Biologically mediated modifications of the abiotic environment, also called ecosystem engineering, can significantly affect a broad range of ecosystems. Nevertheless, remarkably little work has focus...

Hydrodynamics affect and are affected by the presence of seagrasses. Previous studies have suggested that such effects could modify the capacity of these marine plants to cope with adverse environmental conditions. However, the direct impact of hydrodynamics on seagrass performance remains undemonstrated. In this study, the direct effects of current velocity on seagrasses were examined by cultivating single plants of Zostera noltii in 12 flume tanks with contrasting current velocities (0.01, 0.10 and 0.35 m s–1), while avoiding differences in other abiotic factors. Our results demonstrated that current velocity directly affects (1) dynamic plant parameters such as growth, elongation, recruitment and plastochrone index (PI), (2) the morphometry of leaves, rhizome and roots and (3) the architecture of Z. noltii plants. Growth, elongation and recruitment rates increased significantly with increasing velocities, whereas the PI was significantly reduced. The resulting morphotypes appeared to represent acclimation to hydrodynamic stresses: they had (1) an improved anchoring system and (2) a reduced risk of shoot breakage. That is, at high velocity, the root system was enlarged, the aboveground/belowground biomass ratio (AG/BG ratio) was reduced and the cross sections of leaves and rhizomes increased. [KEYWORDS: Seagrass ; Hydrodynamics ; Acclimation ; Plant morphometry ; Growth Flume tank

The hypotheses that (1) different seagrass morphologies may facilitate different nutrient uptake rates under similar hydrodynamic forcing and (2) this effect on nutrient uptake rates is spatially explicit, with the highest uptake rates at edges of patches, where currents and turbulence are highest, were examined under unidirectional flow conditions. Homogeneous patches (2 m long) of two seagrass species (Cymodocea nodosa and Zostera noltii) with contrasting shoot size and density were placed in a race track flume. ¹⁵NH₄⁺ uptake and hydrodynamic properties along a gradient from outside to inside the patch were measured at a range of current velocities (0.05 to 0.3 m s^‐1). For each velocity we also determined the height and bending of the canopy. Water velocity affected the ammonium uptake rate of both species. The almost double uptake rates of C. nodosa shoots, compared to those of Z. noltii, were mainly attributed to a twofold difference in the within‐canopy water flow (Q_c, m³ s^‐1). Spatial patterns in canopy water flow were highly correlated with spatial patterns in NH₄⁺ uptake, thereby explaining the 20% higher uptake rates at the leading edge of both canopies. The correlation between spatial patterns in canopy water flow and ammonium uptake rates underlines the role of canopy and patch configuration in determining the functioning of seagrass landscapes and their associated ecosystem services, such as nitrogen assimilation.

Salt marshes are very valuable and threatened ecosystems, and are challenging to study due to their difficulty of access and the alterable nature of their soft soil. Remote sensing methods in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer a great opportunity to improve our knowledge in this type of complex habitat. However, further analysis of UAV technology performance is still required to standardize the application of these methods in salt marshes. This work evaluates and tunes UAV-photogrammetry and UAV-LiDAR techniques for high-resolution applications in salt marsh habitats, and also analyzes the best sensor configuration to collect reliable data and generate the best results. The performance is evaluated through the accuracy assessment of the corresponding generated products. UAV-photogrammetry yields the highest spatial resolution (1.25 cm/pixel) orthomosaics and digital models, but at the cost of large files that require long processing times, making it applicable only for small areas. On the other hand, UAV-LiDAR has proven to be a promising tool for coastal research, providing high-resolution orthomosaics (2.7 cm/pixel) and high-accuracy digital elevation models from lighter datasets, with less time required to process them. One issue with UAV-LiDAR application in salt marshes is the limited effectiveness of the autoclassification of bare ground and vegetated surfaces, since the scattering of the LiDAR point clouds for both salt marsh surfaces is similar. Fortunately, when LiDAR and multispectral data are combined, the efficiency of this step improves significantly. The correlation between LiDAR measurements and field values improves from R² values of 0.79 to 0.94 when stable reference points (i.e., a few additional GCPs in rigid infrastructures) are also included as control points. According to our results, the most reliable LiDAR sensor configuration for salt marsh applications is the nadir non-repetitive combination. This configuration has the best balance between dataset size, spatial resolution, and processing time. Nevertheless, further research is still needed to develop accurate canopy height models. The present work demonstrates that UAV-LiDAR technology offers a suitable solution for coastal research applications where high spatial and temporal resolutions are required.