Intraspecific variation in landform engineering across a restored salt marsh shoreline.

ABSTRACT: Ecosystem engineers that modify landforms can be valuable tools for restoring habitat, but their use has frequently resulted in unanticipated outcomes. Departures from expectations might arise because applications discount the possibility that geomorphic processes are influenced by heritable phenotypic variation. We conducted a field-scale common garden experiment to assess whether shoreline erosion reflects intraspecific variation in the landform engineer Spartina alterniflora. Replicated plots on a shoreline denuded by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill were revegetated using plants from four genetically distinct sources: the local population, a nonlocal population, and two nursery stocks. We assessed variation in biomass, tissue nutrients, and functional traits alongside soil

SUBMITTER: Bernik BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7980261 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature