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Environmental nutrients and tissue non-structural carbohydrate storage jointly drive spatial flowering patterns of seagrass
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DOI：10.1002/lno.70448.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Sexual reproduction is a cornerstone for sustaining the resilience of seagrass meadows, which are globally threatened by anthropogenic nutrient loading in coastal waters. However, how environmental nutrients regulate seagrass flowering remains poorly understood. To fill this knowledge gap, we surveyed 13 seagrass meadows across three regions along the eastern coast of Hainan Island in the South China Sea. This study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect effects of inorganic nutrients (i.e., water column and sediment porewater) on the flowering traits (i.e., flowering frequency and flowering intensity) of the seagrass Enhalus acoroides. Our results revealed contrasting effects of inorganic nutrients on seagrass flowering. Specifically, water column ammonium persistently inhibited flowering, whereas water column phosphate promoted flowering with an optimal threshold concentration of ~ 2.9 μmol/L. In contrast, sediment porewater nitrate + nitrite promoted seagrass flowering at concentrations above ~ 1.5 μmol/L, whereas water column nitrate + nitrite favored flowering at concentrations below ~ 2.5 μmol/L. Partial least squares path model revealed that inorganic nutrients had strong direct effects on seagrass flowering (|mean standardized effect| = 0.30–0.65) and indirect effects (|mean standardized effect| = 0.40–1.00) mediated through enhanced positive influences of belowground traits (i.e., non-structural carbohydrate [NSC] storage, C%, and biomass) and intensified negative influences of aboveground traits (i.e., NSC storage, C%, and biomass) on flowering. These findings elucidate the cascading regulatory pathways through which inorganic nutrients affect seagrass flowering and underscore the urgent need for targeted ambient nutrient monitoring to enhance the sexual recovery potential of seagrass meadows under ongoing environmental change.
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