Eelgrass collection and transplantation data Washington State, USA

The dataset represents empirical data collected on eelgrass (Zostera marina) donor site recovery and eelgrass transplantation success in Willapa Bay Washington, USA. Our goal was to evaluate the effects of collection intensity on fringing and upper margin intertidal eelgrass beds and the role of transplant density and plot size in transplant success. We used 4 main approaches 1) we collected shoots from a low and high intertidal eelgrass bed and compared differences in their morphological traits, 2) we implemented a collection intensity experiment at a low and high elevation eelgrass bed and removed 50%, 80%, and 100% of the shoots from within plots and compared their rate of recovery back to reference plot densities, 3) we transplanted eelgrass shoots collected from donor sites into 4 different plot sizes (0.0625 m2, 0.25 m2, 1 m2, 4 m2) that were crossed with three shoot density levels (low: 25 shoots m2, medium: 64 shoots m2, high: 125 shoots m2) and tracked shoot retention within the first two month, then plot infilling and population growth one and two years post transplantation, 4) we assessed the establishment of an important ecological service (sediment deposition) by tracking changes in fine and organic particle accumulation inside our largest densest eelgrass plots and the adjacent non-eelgrass area.