Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions

Seagrass ecosystems usually respond in a nonlinear fashion to increasing pressures and environmental changes. Feedback mechanisms operating at the ecosystem level and involving multiple interactions among the seagrass meadow, its associated community and the physical environment are known to play a...

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Autores: Marín-Guirao, Lázaro, Bernardeau-Esteller, Jaime, Belando-Torrentes, María Dolores, García-Muñoz, María del Rocío, Ramos-Segura, Aránzazu, Alcoverro, T., Minguito-Frutos, M., Ruiz-Fernández, Juan Manuel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/320492
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/320492
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia
Little neptune grass
Medio Marino
Gradient approach
Nonlinear responses
Photo-acclimative thresholds
Regime shift
Population collapse
Early warning
sea grass
light
access
oceanography
ecology
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network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditionsMarín-Guirao, LázaroBernardeau-Esteller, JaimeBelando-Torrentes, María DoloresGarcía-Muñoz, María del RocíoRamos-Segura, AránzazuAlcoverro, T.Minguito-Frutos, M.Ruiz-Fernández, Juan ManuelCentro Oceanográfico de MurciaLittle neptune grassMedio MarinoGradient approachNonlinear responsesPhoto-acclimative thresholdsRegime shiftPopulation collapseEarly warningsea grasslightaccessoceanographyecologySeagrass ecosystems usually respond in a nonlinear fashion to increasing pressures and environmental changes. Feedback mechanisms operating at the ecosystem level and involving multiple interactions among the seagrass meadow, its associated community and the physical environment are known to play a major role in such nonlinear responses. Phenotypic plasticity may also be important for buffering these ecological thresholds (i.e., regime shifts) as many physiological processes show nonlinear responses to gradual environmental changes, conferring the appearance of resistance before the effects at the organism and population levels are visible. However, the potential involvement of plant plasticity in driving catastrophic shifts in seagrass ecosystems has not yet been assessed. In this study, we conducted a manipulative 6-month light-gradient experiment in the field to capture nonlinearities of the physiological and population responses of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa to gradual light reduction. The aim was to explore if and how the photo-acclimatory responses of shaded plants are translated to the population level and, hence, to the ecosystem level. Results showed that the seagrass population was rather stable under increasing shading levels through the activation of multilevel photo-acclimative responses, which are initiated with light reduction and modulated in proportion to shading intensity. The activation of photo-physiological and metabolic compensatory responses allowed shaded plants to sustain nearly constant plant productivity (metabolic carbon balance) along a range of shading levels before losing linearity and starting to decline. The species then activated plant- and meadow-scale photo-acclimative responses and drew on its energy reserves (rhizome carbohydrates) to confer additional population resilience. However, when the integration of all these buffering mechanisms failed to counterbalance the effects of extreme light limitation, the population collapsed, giving place to a phase shift from vegetated to bare sediments with catastrophic ecosystem outcomes. Our findings evidence that ecological thresholds in seagrass ecosystems under light limitation can be explained by the role of species’ compensatory responses in modulating population-level responses. The thresholds of these plastic responses anticipate the sudden loss of seagrass meadows with the potential to be used as early warning indicators signalling the imminent collapse of the ecosystem, which is of great value for the real-world management of seagrass ecosystems.SI202320232022info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Postprintinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/320492reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)InglésCentro Oceanográfico de Murciahttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2022.105636info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/3204922026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions
title Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions
spellingShingle Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions
Marín-Guirao, Lázaro
Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia
Little neptune grass
Medio Marino
Gradient approach
Nonlinear responses
Photo-acclimative thresholds
Regime shift
Population collapse
Early warning
sea grass
light
access
oceanography
ecology
title_short Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions
title_full Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions
title_fullStr Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions
title_full_unstemmed Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions
title_sort Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Marín-Guirao, Lázaro
Bernardeau-Esteller, Jaime
Belando-Torrentes, María Dolores
García-Muñoz, María del Rocío
Ramos-Segura, Aránzazu
Alcoverro, T.
Minguito-Frutos, M.
Ruiz-Fernández, Juan Manuel
author Marín-Guirao, Lázaro
author_facet Marín-Guirao, Lázaro
Bernardeau-Esteller, Jaime
Belando-Torrentes, María Dolores
García-Muñoz, María del Rocío
Ramos-Segura, Aránzazu
Alcoverro, T.
Minguito-Frutos, M.
Ruiz-Fernández, Juan Manuel
author_role author
author2 Bernardeau-Esteller, Jaime
Belando-Torrentes, María Dolores
García-Muñoz, María del Rocío
Ramos-Segura, Aránzazu
Alcoverro, T.
Minguito-Frutos, M.
Ruiz-Fernández, Juan Manuel
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia
Little neptune grass
Medio Marino
Gradient approach
Nonlinear responses
Photo-acclimative thresholds
Regime shift
Population collapse
Early warning
sea grass
light
access
oceanography
ecology
topic Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia
Little neptune grass
Medio Marino
Gradient approach
Nonlinear responses
Photo-acclimative thresholds
Regime shift
Population collapse
Early warning
sea grass
light
access
oceanography
ecology
description Seagrass ecosystems usually respond in a nonlinear fashion to increasing pressures and environmental changes. Feedback mechanisms operating at the ecosystem level and involving multiple interactions among the seagrass meadow, its associated community and the physical environment are known to play a major role in such nonlinear responses. Phenotypic plasticity may also be important for buffering these ecological thresholds (i.e., regime shifts) as many physiological processes show nonlinear responses to gradual environmental changes, conferring the appearance of resistance before the effects at the organism and population levels are visible. However, the potential involvement of plant plasticity in driving catastrophic shifts in seagrass ecosystems has not yet been assessed. In this study, we conducted a manipulative 6-month light-gradient experiment in the field to capture nonlinearities of the physiological and population responses of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa to gradual light reduction. The aim was to explore if and how the photo-acclimatory responses of shaded plants are translated to the population level and, hence, to the ecosystem level. Results showed that the seagrass population was rather stable under increasing shading levels through the activation of multilevel photo-acclimative responses, which are initiated with light reduction and modulated in proportion to shading intensity. The activation of photo-physiological and metabolic compensatory responses allowed shaded plants to sustain nearly constant plant productivity (metabolic carbon balance) along a range of shading levels before losing linearity and starting to decline. The species then activated plant- and meadow-scale photo-acclimative responses and drew on its energy reserves (rhizome carbohydrates) to confer additional population resilience. However, when the integration of all these buffering mechanisms failed to counterbalance the effects of extreme light limitation, the population collapsed, giving place to a phase shift from vegetated to bare sediments with catastrophic ecosystem outcomes. Our findings evidence that ecological thresholds in seagrass ecosystems under light limitation can be explained by the role of species’ compensatory responses in modulating population-level responses. The thresholds of these plastic responses anticipate the sudden loss of seagrass meadows with the potential to be used as early warning indicators signalling the imminent collapse of the ecosystem, which is of great value for the real-world management of seagrass ecosystems.
publishDate 2022
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022
2023
2023
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Postprint
info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
format article
status_str acceptedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/320492
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/320492
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2022.105636
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15.812429

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