Abstract
Spatiotemporal biometrics and population dynamics of a grass, Cymodocea nodosa were studied in relation to the environmental parameters along the Turkish Mediterranean coast during 2011 and 2012. Excluding the number of leaves per shoot and internodal distance, the grass densities and plant traits showed regional (four bays) and depth (5–20 m) differences; higher in Kekova and Kaş Bays, both on set of the rim current, compared to Finike and Antalya Bays were virtually devoid of the grass and rim current. This was studied at 5 m in exposure to the waves than the greater depths. The gravel content in the sediment also dictated occurrence of the grass. Density and plant traits peaked in late autumn and early-spring depending on water temperature, salinity and nutrient limitations, and were minimal during summer. Growth parameters of von Bertalanffy Growth Function (VBGF) were estimated for leaf width and sheath length, all convenient parameters for the function. Growth rate of both variables were the same (K = 0.57). Ecologically, Kekova and Kaş Bays had similar densities with high sand content and high nutrients of the surface waters, whereas Finike and Antalya Bay where the mud content was exceedingly high and high nutrients of the near-bottom waters, followed by relatively high content of the TOC. Sand and mud contents were correlated positively and negatively with the densities respectively along the depth gradients. The density and plant traits were distinguished between cold water months and warmer water months depending on physical, optical, chemical and sedimentary characters of the environment.
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Acknowledgements
The study was carried out within framework of a project “110Y232” funded by TUBITAK. We thanked all participants to the field and laboratorial works. We thanked K. Jason Unluata for editing English of the text. We thank anonymous reviewers.
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Erhan Mutlu received funding from Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, TUBITAK, “The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey” (grant no: 110Y232).
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Erhan Mutlu: Onboard works, Project administration, Supervision, Software, Data analyzes, Writing, Funding acquisition. Cansu Olguner: Onboard works, Laboratorial works, Measurements, Data entry. Yaşar Özvarol: Sample collection. Mehmet Gökoğlu: Sample collection.
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Appendix
Appendix
Descriptive traits of Cymodocea nodosa (modified from V. González Ortiz by Gutiérrez 2019)
Temporal geochemophysical characteristics (a and b) of a fixed station around “Üç Adalar” and PCA ordinations (c). (T; temperature, pH; pH, S; salinity, O; oxygen, D; density, N; N–NO2 + NO3, NH; N–NH4, P; P-PO4 of sea surface with prefix of S and near-bottom water with prefix of N, PAR; PAR, Sc; Secchi disk depth, Gr; gravel, Sn; sand, Md; mud, TOC; TOC, TC; CaCO3 of sediments)
PCA ordinations for spatial geochemophysical characteristics in the Bays (a) and in the bottom depths (b) (T; temperature, pH; pH, S; salinity, O; oxygen, D; density, N; N–NO2 + NO3, NH; N–NH4, P; P–PO4 of seas surface with prefix of S and near-bottom water with prefix of N, PAR; PAR, Sc; Secchi disk depth, Gr; gravel, Sn; sand, Md; mud, TOC; TOC, Ca; CaCO3 of sediments)
Spatial geochemophysical characteristics along the depth gradient (a–b) in the Bays (c–d) surveyed in August 2012 and PCA ordinations for temporal hydrographical characteristics (c). (T; temperature, pH; pH, S; salinity, O; oxygen, D; density, N; N–NO2 + NO3, NH; N–NH4, P; P–PO4 of sea surface with prefix of S and near-bottom water with prefix of N, PAR; PAR, Sc; Secchi disk depth, Gr; gravel, Sn; sand, Md; mud, TOC; TOC, TC; CaCO3 of sediments)
Leaf length frequency–histogram
Leaf length frequency–histogram
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Mutlu, E., Olguner, C., Özvarol, Y. et al. Spatiotemporal biometrics of Cymodocea nodosa in a western Turkish Mediterranean coast. Biologia 77, 649–670 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-021-00953-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-021-00953-0