Flowering and fruiting of Tape Seagrass Enhalus acoroides (L.f.) Royle from the Andaman Islands: observations from inflorescence buds to dehiscent fruits

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Published: Jan 26, 2023
Updated: 26-01-2023
Versions:
26-01-2023 (2)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8163.15.1.22494-22500
Keywords:
Mass bloom, meadow scarring, mixed-seagrass meadow, Swaraj Dweep

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Swapnali Gole
CAMPA_Dugong Project, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0511-8115
Sivakumar Kuppusamy
Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, R.V. Nagar, Kalapet, Puducherry 605014, India.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6938-7480
Himansu Das
Unit Head - Marine Threatened Species and Habitats, Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, UAE.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5947-2251
Jeyaraj Antony Johnson
Department of Habitat Ecology Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6089-6182

Abstract

 Seagrass phenophases are crucial in understanding their reproductive biology but are seldom documented. We studied flowering and fruiting phenophases of Enhalus acoroides from a mixed-species intertidal seagrass meadow in Ritchie’s archipelago, Andaman Islands, India. The estimated mean densities of pistillate and staminate flowers were 16.0 ± 12.0/ m2 and 12.7 ± 7.3/ m2, respectively. We observed the bloom of free-floating male flowers (961.7 ± 360.4/ m2) during the spring low tides (at mean sea surface temperature ~30°C). Seagrass cover, shoot density, and canopy height of E. acoroides, along with flowering densities, showed a zonal variation within the sampled meadow. We report the first-time observations of several phenophases of E. acoroides, such as female inflorescence buds, male inflorescence, a bloom of released male flowers, pollination, and fertilized flowers from the Indian waters. We also report the prevailing threats to seagrass meadows, such as meadow scarring done by boat anchorage in the Andaman Islands. 

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 15 No. 1 (2023)
Section
Communications
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