Abstract
Eelgrass beds in coastal waters of China have declined substantially over the past 30 years. In this study, a simple new transplanting technique was developed for eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) restoration. To assist in anchoring single shoots, several rhizomes of rooted shoots were bound to a small elongate stone (50–150 g) with biodegradable thread (cotton or hemp), and then the bound packet was buried at an angle in the sediments at a depth of 2–4 cm. This stone anchoring method was used to transplant eelgrass in early November 2009 and late May 2010 in Huiquan Bay, Qingdao. The method led to high success. Three month survivorship of the transplanted shoots at the two transplant sites was >95%. From April 20 to November 19, 2012, the following characteristics of the 2009 and 2010 transplanted eelgrass beds were monitored: morphological changes, shoot density, shoot height, leaf biomass, and sediment particle size. Results showed that the sexual reproduction period of the planted eelgrass was from April to August, and vegetative reproduction reached its peak in autumn. Maximum shoot height and biomass were observed in June and July. After becoming established, the transplanted eelgrass beds were statistically equal to natural eelgrass beds nearby in terms of shoot height, biomass, and seasonal variations. This indicates that the transplant technique is effective for eelgrass restoration in coastal waters.
Highlights
Seagrasses, a unique group of marine submerged angiosperms, are widely distributed along temperate and tropical coastlines of the world, and they have high productivity and biodiversity and provide great ecological and economic values [1,2,3]
Several techniques for transplanting adult plants have been shown to be successful in establishing seagrass populations [16,17,19,22,30,31,32], and they can be divided into two categories
Ethics Statement No specific permit was required for collecting of the eelgrass Zostera marina L. from Huiquan Bay and Qingdao Bay, and for transplanting of the eelgrass in Huiquan Bay, Qingdao
Summary
Seagrasses, a unique group of marine submerged angiosperms, are widely distributed along temperate and tropical coastlines of the world, and they have high productivity and biodiversity and provide great ecological and economic values [1,2,3]. Seagrasses are prominent marine ecosystem engineers, or foundation species in many coastal waters, as they can significantly modify abiotic environment [4,5]. Increased interest in seagrass restoration in recent decades has resulted in the development of various transplantation methods using either seagrass shoots (adult plants or seedlings) or seeds [15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]. Several techniques for transplanting adult plants have been shown to be successful in establishing seagrass populations [16,17,19,22,30,31,32], and they can be divided into two categories. A stressor may be absent in a year but present the
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