Zostera marina transplants in Willapa Bay 2019-2021

Hypothesis: Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is phenotypically plastic in morphological and demographic traits when transplanted across sand and muddy-sand (>10% mud) sediments within Willapa Bay, Washington, USA. Seedlings from a single site were back-transplanted and transplanted in sand and muddy-sand in May 2019, collected May 2020. Vegetative shoots from four sites were reciprocally transplanted among two sand and two muddy-sand sites in Jan 2020, collected Jul 2021. Summer shoot length was shorter at sandier sites. Rhizome internode lengths were relatively long at sandier sites, and also showed fixed differences being relatively short from one muddy-sand site in the reciprocal transplant. Survival differed more than branching or flowering across transplant sites. Data support the following publication: Ruesink JL, Boardman FC, Briones Ortiz BA, Jendry CR, Naish KA. 2025. Demographic and morphological responses of intertidal eelgrass (Zostera marina) transplanted across sediment conditions. Aquatic Botany, 10.1016/j.aquabot.2025.103904