Assessing Genetic Diversity within Natural Populations of Smooth Cordgrass to Ensure Effective Restoration Efforts.

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is one of the most biodiverse estuary systems in North America making it a conservation priority and the focus of many restoration efforts. Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) is a keystone species and indicator for ecosystem health that naturally occurs along the shorelines of the IRL. Spartina alterniflora is often used in shoreline restoration due to its extensive rooting capacity and ability to halt shoreline loss. Clonal species, such as S. alterniflora, are easy to raise with regard to the number of clones reared, but using clonal species for restoration may lead to a lack of genetic diversity and adaptability that could lead to ecosystem collapse. If the genetic makeup of the transplanted samples is not taken into account then the founded population is likely to be genetically depauperate. To understand whether restored populations exhibit natural levels of genetic variation, we quantified the genetic diversity present within natural and restored S. alterniflora populations within the IRL using microsatellite genetic markers. We found that there multiple loci exhibit heterozygote excess and heterozygote deficiency in restored populations, which may be due to the use of clone propagates in restored populations. Additionally, we identified that allelic richness and gene diversity are higher in natural than restored populations. Overall, this study allowed us to identify that our current method for selection of transplant individuals has decreased diversity in restored populations compared to natural populations, however the long-term impact of this loss of diversity is yet to be determined