Effects of flooding on the Mediterranean Cymodocea nodosa population in relation to environmental degradation

Masturah Nadzari; Vasillis Papathanasiou; Soultana Tsioli; Frithjof C. Küpper; Sotiris Orfanidis

doi:10.1515/bot-2021-0106

Article

Effects of flooding on the Mediterranean Cymodocea nodosa population in relation to environmental degradation

Masturah Nadzari

Masturah Nadzari received her Master’s degree in Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Her interest in seagrasses grew from her previous works on seagrasses in Kuala Lawas, Sarawak in her home country, Malaysia, focussing on the distribution and composition of the seagrasses species. She studied the effect of monsoon on the seagrass coverage in Brunei Bay, the north-western coast of Borneo Island.
, Vasillis Papathanasiou

Dr. Vasillis Papathanasiou is a researcher at the Fisheries Research Institute, Nea Peramos, Greece. He has worked on the use of macrophytes as bioindicators of ecological quality and the development of monitoring protocols and programs. He has focused on the experimental study of stress factors and climate change scenarios on seagrasses and their distribution. He worked on the mapping and monitoring of seagrasses.
, Soultana Tsioli

Soultana Tsioli is a final year PhD biologist at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is a member of the Benthic Ecology and Technology Laboratory since 2009. Her research interests focus on ecophysiology of seagrasses, the impacts of global climate changes on seagrasses and systematics of seaweeds. The epiphytes of Cymodocea across a eutrophication gradient have been studied during her diploma thesis.
, Frithjof C. Küpper

Dr. Frithjof C. Küpper holds the Chair in Marine Biodiversity at the University of Aberdeen, studying the biodiversity and biochemistry of marine plants/algae. His research found that iodide serves as an inorganic antioxidant in kelp, the first known from a living system, impacting atmospheric and marine chemistry. A certified scientific diver, Frithjof has worked in the Mediterranean, South Atlantic (Ascension and Falklands), the Antarctic and the Arctic for algal diversity-related projects.
and Sotiris Orfanidis

Dr. Sotiris Orfanidis is a Research Director at Fisheries Research Institute and head of the Benthic Ecology and Technology Lab specializing in the biodiversity of transitional and coastal water benthic macrophytes and their eco-physiological interactions with the abiotic stress. Two biotic indices to assess water quality within the framework of European Water Directives were developed in his laboratory. He participated in National and European Projects, (co) organised symposia and workshops, and is handling editor in three international journals.

Published/Copyright: July 18, 2022

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From the journal Botanica Marina Volume 65 Issue 4

Abstract

Cymodocea nodosa is a common seagrass species of shallow and sheltered Mediterranean waters, where extreme flushing of plumes can occur during excessive rainfall. Cymodocea nodosa shoots were sampled from two habitats of Kavala Gulf, one nearly pristine (less stressed, Vrasidas) and another highly stressed (Nea Karvali), to study if flooding might negatively affect seagrass habitats. Photosynthetic performance of shoots from the pristine habitat acclimated better than shoots from highly stressed conditions simulating a flooding event. Indeed, a significant (p < 0.01) interaction between habitat and flooding on photochemical energy harvesting (ΔF/F_m′) values was found, with lower ΔF/F _m′ values in the pristine habitat under control conditions. Furthermore, based on relative electron transport rate (rETR) curves reconstructed from fluorescence-versus-irradiance data, shoots from the pristine habitat performed better after 18 days of treatment to flooding. On the other hand, shoots from highly stressed habitats grew faster than pristine ones, but their growth decreased similarly under flooding conditions. The implications for management and conservation priorities for this phenotypically plastic seagrass in the Mediterranean are discussed.

Keywords: chlorophyll a fluorescence; factorial experiment; growth rate; North Aegean Sea; seagrass

Corresponding author: Sotiris Orfanidis, Fisheries Research Institute (ELGO-DIMITRA), 64007, Nea Peramos, Kavala, Greece, E-mail: sorfanid@inale.gr

Funding source: Total Foundation

Funding source: Natural Environment Research Council

Award Identifier / Grant number: NE/D521522/1

Award Identifier / Grant number: NE/J023094/1

About the authors

Masturah Nadzari

Masturah Nadzari received her Master’s degree in Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Her interest in seagrasses grew from her previous works on seagrasses in Kuala Lawas, Sarawak in her home country, Malaysia, focussing on the distribution and composition of the seagrasses species. She studied the effect of monsoon on the seagrass coverage in Brunei Bay, the north-western coast of Borneo Island.

Vasillis Papathanasiou

Dr. Vasillis Papathanasiou is a researcher at the Fisheries Research Institute, Nea Peramos, Greece. He has worked on the use of macrophytes as bioindicators of ecological quality and the development of monitoring protocols and programs. He has focused on the experimental study of stress factors and climate change scenarios on seagrasses and their distribution. He worked on the mapping and monitoring of seagrasses.

Soultana Tsioli

Soultana Tsioli is a final year PhD biologist at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is a member of the Benthic Ecology and Technology Laboratory since 2009. Her research interests focus on ecophysiology of seagrasses, the impacts of global climate changes on seagrasses and systematics of seaweeds. The epiphytes of Cymodocea across a eutrophication gradient have been studied during her diploma thesis.

Frithjof C. Küpper

Dr. Frithjof C. Küpper holds the Chair in Marine Biodiversity at the University of Aberdeen, studying the biodiversity and biochemistry of marine plants/algae. His research found that iodide serves as an inorganic antioxidant in kelp, the first known from a living system, impacting atmospheric and marine chemistry. A certified scientific diver, Frithjof has worked in the Mediterranean, South Atlantic (Ascension and Falklands), the Antarctic and the Arctic for algal diversity-related projects.

Sotiris Orfanidis

Dr. Sotiris Orfanidis is a Research Director at Fisheries Research Institute and head of the Benthic Ecology and Technology Lab specializing in the biodiversity of transitional and coastal water benthic macrophytes and their eco-physiological interactions with the abiotic stress. Two biotic indices to assess water quality within the framework of European Water Directives were developed in his laboratory. He participated in National and European Projects, (co) organised symposia and workshops, and is handling editor in three international journals.

Acknowledgements

This work has been conducted at the Fisheries Research Institute (ELGO DIMITRA) as an MSc thesis of Masturah Nadzari at the University of Aberdeen with supervisors Prof. F.C. Küpper and Dr. S. Orfanidis. ΜΝ is grateful to Ms Konstantinia Nakou and Ms Olympia Nisiforou for technical assistance during her stay in FRI.

Author contributions: Masturah Nadzari: conceptualisation, experiment and analysis, visualisation, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing. Vasillis Papathanasiou: conceptualisation, experiment and analysis, visualization, resources, writing – review & editing. Soultana Tsioli: conceptualisation, rriting – review & editing. Frithjof C. Küpper: conceptualisation, writing – review & editing. Sotiris Orfanidis: supervision, conceptualisation, experiment and analysis, resources, writing – review & editing.
Research funding: FCK received funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC, program Oceans 2025 – WP 4.5 and grants NE/D521522/1 and NE/J023094/1). Both FCK and SO are grateful to the TOTAL Foundation (Paris) for funding within the framework of the project “Brown algal biodiversity and ecology in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea”.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.

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The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2021-0106).

Received: 2022-01-11

Accepted: 2022-06-14

Published Online: 2022-07-18

Published in Print: 2022-08-26

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Keywords for this article

chlorophyll a fluorescence; factorial experiment; growth rate; North Aegean Sea; seagrass