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Seagrass survival strategy in Peninsular Malaysia: A multi-species investigation of reproduction and dispersal

par Osborn, Amanda
Président du jury Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid
Promoteur Triest, Ludwig
Co-Promoteur Izwandy, Idris
Publication Non publié, 2021-09-17

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Résumé :

Seagrasses are a unique group of flowering plants that live completely submerged underwater in marine and estuarine environments. They provide important ecological and economic functions across the globe that directly impact human livelihoods. Climate change and anthropogenic factors are causing a worldwide decline in seagrasses, forcing populations to adapt to increasingly dynamic conditions to avoid extinction. Seagrasses have differing reproductive strategies that result from the balance between vegetative propagation and sexual reproduction. In this study, we investigated seagrass reproduction and life history traits of four seagrass species (Enhalus acoroides, Thalassia hemprichii, Cymodocea serrulata, and Syringodium isoetifolium) to improve our understanding of seagrass survival strategies. Species-specific microsatellite markers were used on shoots from four sites along the coast of Peninsular Malaysia. We compared the clonal diversity, clonal structure, and fine-scale genetic structure (FSGS) between species and assessed the genetic diversity and structure among populations of each species. We found that the contribution of sexual reproduction between species increased from T. hemprichii, to S. isoetifolium, to C. serrulata, to E. acoroides. The dispersal capacity within meadows increased from E. acoroides, to C. serrulata, S. isoetifolium and T. hemprichii, indicating that clonality increases FSGS patterns at the ramet level. FSGS on the genet level indicated pollen and/or seed limitation in dispersal distance. Fruit dispersal by C. serrulata and S. isoetifolium may contribute to the gene flow between two islands. The four species had varied levels of genetic diversity among meadows that can be recommended for conservation and restoration projects.