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Article

Distribution of Charophyte Oospores in the Curonian Lagoon and their Relationship to Environmental Forcing

by
Vaiva Stragauskaitė
1,*,
Martynas Bučas
1 and
Georg Martin
1,2
1
Marine Research Institute, Klaipeda University, H. Manto 84, 92294 Klaipeda, Lithuania
2
Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu, Mäealuse 14, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Water 2021, 13(2), 117; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13020117
Submission received: 23 November 2020 / Revised: 29 December 2020 / Accepted: 31 December 2020 / Published: 6 January 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrology-Shaped Plant Communities: Diversity and Ecological Function)

Abstract

Lack of knowledge about distribution of charophyte fructifications and importance of environmental conditions in the Baltic Sea coastal waters fostered us to assess the spatial-temporal patterns of oospore bank in relationship with environmental factors in the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuanian part). We mapped the distribution of oospores in 2017–2019. The importance of environmental factors was determined by the cluster analysis and boosted regression trees. Four oospores species were recorded up to 4 m depth. The highest mean densities (58,000 ind·m−2) of viable fructifications were found along the eastern shore, where the densest charophyte stands were recorded. Viable fructifications showed a clear pattern of filling the oospore bank after the vegetation season and a depletion during the summer as they germinated. The distance from charophyte stands, salinity, bottom slope aspect, and wave exposure were the most important environmental variables. Full fructifications mostly occurred within <0.5 km distance from the charophyte stands restricted to flat and sheltered areas exposed to the northern and eastern slopes. Empty fructifications were mostly found within <2 km distance from the charophyte stands but their high density was limited to <1 km distance from the charophyte stands and on the northeastern bottom slopes and >1.5 salinity.
Keywords: oospores; gyrogonites; Baltic Sea; wave exposure; charophyte stands; seafloor topography; salinity gradient oospores; gyrogonites; Baltic Sea; wave exposure; charophyte stands; seafloor topography; salinity gradient

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MDPI and ACS Style

Stragauskaitė, V.; Bučas, M.; Martin, G. Distribution of Charophyte Oospores in the Curonian Lagoon and their Relationship to Environmental Forcing. Water 2021, 13, 117. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13020117

AMA Style

Stragauskaitė V, Bučas M, Martin G. Distribution of Charophyte Oospores in the Curonian Lagoon and their Relationship to Environmental Forcing. Water. 2021; 13(2):117. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13020117

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stragauskaitė, Vaiva, Martynas Bučas, and Georg Martin. 2021. "Distribution of Charophyte Oospores in the Curonian Lagoon and their Relationship to Environmental Forcing" Water 13, no. 2: 117. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13020117

APA Style

Stragauskaitė, V., Bučas, M., & Martin, G. (2021). Distribution of Charophyte Oospores in the Curonian Lagoon and their Relationship to Environmental Forcing. Water, 13(2), 117. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13020117

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