Pollen limitation may be a common Allee effect in marine hydrophilous plants: implications for decline and recovery in seagrasses

B. I. Van Tussenbroek, L. M. Soissons, T. J. Bouma, R. Asmus, I. Auby, F. G. Brun, P. G. Cardoso, N. Desroy, J. Fournier, F. Ganthy, J. M. Garmendia, L. Godet, T. F. Grilo, P. Kadel, B. Ondiviela, G. Peralta, M. Recio, M. Valle, T. Van der Heide, M. M. Van Katwijk

Pollen limitation may be an important factor in accelerated decline of sparse or fragmented populations. Little is known whether hydrophilous plants (pollen transport by water) suffer from an Allee effect due to pollen limitation or not. Hydrophilous pollination is a typical trait of marine angiosperms or seagrasses. Although seagrass flowers usually have high pollen production, floral densities are highly variable. We evaluated pollen limitation for intertidal populations of the seagrass Zostera noltei in The Netherlands and found a significant positive relation between flowering spathe density and fruit-set, which was suboptimal at <1200 flowering spathes m(-2) (corresponding to <600 reproductive shoots m(-2)). A fragmented population had ≈35 % lower fruit-set at similar reproductive density than a continuous population. 75 % of all European populations studied over a large latitudinal gradient had flowering spathe densities below that required for optimal fruit-set, particularly in Southern countries. Literature review of the reproductive output of hydrophilous pollinated plants revealed that seed- or fruit-set of marine hydrophilous plants is generally low, as compared to hydrophilous freshwater and wind-pollinated plants. We conclude that pollen limitation as found in Z. noltei may be a common Allee effect for seagrasses, potentially accelerating decline and impairing recovery even after environmental conditions have improved substantially.