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- A tale of two spartinas: Climatic, photobiological and isotopic insights on the fitness of non-indigenous versus native speciesPublication . Duarte, Bernardo; Baeta, Alexandra; Rousseau-Gueutin, M.; Ainouche, M.; Marques, J. C.; Caçador, IsabelSalt marshes are facing a new threat: the invasion by non-indigenous species (NIS), Although its introduction time is not established yet, in 1999 Spartina versicolor was already identified as a NIS in the Mediterranean marshes, significantly spreading its area of colonization. Using the Mediterranean native Spartina maritima as a reference, the present research studied the ecophysiological fitness of this NIS in its new environment, as a tool to understand its potential invasiveness. It was found that Spartina versicolor had a stable photobiological pattern, with only minor fluctuations during an annual cycle, and lower efficiencies comparated to S. maritima. The NIS seems to be rather insensitive to the observed abiotic factors fluctuations (salinity and pH of the sediment), and thus contrasts with the native S. maritima, known to be salinity dependent with higher productivity values in higher salinity environments. Most of the differences observed between the photobiology of these species could be explained by their nitrogen nutrition (here evaluated by the δ15N stable isotope) and directly related with the Mediterranean climate. Enhanced by a higher N availability during winter, the primary production of S. maritima which lead to dilution of the foliar δ15N concentration in the newly formed biomass, similarly to what is observed along a rainfall gradient. On the other hand, S. versicolor showed an increased δ15N in its tissues along the annual rainfall gradient, probably due to a δ15N concentration effect during low biomass production periods (winter and autumn). Together with the photobiological traits, these isotopic data point out to a climatic misfit of S. versicolor to the Mediterranean climate compared to the native S. maritima. This appears to be the major constrain shaping the ecophysiological fitness of this NIS, its primary production and consequently, its spreading rate along the Mediterranean marshes.
- Atmospheric CO2 enrichment effect on the Cu-tolerance of the C4 cordgrass Spartina densifloraPublication . Pérez-Romero, Jesús Alberto; Idaszkin, Yanina Lorena; Duarte, Bernardo; Baeta, Alexandra; MARQUES, JOÃO CARLOS; Redondo-Gómez, Susana; Caçador, Isabel; Mateos-Naranjo, EnriqueA glasshouse experiment was designed to investigate the effect of the co-occurrence of 400 and 700ppm CO2 at 0, 15 and 45mM Cu on the Cu-tolerance of C4 cordgrass species Spartina densiflora, by measuring growth, gas exchange, efficiency of PSII, pigments profiles, antioxidative enzyme activities and nutritional balance. Our results revealed that the rising atmospheric CO2 mitigated growth reduction imposed by Cu in plants grown at 45mM Cu, leading to leaf Cu concentration bellow than 270mgKg-1 Cu, caused by an evident dilution effect. On the other hand, non-CO2 enrichment plants showed leaf Cu concentration values up to 737.5mgKg-1 Cu. Furthermore, improved growth was associated with higher net photosynthetic rate (AN). The beneficial effect of rising CO2 on photosynthetic apparatus seems to be associated with a reduction of stomatal limitation imposed by Cu excess, which allowed these plants to maintain greater iWUE values. Also, plants grown at 45mM Cu and 700ppm CO2, showed higher ETR values and lower energy dissipation, which could be linked with an induction of Rubisco carboxylation and supported by the recorded amelioration of N imbalance. Furthermore, higher ETR values under CO2 enrichment could lead to an additional consumption of reducing equivalents. Idea that was reflected in the lower values of ETRmax/AN ratio, malondialdehyde (MDA) and ascorbate peroxidase (APx), guaiacol peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities under Cu excess, which could indicate a lower production of ROS species under elevated CO2 concentration, due to a better use of absorbed energy.