English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Background  Seagrass meadows are recognized as critical and among the most vulnerable habitats on the planet. The alarming rates of decline in seagrass meadows have attracted the attention globally. There is an urgent need to develop techniques to restore and preserve these vital coastal ecosystems. So far little work has been done to develop effective long-term storage method for seagrass seeds. The seagrass  Zostera japonica  Asch. & Graebn is an endangered species in its native range. Here we utilized combinations of different storage times, salinities, and temperature to determine the most appropriate conditions for optimal seed storage.    Results   Zostera japonica  seeds were strongly desiccation sensitive, with a complete loss of viability after 24 h of desiccation. Therefore, long periods of exposure to air should be avoided to minimize seed mortality. In addition,  Z. japonica  seeds could not endure freezing conditions such as – 5 °C. However, our results indicated that reduced storage temperature to 0 °C could effectively prolong the duration of dormancy of  Z. japonica  seeds. Seeds stored at 0 °C under a salinity of 40–60 psu showed relatively low seed loss, high seed vigor and fast seed germination, suggesting these to be optimal seed storage conditions. For example, after storage for 540 days (ca. 600 days since the seed collection from reproductive shoots in early October, 2016) at 0 °C under a salinity of 50 psu, seeds still had a considerable vigor, i.e. 57.8 ± 16.8%.    Conclusion  Our experiments demonstrated that seeds stored at 0 °C under a salinity of 40–60 psu could effectively prolong the duration of dormancy of  Z. japonica  seeds. The proposed technique is a simple and effective long-term storage method for  Z. japonica  seeds, which can then be used to aid future conservation, restoration and management of these sensitive and ecologically important habitat formers. The findings may also serve as useful reference for seed storage of other threatened seagrass species and facilitate their ex situ conservation and habitat restoration.

Optimal long-term seed storage conditions for the endangered seagrass Zostera japonica: implications for habitat conservation and restoration