Shoot Growth and Seed Germination Characteristics of Zostera japonica for Eelgrass Bed Promotion

Abstract

To investigate the characteristics of shoot growth and seed germination of Zostera japonica a field survey and laboratory experiments were conducted. The field observed data showed that it is tolerant to a severe environment condition such as salinity variation and dry condition. The laboratory experimentsrevealed that increase rates of turion number, node number and rhizome length were governed by water temperature and salinity. The freshwater treatment to enhance the germination was found to be also effective for Z. japonica, which was found by authors to be very effective for Zostera marina, This study suggested that Z. japonica is suitable for the Eelgrass bed restoration in the eutrophic bay where the environment condition is very severe.