Work

Importance of genetic diversity in eelgrass Zostera marina for its resilience to global warming

Year: 2007

Type: article

Abstract: Effects of global warming on marine ecosystems are far less understood than they are in terrestrial environments. Macrophyte-based coastal ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to global warming, because they often lack species redundancy. We tested whether summer heat waves have negative effects on an ecologically important ecosystem engineer, the eelgrass Zostera marina L., and whether high genotypic diversity may provide resilience in the face of climatic extremes. In a mesocosm experiment, we manipulated genotypic diversity of eelgrass patches fully crossed with water temperature (control vs. temperature stress) over 5 mo. We found a strong negative effect of warming and a positive effect of genotypic diversity on shoot densities of eelgrass. These results suggest that eelgrass meadows and associated ecosystem services will be negatively affected by predicted increases in summer temperature extremes. Genotypic diversity may provide critical response diversity for maintaining seagrass ecosystem functioning, and for adaptation to environmental change.

Source: Marine Ecology Progress Series

DOI: 10.3354/meps07369

Authors: A Ehlers, B Worm, TBH Reusch

Institutions: Max Planck Society, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Dalhousie University, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel

Language: English

Topic: Marine and coastal plant biology

Subfield: Oceanography

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life below water

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2039285362