%0 Journal Article 
%A Jiménez Ramos, Rocío
%A Egea Tinoco, Luis Gonzalo
%A Pérez-Estrada, Claudia J.
%A Balart, Eduardo F.
%A Vergara Oñate, Juan José
%A Brun Murillo, Fernando Guillermo
%T Patch age alters seagrass response mechanisms to herbivory damage
%D 2024
%@ 1879-0291

%U http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32936
%X Natural disturbances can produce a mosaic of seagrass patches of different ages, which may affect the response to herbivory. These pressures can have consequences for plant performance. To assess how seagrass patch age affects the response to herbivory, we simulated the effect of herbivory by clipping leaves of Halodule wrightii in patches of 2, 4 and 6 years. All clipped plants showed ability to compensate herbivory by increasing leaf growth rate (on average 4.5-fold). The oldest patches showed resistance response by increasing phenolic compounds (1.2-fold). Contrastingly, the concentration of phenolics decreased in the youngest patches (0.26-fold), although they had a similar leaf carbon content to controls. These results suggest that younger plants facing herbivory pressure reallocate their phenolic compounds towards primary metabolism. Results confirm the H. wrightii tolerance to herbivory damage and provides evidence of age-dependent compensatory responses, which may have consequences for seagrass colonization and growth in perturbed habitats.
%K Seagrass
%K Halodule wrightii
%K Ecosystem disturbance
%K Habitat loss and fragmentation
%K Food webs
%K Grazing
%K Plant–herbivore interactions
%K Ontogeny
%K Phenolic compounds
%K Gulf of California
%~ Universidad de Cádiz