Abstract
Seagrass meadows play an important role in marine ecosystems. A part of seagrass production is also exported to adjacent coastal terrestrial systems, possibly influencing their functioning. In this work we experimentally analyzed the effect of Posidonia oceanica beach-cast on plant germination, growth, and nutrient uptake of two plant species (Cakile maritima and Elymus farctus) that grow on upper beaches and fore dunes along the Mediterranean coasts. We compared plants growing in simple sand (control) with those growing in a substrate enriched with P. oceanica wrack (treatment) in laboratory. P. oceanica wrack doubled the N substrate pool and kept the substrate humid. Plants growing in the treated substrate grew faster, were twice as large as those growing in the control substrate, while tissues were enriched in N and P (Cakile by the 1.3 fold in N and 2.5 fold in P; Elymus by 1.5 fold in N and 2 fold in P). Our results suggest a positive effect of seagrass litter for the enhancing of dune species, highlighting its role for the conservation of coastal dune ecosystems.
Highlights
Seagrasses grow along the coasts of all continents except Antarctica, where they form highly productive meadows [1] which carry out important coastal functions [2,3]
Plants of Cakile and Elymus growing in wrack-enriched substrate were larger, developed a higher number of total leaves and exhibited higher AGRH and AGRB at the end of the experiment than did those growing in the control substrate
We found that P. oceanica wrack is related to the germination delay in both studied species even though the wrack exerted no influence on the final germination percentage
Summary
Seagrasses grow along the coasts of all continents except Antarctica, where they form highly productive meadows [1] which carry out important coastal functions [2,3] They enhance coastal biodiversity by providing a habitat to numerous species and a nursery for a multitude of vertebrates and invertebrates [4,5]. Seagrass meadows stabilize the sea bed and protect the coastline from sea erosion [6] They are hotspots for CO2 burial [7,8] and represent the basis of trophic chains for adjacent marine and terrestrial ecosystems [9,10]. P. oceanica ranks among the longest-living, forming millenary clones [12], and is one of the slowest-growing organisms in the Biosphere [12,13] This species is experiencing an overall decline throughout the Mediterranean basin due to local anthropogenic disturbances Because its ecological role in marine and terrestrial ecosystems and slow recovery time-scale, P. oceanica deserves special management and conservation attention [3], as the inclusion of P. oceanica beds in the EC Habitat Directive 92/43/EEC demonstrated [17]
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