TABLE 4.
Mean (±SE) values of morphological traits from H. stipulacea biomass cores (n = 12) in the anthropogenically-impacted sites (North Beach) and low impacted sites (South Beach) in control (n = 6) and fertilized (n = 6) plots.
| Morphological traits | Site | July 2019 | December 2019 |
|
| Control | Fertilized | |||
| Number of leaves per m2 | North Beach | 9180.79 ± 869.42 | 2716.21 ± 311.12† | 5595.39 ± 1010.49✢ |
| South Beach | 8571.04 ± 1542.55 | 3558.24 ± 1025.06† | 5622.56 ± 1628.50✢ | |
| % apical shoots | North Beach | 13.30 ± 0.85 | 23.72 ± 1.72 | 15.10 ± 2.39 |
| South Beach | 28.23 ± 2.01✱ | 22.55 ± 5.63 | 25.24 ± 3.46 | |
| Leaf length | North Beach | 4.32 ± 0.05 | 4.12 ± 0.13 | 4.67 ± 0.08✢ |
| South Beach | 2.80 ± 0.06✱ | 2.86 ± 0.10✱ | 2.86 ± 0.07✱✢ | |
| Leaf width | North Beach | 1.06 ± 0.02 | 1.09 ± 0.04 | 1.25 ± 0.03✢ |
| South Beach | 0.73 ± 0.02✱ | 0.71 ± 0.03✱ | 0.63 ± 0.03✱✢ | |
| Leaf area | North Beach | 2.92 ± 0.06 | 2.82 ± 0.15 | 3.45 ± 0.10✢ |
| South Beach | 1.19 ± 0.05✱ | 1.28 ± 0.07✱ | 2.32 ± 0.32✢ | |
| LAI | North Beach | 3.29 ± 0.06 | 3.17 ± 0.17 | 3.80 ± 0.13✢ |
| South Beach | 1.34 ± 0.02✱ | 1.44 ± 0.08✱ | 2.60 ± 0.36✢ | |
| Internodal distance | North Beach | 10.44 ± 0.14 | 9.61 ± 1.18† | 9.52 ± 0.28✢ |
| South Beach | 8.44 ± 0.19✱ | 9.40 ± 0.35✱† | 9.05 ± 0.37✱✢ | |
| % reproductive shoots | South Beach- S1 | 41.73 ± 9.93 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.00 ± 0.00 |
| South Beach- S2 | 8.31 ± 2.34 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | |
| North Beach- S3 | 7.74 ± 5.99 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | |
| North Beach- S4 | 6.13 ± 1.34 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | |
Leaf length, leaf width, and leaf area per shoot are expressed in cm and internodal distance in mm, while LAI is expressed as m2 leaf area per shoot × shoot density per m–2. ✱ indicates significant differences between impacted (NB) and non-impacted (SB) sites.† indicates significant seasonal differences between July and December, and ✢ indicates significant differences between control and fertilized plots.