How Population Decline Can Impact Genetic Diversity: a Case Study of Eelgrass (Zostera marina) in Morro Bay, California

Seagrass populations are in decline worldwide. Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.), one of California’s native seagrasses, is no exception to this trend. In the last 8 years, the estuary in Morro Bay, California, has lost 95% of its eelgrass. Population bottlenecks like this one often result in severe reductions in genetic diversity; however, this is not always the case. The decline of eelgrass in Morro Bay provides an opportunity to better understand the effects of population decline on population genetics. Furthermore, the failure of recent restoration efforts necessitates a better understanding of the genetic underpinnings of the population. Previous research on eelgrass in California has demonstrated a link between population genetic diversity and eelgrass bed health, ecosystem functioning, and resilience to disturbance and extreme climatic events. The genetic diversity and population structure of Morro Bay eelgrass have not been assessed until this study. We also compare Morro Bay eelgrass to Bodega Bay eelgrass in Northern California. We conducted fragment length analysis of nine microsatellite loci on 133 Morro Bay samples, and 20 Bodega Bay samples. We found no population differentiation between the remaining beds in Morro Bay and no difference among samples growing at different tidal depths. Comparisons with Bodega Bay revealed that Morro Bay eelgrass contains three first-generation migrants from the north, but Morro Bay remains considerably genetically differentiated from Bodega Bay. Despite the precipitous loss of eelgrass in Morro Bay between 2008 and 2017, genetic diversity remains relatively high and comparable to other populations on the west coast.