Ankel Manuel, Rubal Marcos, Veiga Puri, Sampaio Leandro, Guerrero-Meseguer Laura
Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), Novo Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
Plants (Basel). 2021 Oct 26;10(11):2286. doi: 10.3390/plants10112286.
Sexual reproduction in seagrasses is essential to increase their resilience towards environmental stressors, but its phenology is still unknown in some regions, limiting our knowledge about the recovery capacity of these ecosystems. In this study, the flowering effort, reproductive phenology, seed production and ability of germination of was studied for the first time in the Ria de Aveiro lagoon, Portugal. Flowering of in the Ria de Aveiro lasts from June to November, reaching a peak between July and August. All the meadows showed similar flowering effort and phenology over time. Comparing with other European populations, the flowering effort of in Ria de Aveiro lasted for a longer period, which could be related with the milder temperatures in summer and autumn and the great anthropogenic stress to which the meadows are subjected in the lagoon. The number of seeds produced and their ability of germination were similar among meadows and sampling periods, reaching levels similar to those of other European regions. Nevertheless, future studies are needed to determine the fate of the produced seeds in the field to have a better understanding about the natural recovery capacity of the species.
海草的有性繁殖对于增强其对环境压力的恢复力至关重要，但在某些地区其物候学仍不为人知，这限制了我们对这些生态系统恢复能力的了解。在本研究中，首次对葡萄牙阿威罗泻湖的海草开花情况、繁殖物候、种子产量和发芽能力进行了研究。阿威罗泻湖的海草开花期从6月持续到11月，7月至8月达到高峰。所有草甸随时间推移都表现出相似的开花情况和物候。与其他欧洲种群相比，阿威罗泻湖海草的开花期持续时间更长，这可能与夏秋季节较为温和的温度以及草甸在泻湖中所遭受的巨大人为压力有关。草甸和采样期之间产生的种子数量及其发芽能力相似，达到了与其他欧洲地区相似的水平。然而，需要未来的研究来确定所产种子在野外的命运，以便更好地了解该物种的自然恢复能力。
