics of two sources transplanted into a bare restoration site.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limited effects of source population identity and number on seagrass transplant performance

Novak

Plaisted

Hays

et al. 2017

PeerJ

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Global declines in coastal foundation species highlight the importance of effective restoration. In this study, we examined the effects of source population identity and diversity (one vs. three sources per plot) on seagrass (Zostera marina) transplant success. The field experiment was replicated at two locations in Massachusetts with adjacent natural Zostera marina beds to test for local adaptation and source diversity effects on shoot density. We also collected morphological and genetic data to characterize variation within and among source populations, and evaluate whether they were related to performance. Transplants grew and expanded until six months post-transplantation, but then steadily declined at both sites. Prior to declines, we observed variation in performance among source populations at one site that was related to morphological traits: the populations with the longest leaves had the highest shoot densities, whereas the population with the shortest leaves performed the worst at six months post-transplantation. In addition, multiple source plots at this same transplant site consistently had similar or higher shoot densities than single source plots, and shoots from weak-performing populations showed improved performance in multiple source plots. We found no evidence for home site advantage or benefits of population-level genetic variation in early transplant performance at either site. Our results show limited effects of source population on early transplant performance and suggest that factors (e.g., morphology) other than home site advantage and population genetic variation serve a role. Based on our overall findings that transplant success varied among source populations and that population diversity at the plot level had positive but limited effects on individual and plot performance, we support planting shoots from multiple source sites in combination to enhance transplant success, particularly in the absence of detailed information on individual source characteristics.

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“…Although trait-based approaches can be applied to all kinds of organisms, these are currently most developed for terrestrial plants (Lavorel and Garnier, 2002 ; Garnier et al, 2016 ), but are also used for marine organisms (Litchman and Klausmeier, 2008 ; Andersen and Pedersen, 2009 ; Litchman et al, 2010 , 2013 ; Elleouet et al, 2014 ). Trait-based approaches have been rarely, but successfully, applied in seagrass communities, with results suggesting that functional traits underpin community-level primary production (Jänes et al, 2017 ; Gustafsson and Norkko, 2019 ) or mediate herbivory and predation in seagrass ecosystems (Pagès et al, 2012 ; Lewis and Boyer, 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Victory: Assessing Interspecific Competition in Seagrass From a Trait-Based Perspective

et al. 2021

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Tropical seagrass meadows are formed by an array of seagrass species that share the same space. Species sharing the same plot are competing for resources, namely light and inorganic nutrients, which results in the capacity of some species to preempt space from others. However, the drivers behind seagrass species competition are not completely understood. In this work, we studied the competitive interactions among tropical seagrass species of Unguja Island (Zanzibar, Tanzania) using a trait-based approach. We quantified the abundance of eight seagrass species under different trophic states, and selected nine traits related to light and inorganic nutrient preemption to characterize the functional strategy of the species (leaf maximum length and width, leaves per shoot, leaf mass area, vertical rhizome length, shoots per meter of ramet, rhizome diameter, roots per meter of ramet, and root maximum length). From the seagrass abundance we calculated the probability of space preemption between pairs of seagrass species and for each individual seagrass species under the different trophic states. Species had different probabilities of space preemption, with the climax species Thalassodendron ciliatum, Enhalus acoroides, Thalassia hemprichii, and the opportunistic Cymodocea serrulata having the highest probability of preemption, while the pioneer and opportunistic species Halophila ovalis, Syringodium isoetifolium, Halodule uninervis, and Cymodocea rotundata had the lowest. Traits determining the functional strategy showed that there was a size gradient across species. For two co-occurring seagrass species, probability of preemption was the highest for the larger species, it increased as the size difference between species increased and was unaffected by the trophic state. Competitive interactions among seagrass species were asymmetrical, i.e., negative effects were not reciprocal, and the driver behind space preemption was determined by plant size. Seagrass space preemption is a consequence of resource competition, and the probability of a species to exert preemption can be calculated using a trait-based approach.

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Grazer Functional Roles, Induced Defenses, and Indirect Interactions: Implications for Eelgrass Restoration in San Francisco Bay

Cited by 20 publications

References 65 publications

Rapid enhancement of multiple ecosystem services following the restoration of a coastal foundation species

Rapid enhancement of multiple ecosystem services following the restoration of a coastal foundation species

Limited effects of source population identity and number on seagrass transplant performance

Local Victory: Assessing Interspecific Competition in Seagrass From a Trait-Based Perspective

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