Need for Mechanisms to Monitor Ocean Circulation‐Driven Seagrass Population Expansions

ABSTRACT Seagrass beds are increasingly degraded; however, their protection and restoration are still confined to localized marine areas, making it difficult to establish connectivity between differently protected and restored areas. One limiting factor is the lack of understanding of the processes...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhaohua Wang, Bin Zhou, Wenjie Yan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-04-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71087
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849419255494213632
author Zhaohua Wang
Bin Zhou
Wenjie Yan
author_facet Zhaohua Wang
Bin Zhou
Wenjie Yan
author_sort Zhaohua Wang
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Seagrass beds are increasingly degraded; however, their protection and restoration are still confined to localized marine areas, making it difficult to establish connectivity between differently protected and restored areas. One limiting factor is the lack of understanding of the processes and mechanisms contributing to seagrass population expansion at the ocean area scale, which is the main driver of seagrass dispersal via oceanic circulation. Coastal China. Taxon: Eelgrass (Zostera marina)Using eelgrass as a model species, we propose a strategy to resequence seagrass samples from different geographical populations, analyze the genetic structure of seagrasses by combining genomics and population evolution, construct and screen an optimal model of seagrass colonization history, calibrate the timing of colonization events, and thereby deduce the evolutionary history of seagrass populations. We constructed a three‐dimensional hydrodynamic model based on the FVCOM numerical model to clarify the seasonal changes in the surface circulation patterns of seagrasses in their natural distribution areas and to precisely locate the colonization pathways of seagrass populations by combining the history of population differentiation. This study elucidated the main proliferation pathways of the target seagrass populations and their physical driving mechanisms and provides a theoretical basis for the study of seagrass population evolution and their protection and restoration.
format Article
id doaj-art-20b3a6756372449c86aa5bef7b552c88
institution Kabale University
issn 2045-7758
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Ecology and Evolution
spelling doaj-art-20b3a6756372449c86aa5bef7b552c882025-08-20T03:32:11ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-04-01154n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71087Need for Mechanisms to Monitor Ocean Circulation‐Driven Seagrass Population ExpansionsZhaohua Wang0Bin Zhou1Wenjie Yan2First Institute of Oceanography Ministry of Natural Resources Qingdao ChinaCollege of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China Qingdao ChinaKey Laboratory of Mariculture (Ocean University of China), Ministry of Education Qingdao ChinaABSTRACT Seagrass beds are increasingly degraded; however, their protection and restoration are still confined to localized marine areas, making it difficult to establish connectivity between differently protected and restored areas. One limiting factor is the lack of understanding of the processes and mechanisms contributing to seagrass population expansion at the ocean area scale, which is the main driver of seagrass dispersal via oceanic circulation. Coastal China. Taxon: Eelgrass (Zostera marina)Using eelgrass as a model species, we propose a strategy to resequence seagrass samples from different geographical populations, analyze the genetic structure of seagrasses by combining genomics and population evolution, construct and screen an optimal model of seagrass colonization history, calibrate the timing of colonization events, and thereby deduce the evolutionary history of seagrass populations. We constructed a three‐dimensional hydrodynamic model based on the FVCOM numerical model to clarify the seasonal changes in the surface circulation patterns of seagrasses in their natural distribution areas and to precisely locate the colonization pathways of seagrass populations by combining the history of population differentiation. This study elucidated the main proliferation pathways of the target seagrass populations and their physical driving mechanisms and provides a theoretical basis for the study of seagrass population evolution and their protection and restoration.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71087colonization pathwaydispersaldriveevolutiongenetic structureZostera marina
spellingShingle Zhaohua Wang
Bin Zhou
Wenjie Yan
Need for Mechanisms to Monitor Ocean Circulation‐Driven Seagrass Population Expansions
Ecology and Evolution
colonization pathway
dispersal
drive
evolution
genetic structure
Zostera marina
title Need for Mechanisms to Monitor Ocean Circulation‐Driven Seagrass Population Expansions
title_full Need for Mechanisms to Monitor Ocean Circulation‐Driven Seagrass Population Expansions
title_fullStr Need for Mechanisms to Monitor Ocean Circulation‐Driven Seagrass Population Expansions
title_full_unstemmed Need for Mechanisms to Monitor Ocean Circulation‐Driven Seagrass Population Expansions
title_short Need for Mechanisms to Monitor Ocean Circulation‐Driven Seagrass Population Expansions
title_sort need for mechanisms to monitor ocean circulation driven seagrass population expansions
topic colonization pathway
dispersal
drive
evolution
genetic structure
Zostera marina
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71087
work_keys_str_mv AT zhaohuawang needformechanismstomonitoroceancirculationdrivenseagrasspopulationexpansions
AT binzhou needformechanismstomonitoroceancirculationdrivenseagrasspopulationexpansions
AT wenjieyan needformechanismstomonitoroceancirculationdrivenseagrasspopulationexpansions