RT journal article
T1 The morphometric acclimation to depth explains the long-term resilience of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa in a shallow tidal lagoon
A1 Peralta González, Gloria
A1 Godoy del Olmo, Oscar
A1 Egea Tinoco, Luis Gonzalo
A1 de los Santos, Carmen B.
A1 Jiménez Ramos, Rocío
A1 Lara, M.
A1 Brun Murillo, Fernando Guillermo
A1 Hernández Carrero, Ignacio
A1 Olive Samarra, Irene
A1 Vergara Oñate, Juan José
A1 González-Ortiz, Vanesa
A1 Moreno Marín, F.
A1 Morris, Edward P.
A1 Villazán Peñalosa, Beatriz
A1 Pérez Lloréns, José Lucas
A2 Biología
K1 Cymodocea nodosa
K1 Seagrasses
K1 Time-series
K1 Biomass
K1 Leaf growth and loss rates
K1 Meadow production
AB Cadiz Bay is a shallow mesotidal lagoon with extensive populations of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa at intertidal and shallow subtidal elevations. This work aims to understand the mechanisms behind the resilience of this species to gradual sea level rise by studying its acclimation capacity to depth along the shallow littoral, and therefore, to gradual variations in the light environment. To address this objective, these populations have been monitored seasonally over a 10 year period, representing the longest seasonal database available in the literature for this species. The monitoring included populations at 0.4, -0.08 and -0.5 m LAT. The results show that C. nodosa has a strong seasonality for demographic and shoot dynamic properties - with longer shoots and larger growth in summer (high temperature) than in winter (low temperature), but also some losses. Moreover, shoots have different leaf morphometry depending on depth, with small and dense shoots in the intertidal areas (0.4 m) and sparse large shoots in the subtidal ones (-0.08 and 0.5 m). These differences in morphometry and shoot dynamic properties, combined with the differences in shoot density, explain the lack of differences in meadow production balance (i.e. meadow growth - meadow losses) between the intertidal (0.4 m) and the deepest population (-0.5 m), supporting the long term resilience of Cymodocea nodosa in Cadiz Bay. This study contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms behind seagrass stability and resilience, which is particularly important towards predicting the effects of climate change on these key coastal ecosystems, and also highlights the value of continuous long-term monitoring efforts to evaluate seagrass trajectories.
PB ELSEVIER
SN 0301-4797
YR 2021
FD 2021-12
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/25718
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/25718
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 06-nov-2026