Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Zostera marina population genetics in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, and implications for grass bed restoration

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Population Ecology

Abstract

Within Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, Zostera marina populations have declined by 62% over the last 20 years, and restoration efforts have met with mixed success. We have completed a microsatellite-based genetic investigation of eight populations of Z. marina within Barnegat Bay to determine whether the genetic stock origins of the plants used in management projects may affect restoration success. Additionally, we assessed the genetic diversity of Z. marina in Barnegat Bay to better understand its population structure. Clonal diversity ranged from 0.70 to 0.95 for the populations studied. Individually, Barnegat Bay populations are not genetically diverse, and there is also little divergence among populations. The Atlantic populations had mean Hobs values (0.20–0.34) that were far lower than the Hexp values (0.69–0.83). Also, the F IS values in all of the eastern populations indicate a surfeit of homozygotes over heterozygotes, suggesting a low degree of outcrossing in the Barnegat Bay populations. Six of the ten populations studied (Ham Island, Manahawkin Bay, Shelter Island, Marsh Elder, Harvey Cedar Sedge, and Long Island) show evidence of historical bottlenecks. Mean estimated F ST values would suggest that most alleles are undergoing moderate genetic differentiation, with values that range from 0.06 to 0.13. Oyster Creek and Sedge Island demonstrate the largest estimated effective population sizes and may be the most appropriate populations for use in future eelgrass restoration projects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Almasi M, Hoskin C, Reed J, Milo J (1987) Effects of natural and artificial Thalassia on rates of sedimentation. J Sed Petrol 57:901–906

    Google Scholar 

  • Bologna P, Sinnema M (2005) Submerged aquatic vegetation restoration as a technique for increasing water quality and reducing NPS pollution (project final report). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton

  • Bologna P, Sinnema M (2006) Assessing the success of eelgrass restoration in New Jersey. In: Treat S, Lewis R (eds) Seagrass restoration: success, failure and the costs of both. Proceedings of the conference. Lewis Environmental Services Inc, Valrico, pp 79–90

  • Bologna P, Wilbur A, Able K (2001) Reproduction, population structure, and recruitment limitation in a bay scallop (Argopecten irradians Lamarck) population from New Jersey, USA. J Shellfish Res 20:89–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Bologna P, Gibbons-Ohr S, Downes-Gastrich M (2007) Recovery of eelgrass (Zostera marina) after a major disturbance event in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, USA. Bull NJ Acad Sci 52:1–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Braeutigam A, Elmqvist T (1990) Conserving Pacific Island flying foxes. Oryx 24(2):81–89

    Google Scholar 

  • den Hartog C (1987) ‘Wasting disease’ and other dynamic phenomena in Zostera beds. Aquat Bot 27:3–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennison W, Marshall G, Wigand C (1989) Effect of “brown tide” shading on eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) distributions. In: Cosper E, Bricelj V, Carpenter E (eds) Novel phytoplankton blooms. Springer, New York, pp 675–692

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennison WC, Orth RJ, Moore KA, Stevenson JC, Carter V, Kollar S, Bergrsrom P, Batiuk R (1993) Assessing water quality with submersed aquatic vegetation: habitat requirements as barometers of Chesapeake Bay health. Bioscience 43:86–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiRienzo A, Peterson AC, Garza JC (1994) Mutational processes of simple-sequence repeat loci in human populations. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91(8):3166–3170

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ellstrand NC, Roose ML (1987) Patterns of genotypic diversity in clonal plant species. Am J Bot 741:123–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emlen JT, Stokes AW, Winsor CP (1948) The rate of recovery of decimated populations of Brown Rats in nature. Ecology 29:133–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falk DA, Palmer M, Zedler J (2006) Foundations of population ecology. Island, Washington

  • Fonseca M, Fisher J (1986) A comparison of canopy friction and sediment movement between four species of seagrass with reference to their ecology and restoration. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 29:15–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca MS, Kenworthy JW, Thayer GW (1998) Guidelines for the conservation and restoration of seagrasses in the United States and adjacent waters (NOAA Coastal Ocean Program Decision Analysis Series No. 12). NOAA Coastal Ocean Office, Silver Spring

  • Gastrich MD, Lathrop R, Haag S, Weinstein M, Danko M, Carone D, Schaffner R (2004) Assessment of brown tide blooms, caused by Aureococcus anophagefferens, and contributing factors in New Jersey coastal bays: 2000–2002. Harmful Algae 3:305–320

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hauxwell J, Cebrian J, Valiela I (2003) Eelgrass Zostera marina loss in temperate estuaries: relationships to land-derived nitrogen loads and effect of light limitation imposed by algae. Mar Ecol Prog Series 247:59–73

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hill WG (1981) Estimation of effective population size from data on linkage disequilibrium. Genet Res 38:209–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes AR, Stachowicz JJ (2004) Genetic diversity enhances the resistance of a seagrass ecosystem to disturbance. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:8998–9002

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson JBC, Michael X. Kirby MX, Berger WH, Bjorndal KA, Botsford LW, Bourque BJ, Bradbury RH, Cooke R, Erlandson J, Estes JA, Hughes TP, Kidwell S, Lange CB, Lenihan HS, Pandolfi JM, Peterson CH, Steneck RS, Tegner MJ, Warner RR (2001) Historical overfishing and recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293(5530):629–637

    Google Scholar 

  • Keser M, Swenarton JT, Vozarik JM, Foertch JF (2003) Decline in eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) in Long Island Sound near Millstone Point, Connecticut (USA) unrelated to thermal output. J Sea Res 49:11–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lathrop R, Styles R, Seitzinger S, Bognar J (2001) Use of GIS mapping and modeling approaches to examine the spatial distribution of seagrasses in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. Estuaries 24:904–916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luikart G, Cornuet JM (1997) Description and power analysis of two tests for detecting recent population bottlenecks from allele frequency data. Genetics 144:2001–2014

    Google Scholar 

  • Luikart G, Cornuet JM (1998) Empirical evaluation of a test for identifying recently bottlenecked populations from allele frequency data. Conserv Biol 12(1):228–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKay JK, Christian CE, Harrison S, Rice KJ (2005) “How local is local?” A review of practical and conceptual issues in the genetics of restoration. Restor Ecol 13(3):432–440

    Google Scholar 

  • Nei M (1977) F-statistics and analysis of gene diversity in subdivided populations. Ann Hum Genet 41:225–233

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen JL, Stam WT, Coyer JA, Reusch TBH, Billingham M, Bostrom C, Calvert E, Christie H, Granger S, La Lumiere R, Milchakova N, Oudot-le Seq M-P, Procaccini G, Sanjabi B, Serrao E, Veldsink J, Widdicombe S, Wyllie-Echeverria S (2004) North Atlantic phylogeography and large-scale population differentiation of the seagrass Zostera Marina L. Mol Ecol 13:1923–1941

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Orth RJ, Moore KA (1983) Chesapeake Bay: an unprecedented decline in submerged aquatic vegetation. Science 222:51–53

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Orth RJ, Luckenbach M, Moore KA (1994) Seed dispersal in a marine macrophyte: Implications for colonization and restoration. Ecology 75:1927–1939

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orth RJ, Fishman JR, Harwell MC, Marion SR (2003) Seed-density effects on germination and initial seedling establishment in eelgrass Zostera marina in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 250:71–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orth RJ, Luckenbach M, Marion SR, Moore KA, Wilcox DJ (2006) Seagrass recovery in the Delmarva Coastal Bays, USA. Aquat Bot 84:26–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pace ML, Cole JJ, Carpenter SR, Kitchell JF (1999) Trophic cascades revealed in diverse ecosystems. Trends Ecol Evol 14(12):483–488

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pickerell CH, Schottt S, Wyllie-Echeverria S (2005) Buoy-deployed seeding: demonstration of a new eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) planting method. Ecol Eng 25:127–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ploetz RC, Shepard ES, Crane JH (1988) Current importance of fusarial wilt of banana in Dade County, Florida. Proc Fla Stat Hortic Soc 101:256–259

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid R, MacKenzie C, Vitaliano J (1993) A failed attempt to re-establish eelgrass in Raritan Bay (New York/New Jersey). NOAA/NMFS/NEFSC, Woods Hole

  • Reusch TB, Stam WT, Olsen JL (1999) Microsatellite loci in eelgrass Zostera marina reveal marked polymorphism within and among populations. Mol Ecol 8:317–322

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reusch TBH, Stam WT, Olsen JL (2000) A Microsatellite-based estimation of clonal diversity and population sub-division in Zostera marina a marine flowering plant. Mol Ecol 9:127–140

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reusch TB, Ehlers A, Hammerli A, Worm B (2005) Ecosystem recovery after climatic extremes enhanced by genotypic diversity. Proc Natl Acad Sci 102:2826–2831

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schoen DJ, Brown AHD (1993) Conservation of allelic richness in wild crop relatives is aided by assessment of genetic markers. Proc Natl Acad Sci 90:10623–10627

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Short F, Burdick D (1996) Quantifying eelgrass habitat loss in relation to housing development and nitrogen loading in Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts. Estuaries 19:730–739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Short FT, Ibelings B, den Hartog C (1988) Comparison of a current eelgrass disease to the wasting disease of the 1930s. Aquat Bot 30:295–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tay Evans N, Short FT (2005) Functional trajectory models for assessment of transplanted eelgrass Zostera marina L., in the Great Bay Estuary. Estuaries 28:936–947

    Google Scholar 

  • Valiela I, Geist M, McClelland J, Tomasky G (2000) Nitrogen loading from watersheds to estuaries: verification of the Waquoit Bay nitrogen loading model. Biogeochem 49:277–293

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walker D, McComb A (1992) Seagrass degradation in Australian coastal waters. Mar Pollut Bull 26:191–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J (2005) Estimation of effective population sizes from data on genetic markers. Philos Trans R Soc B 360:1395–1409

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Williams SL (2001) Reduced genetic diversity in eelgrass transplantations affects both population growth and individual fitness. Ecol Appl 11:1472–1488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams SL, Davis LW (1996) Population genetic analyses of transplanted eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds reveal reduced genetic diversity in Southern California. Restor Ecol 4(2):163–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams SL, Orth RJ (1998) Genetic diversity and structure of natural and transplanted eelgrass populations in the Chesapeake and Chincoteague Bays. Estuaries 21:118–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright S (1938) Size of population and breeding structure in relation to evolution. Science 87:430–431

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright S (1978) Evolution and the genetics of populations, vol 4: variability within and among natural populations. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Drs. Brad Peterson, Ken Moore, and Rick Foster for their contributions of time and effort in obtaining Long Island, Chesapeake Bay, and Alaska eelgrass samples (respectively) for us. We thank Dr. Eric Minch of Merck Corporation for his biostatistical guidance. We also thank Lisa Campanella for her help in manuscript editing. This publication was supported by the National Sea Grant College Program of the US Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under NOAA Grant# NA060AR4170086 (JJC, PAXB). The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of any of those organizations. NJSG-07-670.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Molecular Biology, Montclair State University, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ, 07043, USA

    James Joseph Campanella, Paul A. X. Bologna, Stephanie M. Smith & Eric B. Rosenzweig

  2. Department of Science and Technology, Bergen Community College, Paramus, NJ, 07652, USA

    John V. Smalley

Authors
  1. James Joseph Campanella
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paul A. X. Bologna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Stephanie M. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Eric B. Rosenzweig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. John V. Smalley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James Joseph Campanella.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Campanella, J.J., Bologna, P.A.X., Smith, S.M. et al. Zostera marina population genetics in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, and implications for grass bed restoration. Popul Ecol 52, 181–190 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-009-0170-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-009-0170-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation