Zostera marina transplants in Willapa Bay 2019-2021
Description
Hypothesis: Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is phenotypically plastic in morphological and demographic traits when transplanted across sand and muddy-sand (>10% mud) sediments within Willapa Bay, Washington, USA. Seedlings from a single site were back-transplanted and transplanted in sand and muddy-sand in May 2019, collected May 2020. Vegetative shoots from four sites were reciprocally transplanted among two sand and two muddy-sand sites in Jan 2020, collected Jul 2021. Summer shoot length was shorter at sandier sites. Rhizome internode lengths were relatively long at sandier sites, and also showed fixed differences being relatively short from one muddy-sand site in the reciprocal transplant. Survival differed more than branching or flowering across transplant sites. Data support the following publication: Ruesink JL, Boardman FC, Briones Ortiz BA, Jendry CR, Naish KA. 2025. Demographic and morphological responses of intertidal eelgrass (Zostera marina) transplanted across sediment conditions. Aquatic Botany, 10.1016/j.aquabot.2025.103904
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Steps to reproduce
Shoots were excavated and replanted by burying the rhizome in sediment. Shoots were re-located based on their position within quadrats or along transects, as well as colored zipties on the rhizome. In the field, shoots were measured for size (sheath length) and number of ramets, and flowering was recorded. At collection after 1-1.5 years, shoots were measured for maximum length, sheath length and width, recent internode length, number of branches within 6 nodes on the rhizome, and root:rhizome dry mass. Data were analyzed by comparing demography and traits across outplant sites, also accounting for source site.
Institutions
- University of Washington