Growing Zostera marina (eelgrass) from Seeds in Land-Based Culture Systems for Use in Restoration Projects

Tanner, Christopher E.; Parham, Thomas A.

doi:10.1111/j.1526-100x.2010.00693.x

Cited by 70 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…These physical processes are potentially also important for seed dispersal and seedling retention in other submerged macrophytes (Koch et al 2010). Some previous data exist suggesting a direct seed burial effect on germination (Granger et al 2000, Tanner & Parham 2010, and our results from seedburied plots in December showing a high proportion of germinated seeds are consistent with a seed burial effect on germination (Fig. 1), although variability in the number of seeds recovered and the proportion germinated was high, especially for Spider Crab Bay.…”

Section: Role Of Seed Burialsupporting

confidence: 88%

Seedling establishment in eelgrass: seed burial effects on winter losses of developing seedlings

Marion¹,

Orth²

2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Constraints on the transition of seeds to seedlings have the potential to control plant dispersal and persistence. We investigated the processes leading to low initial seedling establishment in eelgrass Zostera marina through a manipulative field experiment assessing the relative importance of germination failure and seedling loss during the winter. Seed plots were established in October at 3 unvegetated sites in the Chesapeake Bay (USA) region, with seeds either at the sediment surface or buried at 2 to 3 cm. Emerging seedlings were monitored at 6 wk intervals between December and April using a video camera, and seed germination was tracked in separate destructively-sampled plots. Sediment height change was measured, and sediment disturbance depth was estimated by deploying cores layered with tracer particles and examining tracer loss upon core retrieval. We found a low rate of seedling establishment 6 mo after seeding (1.2, 3.8, and 2.8% for surface seeds at the 3 sites) that was largely due to seed and seedling loss rather than to germination failure, with 90% of seeds retrieved after December having germinated. Seed burial significantly enhanced seedling establishment at 2 of 3 sites (40.4, 16.8, and 10.3% establishment for buried seeds). Seed loss occurred mostly within the first month of the experiment, and was most severe for seeds at the sediment surface. Indicator core results showed widespread disturbance of sediments to depths that could have dislodged early seedlings developing from surface seeds, and to a lesser degree seedlings from buried seeds. Our findings help identify the nature and timing of a substantial Z. marina seedling establishment bottleneck in our region, and show that some of the key processes pivotal to Z. marina recruitment dynamics and optimal restoration strategies involve physical sediment−seedling interactions rather than seed germination.

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Section: Role Of Seed Burialsupporting

confidence: 88%

Seedling establishment in eelgrass: seed burial effects on winter losses of developing seedlings

Marion¹,

Orth²

2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Both Z. marina and Z. noltii seeds were found to germinate better at lower salinities with the maximum germination rate reached at salinity 1 (Hootsmans et al, 1987;Tanner and Parham, 2010). Yamaki et al (2006) found that the Z. marina seeds from both Tohoku and Kanto (Japan) reached the maximum germination rate in 10 d at salinity 0 and 20℃.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…It is also a key component of eelgrass bed reconstruction methodology. Temperature and salinity play important roles in eelgrass seed germination (Orth and Moore, 1983;Conacher et al, 1994;Abe et al, 2008;Tanner and Parham, 2010). In this study, the germination rates of eelgrass seeds at different combinations of temperature and salinity were compared in order to lay the groundwork for establishing an eelgrass artificial seedling culture method.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of temperature and salinity on germination of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) seeds

Pan¹,

Jiang²,

Li³

et al. 2011

J. Ocean Univ. China

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Seagrass restoration as part of ocean ecosystem protection has been launched for many years all over the world, but intensive research on this subject in China has just begun in recent years. Seed broadcasting has been widely accepted as the most potentially useful method for seagrass restoration over large areas. We examined the influence of key environmental factors on seed germination to help promote eelgrass bed restoration. Under anoxic conditions, the influence of temperature and salinity on the germination rate of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) seeds was examined at different combinations of four temperatures (4, 9, 14, and 24℃) and nine salinities (5 to 45, increment of 5). The effect of significant interaction of temperature and salinity on germination rate was observed (ANOVA) (P<0.001). The highest germination rate (83.3 ± 3.5)% was reached in 8 weeks at 14℃ and salinity 5. Higher temperature significantly increased the germination rate at salinity 5 (P<0.001) during the whole observation period except for 24℃, while lower salinity significantly increased the germination rate at 14℃ (P<0.001). Although significant interaction was found between temperature and salinity (P<0.001), the influence of salinity was stronger than that of temperature for the germination of eelgrass seeds. These results provide useful information for the propagation of artificial seedlings for seagrass restoration in China.

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“…Storing seedlings in aquaculture facilities, especially for seagrasses with viviparous seeds, may extend their period of availability (Tanner and Parham 2010;Statton et al 2012); however, techniques for medium-term maintenance of A. antarctica seedlings have yet to be developed. More importantly, there are no suitable aquaculture facilities to maintain seedlings in culture in Shark Bay.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative assessment of approaches and outcomes for seagrass revegetation in Shark Bay and Florida Bay

Statton

Dixon

Hovey

et al. 2012

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Abstract. Here, we review the literature to evaluate seagrass revegetation projects focussed on Posidonia australis and Amphibolis antarctica, the main affected species in Shark Bay in the World Heritage Area in Western Australia, together with projects from Florida Bay, an analogous system with a long history of seagrass revegetation. We assessed the effectiveness of anchoring planting units, plant-unit density and size on planting-unit survival. We found no positive trends in our assessment, suggesting that there is no discrete technique, approach or technology that could be used with confidence to deliver costeffective, scalable revegetation. Of concern was that revegetation success was evaluated over comparatively short time frames (1-3 years), driven by the strict time frames or deadlines of governing grant funding and commercial activities, leading to concerns that long-term revegetation outcomes may be difficult to assess with confidence. Several factors influenced revegetation outcomes which were grouped into three 'filter' categories; abiotic, biotic and socioeconomic. We recommend that future revegetation programs involving seagrass have greater emphasis on understanding how these filters act independently or collectively to drive successful revegetation as well as developing cost-effective, proven and scalable technology supported by longer-term monitoring to ensure revegetation programs do achieve the desired ecological outcomes.

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Growing Zostera marina (eelgrass) from Seeds in Land-Based Culture Systems for Use in Restoration Projects

Cited by 70 publications

References 52 publications

Seedling establishment in eelgrass: seed burial effects on winter losses of developing seedlings

Seedling establishment in eelgrass: seed burial effects on winter losses of developing seedlings

Influence of temperature and salinity on germination of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) seeds

A comparative assessment of approaches and outcomes for seagrass revegetation in Shark Bay and Florida Bay

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