Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Minguito‐Frutos, Mario
• Boada, Jordi
• Pagès, Jordi F.
• Marco‐Méndez, Candela
• Arthur, Rohan
• Adams, Matthew P.
• Alcoverro, Teresa

Titel

Species‐specific acclimatization capacity of key traits explains global vertical distribution of seagrass species

Ist Teil von

• Global ecology and biogeography, 2023-06, Vol.32 (6), p.976-986

Ort / Verlag

Oxford: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Aim The global vertical depth distribution of seagrass species remains poorly understood. Locally, the abundance and distribution of seagrasses is determined by light penetration, but at global levels each seagrass species has very distinct maximum distributional depth ranges, indicating that plant‐associated traits must also influence their specific depth ranges. Seagrass‐specific attributes, such as plant size or architecture, growth or reproductive strategy and their physiological and/or morphological acclimatization potential, have been suggested to be responsible for this variety of vertical distributions. We investigate here whether these species‐specific traits drive differences in the global maximum vertical distribution of seagrasses. Location Global. Time period Publications between 1982 and 2020. Major taxa studied Seagrasses (order Alismatales). Methods We tested whether the species‐specific maximum vertical distribution of seagrasses can be predicted by (1) their rhizome diameter (a proxy for plant size); (2) their functional resilience (growth/reproductive strategy); or (3) their acclimatization capacity. For the last aspect, we used a systematic review followed by meta‐analytical approaches to select key seagrass traits that could potentially acclimatize to extreme light ranges across different seagrasses. Results We found that vertical distribution is best explained by the species‐specific acclimatization capacity of various seagrass traits, including saturation irradiance (physiological trait), leaves per shoot (morphological trait) and above‐ground biomass (structural trait). In contrast, our results indicate no predictive power of seagrass size or growth/reproductive strategy on the vertical distribution of seagrasses. Main conclusions Across the globe, the ability of seagrass species to thrive at a wide range of depths is strongly linked to the species‐specific acclimatization capacity of key traits at different organizational levels.