Root puppet masters: Infauna shift trait-productivity relationships in submerged aquatic vegetation communities.

ABSTRACT: Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) growth can be limited by light and nutrient availability. Infauna are common inhabitants of SAV meadows. Their activity increases nutrient mobility, and they can positively affect plant growth, but we do not know their role in plant trait-biomass production relationships. We approached this problem using a 15-week in situ transplant experiment in the Baltic Sea with experimental additions of Macoma balthica, a sedentary bivalve, to experimental SAV communities. Experimental plant communities were tricultures with varying species composition, compiled from a pool of six different species, to create an experimental gradient of trait community weighted means that allowed us to detect changes more clearly in plant trait-biomass production relationships

SUBMITTER: Angove C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11511661 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature