Prediction of Zostera Marina shoot growth, leaf production, leaf area and shoot weight using the sheath length

© 2016 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. We examined the possibility of using the length of the outermost sheath (OSL) to predict values of different variables of Zostera marina (eelgrass), as our previous observations indicated a strong correspondence between eelgrass length structures (leaves and sheaths) and its biological and morphometric variables, i.e., growth, production, and leaf area. We first determined leaf growth and production by means of the Ibarra-Obando and Boudouresque (1994) technique, and then used correlation matrixes to explore the relationship between length of shoot leaves and sheaths, and the following variables: shoot growth (SG), leaf production (LP), shoot weight (SW = sum of weights of all leaves and sheaths in a shoot), and shoot leaf area (SLA) in order to predict them, based on a single shoot structure easy to measure in the field. Our results indicate that the OSL is a reliable and easy technique to measure a variable that can be used to predict the variables mentioned above on two-week and monthly periods. Then we must emphasize the importance to developing predictive equations for each study region as the only way to prevent over or underestimation of the variables of interest.