Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Related Publications
• Parameters
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

Field experiment assessing the relative importance of genotype richness, genetic relatedness, and trait diversity on eelgrass performance.  41 genotypes across three tidal heights at five sites were collected in Bodega Harbor, California, USA in May 2012 and propagated in outdoor tanks at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory to produce enough shoots for deployment in a 15-month field experiment starting in the summer of 2013.  More details can be found in Abbott et al., 2017 and Abbott et al., in press.

Location: Bodega Harbor, CA. Latitude: 38.32353 N Longitude: -123.04778 W. 

Eelgrass collection locations can be found in the dataset: "Eelgrass transect information" https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/725435.

Physical and morphological traits of the eelgrass used in this experiment can be found in the dataset "Eelgrass traits" https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/725483 measured between March of 2013 and August of 2014.

BCO-DMO Data Manager Processing Notes:
* added a conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date
* modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions
* rounded all numeric values with more than three decimal places to three decimal places
* changed values "ND"  to "nd" indicating no data for BCO-DMO system compatibility

There is growing evidence that genetic variation within and among populations of key species plays an important role in marine ecosystem processes. Several experiments provide compelling evidence that the number of genotypes in an assemblage (genotypic richness) can influence critical ecosystem functions including productivity, resistance to disturbance and invasion or colonization success. However, these studies use only the number of genotypes as a measure of genetic diversity. Recent analyses of species diversity experiments show that phylogenetic diversity may be a more reliable predictor of ecosystem functioning than simply the number of species. However, such approaches have not yet been applied to understanding the effects of genetics on ecosystem functioning. While genetic relatedness within a species holds the potential to predict the outcome of intraspecific interactions, and the functioning of ecosystems that depend on those species, we currently have few data to assess the shape or strength of this relationship. The investigators will build on their own previous work, and that of others, in eelgrass (Zostera marina) ecosystems showing strong effects of genotypic richness on a spectrum of critical ecosystem processes. The investigators will ask whether genotypic richness, or - as in studies at the level of species diversity - genetic relatedness/distance better predicts ecosystem functioning? If genetic relatedness measures are better predictors, then what mechanisms underlie this relationship? Can genetic relatedness predict ecological relatedness?

Although the current focus is on eelgrass, the research should be applicable to many systems. The project will assess the relationship between genetic relatedness and phenotypic distinctiveness of a key marine foundation species and use manipulative experiments to test the relative importance of the number of genotypes in an assemblage vs. their genetic relatedness and trait diversity for ecosystem functioning. Specifically, experiments will:
(1) characterize the relationship between genetic relatedness and trait similarity among individual genotypes of eelgrass, including responses to experimental warming;
(2) compare the effects of genetic relatedness and trait similarity among genotypes on the outcome of intraspecific competitive interactions; and
(3) test the relative effect of genetic relatedness vs. number of genotypes of eelgrass on the growth of eelgrass, its associated ecosystem functions it (e.g., primary production, nutrient dynamics, trophic transfer, habitat provision, and detrital production and decomposition).

Seagrass ecosystems provide important services to coastal regions including primary production, nutrient cycling, habitat for fisheries species, and erosion control. Previous studies have shown these services can be compromised by reduction in the numbers of species of grazers or genotypes, but this study will allow a more predictive approach to diversity loss by integrating the effects of multiple components of diversity and clarifying the extent to which diversity effects can be predicted by the genetic or ecological uniqueness of component genotypes.