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Article Review

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Article Review

The article discusses the pollination process of seagrass meadows, specifically Thalassia

testudinum, and the role of invertebrate fauna in this process. The authors conducted experiments

to demonstrate that the invertebrate fauna visiting the seagrass comply with the four prerequisites

to be considered pollinators. The pollination process involves the drifting fauna approaching the

mucilage-pollen mass of the male flowers. The fauna forages on this mass, and some pollen

grains remain attached to their body parts due to the sticky nature of mucilage. The fauna

removed from the flower by water movement is then captured by the tentacle-like stigmas of the

female flowers, and pollen grains are deposited to subsequently germinate, forming pollen tubes

(Van Tussenbroek et al., 2016). The mucilage of the male flowers forms a cloud when dissolving

in the water, increasing the viscosity of the water and decreasing flow velocity.

The Van Tussenbroek et al. (2016) article chronicles research exploring the importance

of invertebrate fauna in the pollination of seagrass meadows. To replicate natural circumstances,

mesocosms were employed, and the behavior of these creatures was observed as they visited the

seagrasses. Additionally, experiments were performed to measure whether female flowers held a

greater pull than male counterparts for attractant purposes. Statistical analysis was conducted to

determine that there is no correlation between portions of the plant and the number of visits from

each type. Moreover, it was shown, via rejection of the null hypothesis, that water movement

impacts pollen tube abundance in female plants. Notably, boxplots demonstrated varying

numbers of added/removed pollen grains on Thalassia testudinum stigmas during an initial

aquarium experiment inclusive or devoid of fauna presence.

The authors argue that the role of invertebrate fauna in the pollination process of seagrass

meadows has been overlooked and that conservation efforts should consider this. The authors
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suggest that the loss of invertebrate fauna due to human activities such as overfishing and

pollution could have a negative impact on the pollination process of seagrass meadows. The

authors also suggest that the findings could have implications for the conservation of other

marine ecosystems. Overall, this article provides valuable insights into the pollination process of

seagrass meadows and the role of invertebrate fauna in this process.

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References

Van Tussenbroek, B. I., Villamil, N., Márquez-Guzmán, J., Wong, R., Monroy-

Velázquez, L. V., & Solis-Weiss, V. (2016). Experimental evidence of pollination in

marine flowers by invertebrate fauna. Nature

Communications, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12980