Enric Ballesteros, Emma Cebrian, Antoni Garcia-Rubies, Teresa Alcoverro, Javier Romero, Xavier Font
Pseudovivipary, a new form of asexual reproduction in the seagrass Posidonia oceanica
The seagrass Posidonia oceanica is able to reproduce by asexual formation of plantlets directly in the inflorescence. Pseudoviviparous plantlets were observed during May 2004 in 26% of the inflorescences in a P. oceanica meadow off the island of Formentera (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean Sea). We do not know how frequently pseudovivipary occurs in Posidonia oceanica, nor the mechanisms triggering it, but this strategy can contribute significantly to short-distance dispersal and meadow maintenance, which is especially relevant in a species whose meadows can persist for thousands of years and whose colonization of new space occurs very slowly.
Botanica Marina, Walter de Gruyter
Print ISSN: 0006-8055
Volume: 48, 04/2005
Pages: 175 - 177
Show full article (external site)
Show all available items of this journal
Search
