Differential coping capacities underlie the overall resistance of temperate seagrasses to herbivory

Overgrazing events impart long-lasting changes in vegetated ecosystems. How ecosystems respond to herbivory depends on the ecological and evolutionary histories of their foundational species. The overall functioning and biodiversity depend on these responses and there is still little understanding of the intensity and duration of how herbivory interact. We experimentally tested the change in three seagrass species with distinct life-history traits to increasing intensities of herbivory. Specifically, we assessed structural responses (i.e. canopy height and shoot density) to reflect the ecosystem state. Additionally, we used mechanistic models to assess induced and constitutive responses in the seagrasses. Results show that seagrasses coped with herbivory differentially in relation to their life-history traits. The persistent Posidonia oceanica was more resistant than C. nodosa (colonising) and Z. noltei (opportunistic/colonising). Seagrasses also differed in the type of structural respo..., , ,