Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Orth, Robert J
• Harwell, Matthew C
• Fishman, James R

Titel

A rapid and simple method for transplanting eelgrass using single, unanchored shoots

Ist Teil von

• Aquatic botany, 1999-05, Vol.64 (1), p.77-85

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

1999

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Elsevier Journal Backfiles on ScienceDirect (DFG Nationallizenzen)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• In a large-scale eelgrass ( Zostera marina L.) restoration program that began in 1996 in Chesapeake Bay, a simple transplant technique was developed where single, unanchored shoots with rhizomes were planted by hand into the sediment at an angle to a depth of between 25 and 50 mm, allowing the more compact area of the sediment above the rhizome to assist in anchoring the plant. This method led to high success, as determined primarily by percent cover and shoot density at four transplant sites in two river systems, where 53 760 shoots were planted into 768 2 × 2 m 2 plots. The estimated total time to plant a single shoot using this method, including collection and sorting of shoots for planting, was ≈21 s. Survivorship in the first month was high (73%) and compares favorably with methodologies from other published studies. Percent cover increased rapidly from 12.3% to 18.0% over the first eight months to 24.2–38.9% after 20 months. Vegetative growth from a single shoot was rapid, with shoot densities similar to those of nearby, natural beds attained in one year or less (e.g., transplanted areas at eight months: 772 ± 203 to 1234 ± 419 shoots m −2; natural areas: 697 ± 256 shoots m −2). Despite the simplicity of this technique, it is fairly robust and complements the recent development of another simple technique ( Davis and Short, 1997Aquat. Bot. 59, 1–15) with applications for other seagrass species.