KEXLY. FUSS, and HALL: TRANSPLANTING TURTLE GRASS 



Table 1. — Surviving transplants, successful transplants, and seasonal mortality of transplant- 

 ed plugs of Thalassia in the finger-fill canal and the control site, phase I, July 1966 through 

 August 1967. 



Method of 



protecting 



and anchoring 



plants 



Surviving plants 



Mortality 



Winter Spring Summer 



Inside concrete block enclosures; 

 Anchored in cons 

 Unanchored 



Totol 



Outside concrete block enclosures: 

 Anchored in cons 

 Unanchored 



Total 

 Grand total 



No. % No. 



Finger-fill canal site 



No. 



No. 



No. 



Inside concrete block enclosures: 

 Anchored in cans 

 Unanchored 



Total 



Outside concrete block enclosures: 

 Anchored in cans 

 Unanchored 



Total 

 Grand total 



40 



10 



1 Transplants survived but did not exhibit new rhizome growth. 

 3 Transplants exhibited new rhizome growth. 



the control area often filled with a heavy accumu- 

 lation of light-robbing algae, dead grass, and 

 other detritus, which quickly resulted in burial 

 and death of the entire transplant. 



ANCHORING METHODS FOR PLUGS 



Of the plugs anchored with tin cans, 50% 

 were successful at the control site, but only 15% 

 in the canal (Table 1) . None of the plugs plant- 

 ed in cans outside of the concrete-block enclo- 

 sures survived. Cans were thus ineffective 

 against currents unless used in conjunction with 

 the concrete-block current barrier. 



Plugs transported in polyethylene bags and 

 then directly transplanted served to evaluate the 

 effect of tin cans. We noted no adverse effects 

 from the metal in the cans. The ratio of suc- 

 cesses of unanchored to anchored transplants 

 was 3:5. 



The reasons for the rapid failure of plugs 

 with roots and rhizomes wrapped in burlap is 



unknown. Possibly decomposition products of 

 the decaying burlap, such as H2S, or toxic chem- 

 icals in the material caused the plants to die. 



ANCHORING METHODS FOR SPRIGS 



In phase II sprigs were planted with added 

 anchoring devices but without the aid of the 

 wave and current barriers. 



Construction rod was the most effective device 

 used to anchor sprigs. It was the easiest to 

 handle because all sprigs fixed to it were trans- 

 planted without rhizomes and were simply fas- 

 tened to the rod with plastic-coated wire and 

 inserted into hand-dug holes in the substrate. 

 Of the 12 sprigs anchored with rod, only the 6 

 that had been treated with the hormone NAPH 

 became established (Table 2). Sprigs that did 

 not survive failed early in the experiment and 

 simply disappeared, probably because they were 

 dislodged by water movement in the canal be- 

 fore roots were developed. 



277 



