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New aspect in seagrass acclimation: leaf mechanical properties vary spatially and seasonally in the temperate species Cymodocea nodosa Ucria (Ascherson)

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An Erratum to this article was published on 10 March 2013

Abstract

Seagrasses may acclimate to environmental heterogeneity through phenotypic plasticity. In contrast to leaf morphology, which has been a central point in seagrass acclimation studies, plasticity in leaf biomechanics and fibre content is poorly understood, despite being crucial in plant ecological performance, especially regarding physical forces. We hypothesised that mechanical traits (e.g. breaking force, strength, toughness, and stiffness) and fibre content of seagrass leaves vary as morphology does under differential environments. Cymodocea nodosa was seasonally monitored at three locations around Cádiz Bay (southern Spain) with hydrodynamic regime as the most noticeable difference between them. Leaves showed plasticity in both morphology and mechanical traits, with wave-exposed individuals presenting short but extensible and tough leaves. Leaf fibre content was invariant along the year and with little spatial variability. Cross-sectional area rather than material properties or fibre content differentiates leaf mechanical resistance. Seagrass capacity to thrive under a range of mechanical forces may be dictated by their plasticity in morpho-biomechanical traits, a key element for the hydrodynamical performance and, hence, for species colonisation and distribution.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the projects: CTM2008-00012/MAR (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spanish Government) and P08-RMN-03783 (Junta de Andalucía Excellent Project). We are grateful to the lab-mates who help us with the plant collection, to M. Lara and J. Benavente for providing hydrodynamic data of the study areas, and G. Peralta for the discussion on preliminary results. The first author is specially thankful to Y. Onoda for his teaching on different issues about biomechanics, fibre analysis, and statistics.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Cádiz, PO Box 40, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain

    Carmen B. de los Santos, Fernando G. Brun, Juan J. Vergara & José Lucas Pérez-Lloréns

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  1. Carmen B. de los Santos
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  2. Fernando G. Brun
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  3. Juan J. Vergara
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  4. José Lucas Pérez-Lloréns
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Correspondence to Carmen B. de los Santos.

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Communicated by K. Bischof.

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de los Santos, C.B., Brun, F.G., Vergara, J.J. et al. New aspect in seagrass acclimation: leaf mechanical properties vary spatially and seasonally in the temperate species Cymodocea nodosa Ucria (Ascherson). Mar Biol 160, 1083–1093 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-2159-3

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