Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Resource Allocation And Sucrose Mobilization In Light Limited Eelgrass Zostera Marina, Teresa Alcoverro, Richard C. Zimmerman, Donald G. Kohrs, Randall S. Alberte

OES Faculty Publications

This study evaluated the ability of Zostera marina L. (eelgrass) to balance the daily photosynthetic deficit by mobilization of carbon reserves stored in below-ground tissues during a period of extreme winter light limitation. A quantitative understanding of the mobilization process and its limitations is essential to the development of robust models predicting minimum light levels required to maintain healthy seagrass populations. Plants were grown in running seawater tanks under 2 light regimes. One treatment was provided with 2 h irradiance-saturated photosynthesis (H_sat) to produce severe Light Limitation, while control plants were grown under 7 h H_sat, …