Assessing edge-effects in Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows: A multidisciplinary approach

Structural boundaries in ecosystems play an important role both in the context of seascape architecture, ecological processes and biodiversity. The Mediterranean Seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile is considered an ecosystem engineer species, forming habitats of great ecological value and providing many ecosystem services. This study aims to (1) determine whether there are differences between seagrass-sand corridors edges and the adjacent continuous meadow, and (2) investigate whether anthropogenic pressures can cause disturbances in the measured parameters along the edges and the meadow. We have developed a multidisciplinary approach combining plant physiology, faunal canopy community studies and seagrass structural parameters characterization. We performed in situ chlorophyll fluorescence measurements using a Pulse Amplitude Modulated (Diving-PAM) fluorometry in order to assess the photosynthetic rate of the shoots. Vagile macrofauna of the leaf stratum was sampled by a hand-towed net, and the major taxonomic groups were sorted, counted, and identified. Meadow’s biometric measurements and the epiphytic biomass were also determined. Regarding edge-meadow matrix, results have shown highest differences on matrix structural parameters such as shoot density and shoot type proportions. Shoot density was found to decrease in edges considerably. We found c.a to 60 % plagiotropic shoots on edges while in continuous meadow orthotropics were predominant (up to 90 %). Howerver vagile-fauna population densities and diversity did not differ significantly among stations studied, neither by sites. Photosynthetic rate and leaf surface values also did not show changes between edges and continuous meadow. However, results did show that plagiotropic shoots had higher photosynthetic rate than orthotropics, and also that epiphyte abundance sorted out to be much higher (up to 54 %) on edges.