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Flowering and seed production in the subtropical seagrass, Halodule wrightii (shoal grass)

  • Joseph L. Kowalski

    Joseph L. Kowalski is a research associate at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas. He has studied the ecology and physiology of seagrasses and macroalgae for more than 20 years. Current research focuses on the impact of hyposalinity on the metabolism of seagrasses.

     EMAIL logo     and Hudson R. DeYoe

    Hudson R. DeYoe is a Professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. His expertise is in aquatic ecology with a focus on algal and seagrass ecology and human impact on aquatic systems.
Published/Copyright: May 25, 2016
Botanica Marina
From the journal Botanica Marina Volume 59 Issue 2-3

Abstract

Reproductive structures of the seagrass, Halodule wrightii Ascherson (shoal grass) are cryptic and ephemeral, but were found on several occasions at several sites over more than a decade in the subtropical Laguna Madre (USA). Structures align with descriptions for H. wrightii. Male, but no female flowers were found, but the numerous fruit-bearing shoots imply the occurrence of pistillate flowers. Mean seed bank density was 890 seeds m-2 (1900–5200 m-2). Sexual reproduction in H. wrightii is more common than previously believed and the seed bank reserve may contribute to its ecological role as a colonizer of disturbed sediments.

Keywords: flowers; Halodule wrightii; reproductive ecology; seed bank

Funding source: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

Award Identifier / Grant number: Advanced Research Program Grant #003658-419

Funding statement: We thank L.H. Hirsch for sample processing and thanks to Don Hockaday of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Coastal Studies Laboratory for his assistance and the use of the lab and equipment. We are grateful for critical review and discussion of an earlier version of the manuscript by Tim Glasby, Brigit van Tussenbroek, Jud Kenworthy, and to Patrick Larkin for comments on an early version. We thank two anonymous reviewers for improvement of the original manuscript. This research was funded by The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (Advanced Research Program Grant #003658-419) and a grant from The University of Texas-Pan American Faculty Research Council. This is publication number CSS 2016-02 of the UTRGV Center for Subtropical Studies

About the authors

Joseph L. Kowalski

Joseph L. Kowalski is a research associate at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas. He has studied the ecology and physiology of seagrasses and macroalgae for more than 20 years. Current research focuses on the impact of hyposalinity on the metabolism of seagrasses.

Hudson R. DeYoe

Hudson R. DeYoe is a Professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. His expertise is in aquatic ecology with a focus on algal and seagrass ecology and human impact on aquatic systems.

Acknowledgments:

We thank L.H. Hirsch for sample processing and thanks to Don Hockaday of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Coastal Studies Laboratory for his assistance and the use of the lab and equipment. We are grateful for critical review and discussion of an earlier version of the manuscript by Tim Glasby, Brigit van Tussenbroek, Jud Kenworthy, and to Patrick Larkin for comments on an early version. We thank two anonymous reviewers for improvement of the original manuscript. This research was funded by The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (Advanced Research Program Grant #003658-419) and a grant from The University of Texas-Pan American Faculty Research Council. This is publication number CSS 2016-02 of the UTRGV Center for Subtropical Studies.

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Received: 2015-11-26
Accepted: 2016-4-14
Published Online: 2016-5-25
Published in Print: 2016-6-1

©2016 by De Gruyter

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https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2015-0099
Keywords for this article
flowers; Halodule wrightii; reproductive ecology; seed bank

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. In this issue
  3. Research articles
  4. Influences of hydrozoan colonization on proteomic profiles of the brown alga Saccharina japonica
  5. Light and temperature requirements for survival, growth and reproduction of the crustose coralline Lithophyllum stictaeforme from the Mediterranean Sea
  6. New records and observations of macroalgae and associated pathogens from the Falkland Islands, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego
  7. Evidence for the proposed merger of Pseudobryopsis papillata with Pseudobryopsis myura (Bryopsidaceae, Chlorophyta)
  8. Description of two new species of Ochtodes (Rhodophyta: Gigartinales) from Caribbean Mexico on the basis of morphological and molecular evidence
  9. Molecular and morphological characterisation of Ulva chaugulii, U. paschima and U. ohnoi (Ulvophyceae) from the Persian Gulf, Iran
  10. Scrippsiella trochoidea cysts in recent sediments from Amur Bay, Sea of Japan: distribution and phylogeny
  11. Biomass and productivity of seagrasses in Africa
  12. Photosynthesis and calcification in two Halimeda species from Phuket, Thailand
  13. Short communications
  14. Flowering and seed production in the subtropical seagrass, Halodule wrightii (shoal grass)
  15. Plastid terminal oxidase acts as an alternative electron sink in a marine cyanobacterium Arthrospira sp.
  16. A taxonomic re-examination of Saccharina longipedalis (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae), an endemic kelp species around Lake Akkeshi in eastern Hokkaido, Japan
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