Individual and population indicators of Zostera japonica respond quickly to experimental addition of sediment-nutrient and organic matter.
A manipulative field experiment was designed to investigate the effects of sediment-nutrients and sediment-organic matters on seagrasses, Zostera japonica, using individual and population indicators. The results showed that seagrasses quickly responded to sediment-nutrient and organic matter loading. That is, sediment-nutrients positively impacted on seagrasses by increasing N content of leaves and roots, leaf length and belowground biomass. Sediment-organic matter loading lowered N content of seagrass leaves and belowground biomass. Negative effects of organic matter loading were aggravated during nutrient loading, by decreasing N content of leaves, P content of roots, leaf width, shoot number in the middle period of the experiment, increasing C/N ratio of leaves, C/P and N/P ratio of roots and above to belowground biomass ratio of seagrasses. Consequently, Z. japonica could be considered as a fast indicator to monitor seagrass ecosystem status in the eutrophic areas and facilitate to interpreting the response of seagrasses to multiple stressors.
Hainan Tropical Ocean University, Sanya, Hainan, 572022, PR China; Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes, YICCAS, Yantai, Shandong, 264003, PR China. Electronic address: qyhan@yic.ac.cn.
Qiuying
Q
Han
Spatial Ecology Department, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ-Yerseke), P.O. Box 140, 4400 AC Yerseke, The Netherlands.
Laura M
LM
Soissons
Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes, YICCAS, Yantai, Shandong, 264003, PR China.
Dongyan
D
Liu
Spatial Ecology Department, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ-Yerseke), P.O. Box 140, 4400 AC Yerseke, The Netherlands; Department of Environmental Sciences, Institute for Wetland and Water Research, Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Heijendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, The Netherlands.
Marieke M
MM
van Katwijk
Spatial Ecology Department, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ-Yerseke), P.O. Box 140, 4400 AC Yerseke, The Netherlands.
Tjeerd J
TJ
Bouma
D018533:Biomass; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D035962:Zosteraceae / Q000502:physiology*
D014873:Water Pollutants; D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen
Indicators; Nutrient; Organic matter; Seagrass; Sediment dynamics