The resilience of an ecological unit encompasses resistance during adverse conditions and the capacity to recover. We adopted a ‘resistance-recovery’ framework to experimentally partition the resilience of a foundation species (the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa). The shoot abundances of nine seagrass meadows were followed before, during and after simulated light reduction conditions. We determined the significance of ecological, environmental and genetic drivers on seagrass resistance (% of shoots retained during the light deprivation treatments) and recovery (duration from the end of the perturbed state back to initial conditions). To identify whether seagrass recovery was linearly related to prior resistance, we then established the connection between trajectories of resistance and recovery. Finally, we assessed whether recovery patterns were affected by biological drivers (production of sexual products—seeds—and asexual propagation) at the meadow-scale. Resistance to shading significantly increased with the genetic diversity of the meadow and seagrass recovery was conditioned by initial resistance during shading. A threshold in resistance (here, at a ca. 70% of shoot abundances retained during the light deprivation treatments) denoted a critical point that considerably delays seagrass recovery if overpassed. Seed densities, but not rhizome elongation rates, were higher in meadows that exhibited large resistance and quick recovery, which correlated positively with meadow genetic diversity. Our results highlight the critical role of resistance to a disturbance for persistence of a marine foundation species. Estimation of critical trade-offs between seagrass resistance and recovery is a promising field of research to better manage impacts on seagrass meadows.

生态单位的复原力包括不利条件下的抵抗力和恢复能力。我们采用了“抗性-恢复”框架，以实验方式划分基础物种（海草Cymodocea nodosa）。在模拟减光条件之前，之中和之后，对9个海草草甸的枝条丰度进行了跟踪。我们确定了生态，环境和遗传驱动因素对海草抗性（光剥夺处理期间保留的芽的百分比）和恢复（从扰动状态结束到初始状态的持续时间）的重要性。为了确定海草的恢复是否与先前的抵抗力呈线性关系，然后我们建立了抵抗力和恢复轨迹之间的联系。最后，我们评估了草甸规模上的恢复模式是否受到生物驱动因素（有性产品的产生-种子和无性繁殖）的影响。遮阳的抗性随草地的遗传多样性而显着增加，而海草的恢复受遮阳期间的初始抗性影响。抵抗力的阈值（此处为光剥夺处理期间保留的枝条丰度的约70％）表示一个临界点，如果超过该临界点，海草的恢复将大大延迟。在具有较大抗性和快速恢复性的草地上，种子密度较高，而根茎伸长率则不高，这与草地遗传多样性呈正相关。我们的结果凸显了抵抗干扰对海洋基础物种的持久性的关键作用。估计海草抗性和恢复之间的关键权衡是一个有前途的研究领域，可以更好地管理对海草草甸的影响。抵抗力的阈值（此处为光剥夺处理期间保留的枝条丰度的约70％）表示一个临界点，如果超过该临界点，海草的恢复将大大延迟。在具有较大抗性和快速恢复性的草地上，种子密度较高，而根茎伸长率则不高，这与草地遗传多样性呈正相关。我们的结果凸显了抵抗干扰对海洋基础物种的持久性的关键作用。估计海草抗性和恢复之间的关键权衡取舍是一个有前途的研究领域，可以更好地管理对海草草甸的影响。抵抗力的阈值（此处为光剥夺处理期间保留的枝条丰度的约70％）表示一个临界点，如果超过该临界点，海草的恢复将大大延迟。在具有较大抗性和快速恢复性的草地上，种子密度较高，而根茎伸长率则不高，这与草地遗传多样性呈正相关。我们的结果凸显了抵抗干扰对海洋基础物种的持久性的关键作用。估计海草抗性和恢复之间的关键权衡是一个有前途的研究领域，可以更好地管理对海草草甸的影响。抗性强，恢复快的草甸较高，但根茎伸长率不高，这与草甸遗传多样性呈正相关。我们的结果凸显了抵抗干扰对海洋基础物种的持久性的关键作用。估计海草抗性和恢复之间的关键权衡是一个有前途的研究领域，可以更好地管理对海草草甸的影响。抗性强，恢复快的草甸较高，但根茎伸长率不高，这与草甸遗传多样性呈正相关。我们的结果凸显了抵抗干扰对海洋基础物种的持久性的关键作用。估计海草抗性和恢复之间的关键权衡是一个有前途的研究领域，可以更好地管理对海草草甸的影响。