Tolerance and response of Zostera marina seedlings to hydrogen sulfide

Abstract

Populations of Zostera marina L., the common seagrass of Pacific Northwest shallow marine environments, has undergone local extinction in coastal embayment's where it has traditionally existed. Because the habitat created by these plants is important for near-shore productivity and biodiversity, declining populations and local extinctions can have serious ecosystem consequences. One possibility for the failures of population increase and re-colonization of embayment's with complete loss is an increase in sediment H2S. We designed experiments to test the influence of various H2S concentrations on Z. marina seedlings. To do this we immersed seedlings in five different concentrations of H2S (68μM, 204μM, 680μM, 2.04mM and 6.8mM) in 2010, and three additional concentrations (400μM, 500μM and 800μM) in 2011. Treated seedlings were consistently killed above 680μM. In addition, high doses (680μM, 800μM, 2.04mM and 6.8mM) of H2S caused depression of photosynthetic output, as well as causing Photosystem II to become inactive whereas Photosystem I remained active. At low doses of H2S (68μM) it appears that photosynthesis increases. Our observations also suggest that this plant may adapt to lethal H2S concentrations if subjected to multiple, but gradually increasing sub-lethal H2S concentrations. These results suggest that Z. marina seedlings are consistently killed at concentrations of hydrogen sulfide found in localities that have experienced declines and local extinctions, and ultimately can be used to explain the lack of re-colonization in these sites.