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Dryad

Single nucleotide polymorphisms, environmental data and R scripts used in the work: A donor registry: Genomic analyses of Posidonia australis seagrass meadows identifies adaptive genotypes for future-proofing

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Nov 21, 2024 version files 2.25 MB

Abstract

Globally, anthropogenic climate change has caused declines of seagrass ecosystems necessitating proactive restoration approaches which would ideally anticipate future conditions. In eastern Australia, environmental conditions in estuaries with meadows of the endangered seagrass Posidonia australis have warmed and acidified over the past decade and seagrass communities have declined in some estuaries. Securing these valuable habitats will require proactive conservation and restoration efforts that could be augmented with restoration focussed on boosting resilience to future change.  Understanding patterns of selection and where seagrass meadows are adapted to particular environmental conditions is key for identifying optimal donor material for restoration. We use single nucleotide polymorphisms and genotype by environment analyses to identify candidate loci under putative selection to environmental stressors and assess genomic variation and allelic turnover along stressor gradients. The most important estuarine variables driving selection were associated with temperature, water turbidity and pH. We developed a preliminary ‘donor registry’ of pre-adapted Posidonia australis genotypes by mapping the distribution of alleles to visualise allelic composition of each sampled seagrass meadow. The registry could be used as a first step to select source material for future-proofing restoration projects however, manipulative experiments will be required to test that pre-adapted genotypes confer increased resistance to multiple environmental stressors.