by which seagrasses have been trans- 

 planted and the success of some of these 

 techniques, and to describe the problems 

 encountered in restoring seagrasses so 

 that the present state of restoration 

 can be assessed for application of the 

 Department of the Interior. 



METHODS AND RESULTS 



The major methods used for trans- 

 planting various species of seagrasses 

 have been (1) plugs, (2) turfs, (3) in- 

 dividual mature plants (turions), and 

 (4) seeds (see Table 1 for data of dis- 

 cussion below). A series of techniques, 

 such as planting seagrasses with various 

 anchors, chemical additivies, and shel- 

 ter, have been attempted in various 

 locations. 



PLUGS 



This method involves shoveling or 

 otherwise removing (by a posthole dig- 

 ger) a piece of sediment with seagrass 

 blades, roots, and rhizomes. This piece 

 is transported intact to the recipient 

 site where a second hole is dug and the 

 piece inserted with an anchor or covered 

 with sediment. Problems of this method 

 are that the donor site is damaged, the 

 process requires considerable manual la- 

 bor, and the transplants have only been 

 done interti dally or in very shallow 

 water. 



In a series of studies, the Florida 

 Department of Natural Resources attempt- 

 ed to plant Thalassia and Halodule in 

 Tampa Bay by plugging (Table 1). Kelly 

 et al. (1971) attempted to correct the 

 efforts of Phi 1 1 ips ' turf work by anchor- 

 ing and sheltering methods (Table 1). 

 Among 120 plants transplanted in a pre- 

 viously dredged canal, only 6 out of 40 

 of their experimental plugs, and 16 out 

 of 40 in the control area survived. Then 

 Van Breedveld (1976) devised a more suc- 

 cessful technique of plugs using a post- 

 hole digger. Success rates on the Van 

 Breedveld experiments varied from 0-100% 

 depending on the method that he used; 

 however, using the posthole digger with 

 a clump of sediment and planting in rows 

 of three in early spring was the most 

 successful method which had 100% survi- 

 val. (He also concluded that the uses 

 of hormones had not benefited the trans- 

 plants. ) 



Larkum (personal communication) in 

 Mortons Bay, Queensland, Australia, 

 transplanted plugs of Zostera capricorna 

 by digging plugs and placing them in 

 holes, achieving a fairly high estab- 

 lishment rate. 



TURFS 



This method is like sodding a lawn. 

 A piece of sediment and soil is cut out 

 and stacked for transport. Then a shal- 

 low trench, into which the sod is placed, 

 is cut at the recipient site. Phillips 

 in 1960 (Phillips 1974) planted turfs 

 (he called them sods) of Thalassia and 

 Halodule . He had no success with Thalas- 

 sia due to erosion by currents; some 

 success was achieved with Halodule . 



Ranwell et al. (1974) transplanted 

 Zostera noltii and 1. marina v. angusti- 

 flats near 

 rate of 



fol ia on mud flats near Norfolk, Eng- 

 land, with a high rate of success. Ini- 

 tial trial examinations were followed by 

 a second larger scale experiment, with 

 the planting of 1,950 turfs in 0.9 ha 

 (2.3 acres) in March. Zostera began 

 growing in the transplanted areas within 

 the next few months and some plants in- 

 creased by 50% within 6 to 7 mo. The 

 survival rate appeared to be about 100% 

 in the first year and about 35% after 2 

 yr. The Zostera flowered and fruited 

 and spread about two times the original 

 size in the area. 



Bachman in San Diego (unpublished 

 report) transplanted a small group of 

 Zostera ; however, success rates were not 

 reported. Larkum (1976) in Botany Bay, 

 Australia, transplanted Posidonia aus- 

 tral is and Zostera capricorna turfs both 

 in the field and in the laboratory. 

 These did survive although the success 

 rate was not reported. 



TURIONS 



Turions are single blade groups 

 with stem and rhizome attached. No at- 

 tempt is made to include the apical mer- 

 istem in a turion. Kelly et al. (1971) 

 reported planting individual turions 

 with the rhizomes removed. Eleven of 60 

 plants survived. In Washington, Phillips 

 made reciprocal turion transplants which 

 appeared to thrive and produced flowers 

 and seeds as well as initiating new veg- 

 etative growth in the upper zones. 



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