Plant species can be characterized by different growth strategies related to their inherent growth and recovery rates, which shape their responses to stress and disturbance. Ecosystem engineering, however, offers an alternative way to cope with stress: modifying the environment may reduce stress levels. Using an experimental study on two seagrass species with contrasting traits, the slow-growing Zostera marina vs. the fast-growing Zostera japonica, we explored how growth strategies versus ecosystem engineering may affect their resistance to stress (i.e. addition of organic material) and recovery from disturbance (i.e. removal of above-ground biomass). Ecosystem engineering was assessed by measuring sulphide levels in the sediment porewater, as seagrass plants can keep sulphide levels low by aerating the rhizosphere. Consistent with predictions, we observed that the fast-growing species had a high capacity to recover from disturbance. It was also more resistant to stress and still able to maintain high standing stock with increasing stress levels because of its ecosystem engineering capacity. The slow-growing species was not able to maintain its standing stock under stress, which we ascribe to a weak capacity for ecosystem engineering regarding this particular stress. Overall, our study suggests that the combination of low-cost investment in tissues with ecosystem engineering to alleviate stress creates a new path in the growth trade-off between investment in strong tissues or fast growth. It does so by being both fast in recovery and more resistant. As such low-cost ecosystem engineering may occur in more species, we argue that it should be considered in assessing plant resilience.

中文翻译：

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生态系统工程通过不同的生长策略，为植物的适应力开辟了一条新途径。

植物物种的特征在于与它们固有的生长和恢复速率有关的不同生长策略，这些生长策略决定了它们对压力和干扰的反应。但是，生态系统工程学提供了应对压力的另一种方式：改变环境可以降低压力水平。通过对两种具有不同特征的海草物种（生长缓慢的Zostera滨海种和生长迅速的Zostera japonica）进行的实验研究，我们探索了生长策略与生态系统工程如何影响其对压力（即添加有机物质）和恢复的抵抗力不受干扰（即去除地上生物量）。通过测量沉积物孔隙水中的硫化物含量来评估生态系统工程，因为海草植物可以通过给根际土壤充气来保持较低的硫化物含量。与预测一致，我们观察到，快速生长的物种具有从干扰中恢复的高能力。由于其生态系统工程能力，它还更耐压力，并且能够在压力水平不断增加的情况下保持较高的常备种群。生长缓慢的物种无法在压力下维持其站立种群，这归因于该特定压力下生态系统工程的能力较弱。总体而言，我们的研究表明，低成本的组织投资与生态系统工程以减轻压力相结合，为在强力组织投资或快速增长之间进行权衡取舍开辟了一条新途径。通过快速恢复和更强的抵抗能力来做到这一点。由于这种低成本的生态系统工程可能会在更多物种中发生，因此我们认为在评估植物抗逆性时应考虑到这一点。