Reproductive, Dispersal and Recruitment Strategies in Australian Seagrasses

Abstract

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Too hot to handle: Unprecedented seagrass death driven by marine heatwave in a World Heritage Area

“…Increased top‐down pressure from seagrass‐dependent organisms that consume or use the seagrass habitat for hunting or shelter may further inhibit recovery (Nowicki et al, 2019). Indeed, some regions may be experiencing recalcitrant degradation as ecosystem shifts have occurred over 100s km 2 following seagrass loss (Monkey Mia/FS), and full recovery by persistent seagrass species will only result from long‐distance dispersal of seagrass seeds—or nearby vegetative fragments—and their subsequent survival (O'Brien et al, 2018; Sherman et al, 2018). Moreover, ecosystem‐wide loss of seagrass can lead to biochemical changes in the sediment, which can hinder recolonization, even once the environmental pressure that initiated declines has receded (Kendrick et al, 2002).…”

Intraspecific genetic variation matters when predicting seagrass distribution under climate change

“…For species with significant intraspecific genetic diversity, it is crucial to help maintain the species' potential for adaptive responses to climate change by conserving this diversity (D'Amen et al, 2013). In particular, lineage differentiation can be explained by recruitment rate (Lyimo et al, 2006;Sherman et al, 2018), nutrient resorption (Martins & Bandeira, 2001), dispersal barriers (Melroy et al, 2017), and evolutionary history from the origin centre to the distributional margins (Mukai, 1993). Dramatic future habitat loss in the CTIP was predicted by both the speciesand the lineage-level models (Figure 4), stressing the urgency to develop monitoring programmes to rescue evolutionary and/or ecologically important units in T. hemprichii, particularly the populations and gene pools that have persisted through past long-term climate change because of local adaptation (Bell, 2017;Hernawan et al, 2017).…”

A Systematic Review of How Multiple Stressors From an Extreme Event Drove Ecosystem-Wide Loss of Resilience in an Iconic Seagrass Community

“…The remaining 500 km 2 of seagrass meadows are dominated by the small tropical colonizing seagrasses Halodule uninervis, Halophila ovalis, Halophila ovata, Halophila spinulosa, and Halophila decipiens and opportunistic tropical species Cymodocea serrulata, Cymodocea angustata, and Syringodium isoetifolium. These tropical species have low initial resistance to disturbances but can recover quickly through seed banks, vegetative fragments, and rapid rhizome elongation rates (Sherman et al, 2018). There is also minor coverage by other persistent temperate species Posidonia angustifolia and Posidonia coriacea.…”