Annual growth dynamics of Posidonia oceanica:contribution of large-scale versus local factors to seasonality

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 120:203-210 (1995) - doi:10.3354/meps120203 Annual growth dynamics of Posidonia oceanica: contribution of large-scale versus local factors to seasonality Alcoverro, T., Duarte, C. M., Romero, J. The seasonal growth pattern of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile was examined in 5 meadows in NE Spain to assess the relative importance of large-scale versus local factors in controlling the seasonal patterns observed. Large-scale seasonal forcing, resulting from changes in light and temperature associated with the solar cycle, was assessed from the coherence of seasonal growth patterns among the meadows and accounted for 46 and 43% of variability in shoot size and growth, respectively. The local component of seasonality, which results from local variation in environmental variables (e.g. nutrients, dissolved inorganic carbon, redox potential) was assessed as the differences in the annual time course of shoot size and growth among the meadows, and accounted for 9 and 12% of the variability, respectively. These results support the contention that seagrass seasonality is primarily controlled by the solar cycle, and secondarily by seasonal changes in the environment which are at least in part caused by the temporal variability of seagrass growth. This indirect link between light and temperature and local conditions needs to be taken into account to interpret correlations between such variables and seagrass growth. Growth . Primary production . Seagrass . Posidonia oceanica . Seasonality . Nutrients Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 120. Publication date: April 20, 1995 Print ISSN:0171-8630; Online ISSN:1616-1599 Copyright © 1995 Inter-Research.