Eelgrass Zostera marina in subarctic Greenland: dense meadows with slow biomass turnover in cold waters

B Olesen,Pb Christensen,N Marbà,D Krause-Jensen

doi:10.3354/meps11087

Abstract

This work was funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme, grant agreement No. 226248, Arctic Tipping Points (ATP), and by the Aarhus University Research Foundation’s (E-2009-FLS-5-41), Ecology of the Intertidal Zone in Greenland (ECO-TIDE)

Highlights

Eelgrass Zostera marina L. is the most abundant seagrass species of the northern hemisphere, and is considered a key species along soft-bottom coastlines
Eelgrass Zostera marina L. is the most dominant seagrass species throughout the temperate northern hemisphere, and knowledge on its distribution and production in relation to climatic conditions is relevant for predicting the future of the meadows
An analysis of published data on eelgrass leaf biomass and production across the entire species distribution range revealed that leaf biomass is not affected by either latitude or air temperature, whereas annual leaf formation rates are significantly lower in cold areas at high latitude compared to warm areas at low latitude

Summary

Introduction

Eelgrass Zostera marina L. is the most abundant seagrass species of the northern hemisphere (den Hartog 1970), and is considered a key species along soft-bottom coastlines. Eelgrass is distributed over a wide latitudinal range (~5000 km) from warm subtropical regions of the eastern Pacific (26° N, Gulf of California) in the south to arctic regions in the north (Ostenfeld 1927, den Hartog 1970, Cabello-Pasini et al 2003, Green & Short 2003). It has been observed as far north as the. It is likely that the cold summer temperatures at high latitudes limit the reproductive capacity and dispersal of eelgrass and thereby contribute to defining the northernmost distribution limit (Setchell 1929)

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Results

Conclusion