REFINING THE USE OF SEED BALLS TO SUPPORT SEAGRASS RESTORATION

PLOS One

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

Reviewer #1: Partly

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: The study is providing further evidence for the purposes of seagrass restoration using seeds, for improving methods and success of deployment and germination. The data is important for practitioners and the wider topic and may help improve future restoration trials.

The few concerns I have are with the experimental design. There seems numerous factors being tested, clay type, ratio of materials used, buried not buried and drying. This makes the study a little hard to follow when the methods and the results are described. I would like to see a simple diagram of the treatments used that could help clear this up. Also more justification in the methods for why the different ratios were then chosen. Why were only two of the treatments used for burial/non-burial? The diagram and improved tables of treatments could clarify this.

In tables 1 and 2, the treatment labels mention '3h dried' after the 1:4:1 ratio seed ball, but the treatments in the methods talk about 1 hour oven dried at 30 degrees for one drying treatment or 6 hours air-dried at room temperature. So what is the 3h dried? This needs explaining.

Also it seems this ration 1:4:1 ratio has been preferred for trialling the drying experiment. Why was this? Also why was the plain fireclay not used for any above ground experiments? There doesn't seem to be any balance.

If there is a workflow that leads to these stages I think it could be made clearer.

The data is useful so I think it should be published so that more work can be done on it, but I think the submission can be improved.

The 'naked seedball' treatment, is this just seeds? So not in any sort of ball? I would keep the wording consistent throughout so that readers are clear on this.

I have added some minor annotations on the attached pdf, but mostly my comments are addressed here.

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Reviewer #1: No

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-26-27071_reviewer.pdf

REFINING THE USE OF SEED BALLS TO SUPPORT SEAGRASS RESTORATION

PONE-D-26-27071R1

Dear Dr. Unsworth,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Amitava Mukherjee, ME, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS One

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Thank you for clarifying the points that I raised. The methods and experimental design make a lot more sense now and have no concerns over the integrity of the science conducted here. The article reads a lot clearer now so I am happy to recommend for publication now. Well done for your continued work in this important area or research.

I have noticed a few minor type-os:

Line 90 can you check the wording, I think 'having been' or 'being' should be substituted for 'been'.

Also use of square brackets where parentheses should be instead on line 77.

Many thanks.

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what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review?  For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy

Reviewer #1: No

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