Iacopo Bertocci, Fabio Bulleri, Marco Castaldo, Elena Maggi
ABSTRACT: Positive interactions are important drivers of community structure and ecosystem functioning and may involve benefactor and beneficiary species directly in contact with each other, or spatially separated. On a Mediterranean coast, we examined the possible set of interactions linking 3 key taxa: the barnacle Chthamalus stellatus, the annual alga Rissoella verruculosa, which forms a belt at lower shore levels, and epilithic microphytobenthos (EMPB), widely distributed on all substrata across the mid- and high intertidal zones. We predicted that barnacles could stimulate R. verruculosa growth (through nutrient-rich excretions washed from high to low shore) and EMPB biomass and photosynthetic activity (through the same mechanism or by providing favourable habitat among calcareous shells). In turn, R. verruculosa could act as a secondary facilitator for EMPB by buffering physical stress underneath its fronds. We tested this model through an experiment involving the complete removal or killing (without removal) of C. stellatus crossed with the removal of R. verruculosa. We did not find any effect of barnacles on R. verruculosa during the period of development of algal fronds (March, April, May). In summer (July and August, when algal fronds had been lost), EMPB biomass was smaller where barnacles and algae had been removed. These results negate facilitation of R. verruculosa by C. stellatus, but they indicate positive effects of both species on EMPB. Our study provides an example of adjacent facilitation on intertidal rocky shores, likely mediated by physical mechanisms, and suggests that effects on beneficiary species can persist after the loss of the macroscopic form of the benefactor.
{"title":"Complex positive interactions among rocky shore sessile species","authors":"Iacopo Bertocci, Fabio Bulleri, Marco Castaldo, Elena Maggi","doi":"10.3354/meps14645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14645","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: Positive interactions are important drivers of community structure and ecosystem functioning and may involve benefactor and beneficiary species directly in contact with each other, or spatially separated. On a Mediterranean coast, we examined the possible set of interactions linking 3 key taxa: the barnacle <i>Chthamalus stellatus</i>, the annual alga <i>Rissoella verruculosa</i>, which forms a belt at lower shore levels, and epilithic microphytobenthos (EMPB), widely distributed on all substrata across the mid- and high intertidal zones. We predicted that barnacles could stimulate <i>R. verruculosa</i> growth (through nutrient-rich excretions washed from high to low shore) and EMPB biomass and photosynthetic activity (through the same mechanism or by providing favourable habitat among calcareous shells). In turn, <i>R. verruculosa</i> could act as a secondary facilitator for EMPB by buffering physical stress underneath its fronds. We tested this model through an experiment involving the complete removal or killing (without removal) of <i>C. stellatus</i> crossed with the removal of <i>R. verruculosa</i>. We did not find any effect of barnacles on <i>R. verruculosa</i> during the period of development of algal fronds (March, April, May). In summer (July and August, when algal fronds had been lost), EMPB biomass was smaller where barnacles and algae had been removed. These results negate facilitation of <i>R. verruculosa</i> by <i>C. stellatus</i>, but they indicate positive effects of both species on EMPB. Our study provides an example of adjacent facilitation on intertidal rocky shores, likely mediated by physical mechanisms, and suggests that effects on beneficiary species can persist after the loss of the macroscopic form of the benefactor.","PeriodicalId":18193,"journal":{"name":"Marine Ecology Progress Series","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142195356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ashley S. Galloway, Kady Lyons, David S. Portnoy, Amanda M. Barker, Douglas H. Adams, James Gelsleichter, Eric A. Reyier, Bryan S. Frazier
ABSTRACT: Carolina hammerheads Sphyrna gilberti and scalloped hammerheads S. lewini are cryptic species with an overlapping distribution, and young-of-the-year (YOY) use similar coastal and estuarine nursery areas along the US Southeast coast. The diet of scalloped hammerheads has been widely studied throughout their global distribution; however, little is known about their diet in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Carolina hammerheads have only been recently described, and as such, their trophic ecology is largely unstudied. Stomach content analysis of genetically identified YOY Carolina and scalloped hammerheads revealed both species to be generalist feeders with diverse diets and no apparent resource partitioning between them. By contrast, multi-tissue (muscle and plasma) stable isotope analyses showed significant interspecific differences in signatures, particularly in muscle δ13C values for the youngest hammerheads. Due to slow tissue turnover rates, YOY muscle signatures were assumed to reflect maternal isotopic signatures, suggesting habitat or resource partitioning between mature female Carolina and scalloped hammerheads. In particular, the data are consistent with mature Carolina hammerheads inhabiting more offshore waters or consuming a higher proportion of pelagic prey relative to scalloped hammerheads. YOY muscle and plasma δ15N values decreased drastically across the sampling season, reflecting a loss of the maternal signal as the YOY hammerheads fed and grew rapidly in these productive nursery habitats.
{"title":"Trophic ecology of Carolina Sphyrna gilberti and scalloped S. lewini hammerheads in the southeastern USA","authors":"Ashley S. Galloway, Kady Lyons, David S. Portnoy, Amanda M. Barker, Douglas H. Adams, James Gelsleichter, Eric A. Reyier, Bryan S. Frazier","doi":"10.3354/meps14644","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14644","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: Carolina hammerheads <i>Sphyrna gilberti</i> and scalloped hammerheads <i>S. lewini</i> are cryptic species with an overlapping distribution, and young-of-the-year (YOY) use similar coastal and estuarine nursery areas along the US Southeast coast. The diet of scalloped hammerheads has been widely studied throughout their global distribution; however, little is known about their diet in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Carolina hammerheads have only been recently described, and as such, their trophic ecology is largely unstudied. Stomach content analysis of genetically identified YOY Carolina and scalloped hammerheads revealed both species to be generalist feeders with diverse diets and no apparent resource partitioning between them. By contrast, multi-tissue (muscle and plasma) stable isotope analyses showed significant interspecific differences in signatures, particularly in muscle δ<sup>13</sup>C values for the youngest hammerheads. Due to slow tissue turnover rates, YOY muscle signatures were assumed to reflect maternal isotopic signatures, suggesting habitat or resource partitioning between mature female Carolina and scalloped hammerheads. In particular, the data are consistent with mature Carolina hammerheads inhabiting more offshore waters or consuming a higher proportion of pelagic prey relative to scalloped hammerheads. YOY muscle and plasma δ<sup>15</sup>N values decreased drastically across the sampling season, reflecting a loss of the maternal signal as the YOY hammerheads fed and grew rapidly in these productive nursery habitats.","PeriodicalId":18193,"journal":{"name":"Marine Ecology Progress Series","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142195354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tim H. Currie, Stephen R. Wing, Leonardo M. Durante
ABSTRACT: Estuaries provide critical habitat, food, and refuge for juvenile fish. Elemental concentrations in otoliths can retrospectively identify estuarine nursery habitats that contribute disproportionately to adult populations, providing valuable information for fisheries and coastal ecosystems. The present study aimed to (1) compare elemental signatures of juvenile (age 0+) sand flounder Rhombosolea plebeia otoliths collected from 9 estuaries in east Otago, New Zealand, and (2) assess the application of otolith microchemistry for identifying the nursery habitats contributing to adult (age 1+) sand flounder from the coastal shelf population. Otoliths from juvenile flounder were collected in November 2020, and adults of the same cohort were collected in the winter/spring of 2022. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry quantified 12 element concentrations within the post-settlement region of juvenile and adult otoliths using depth-profiling and ablation transects, respectively. Significant differences in post-settlement elemental concentrations were detected among estuaries. Juvenile and adult sand flounder were classified to their nursery origin using canonical analysis of principal coordinates. Grouping estuaries by the New Zealand Estuary Trophic Index classification scheme improved the overall juvenile classification accuracy from 56.7% (51/90) to 82.2% (74/90). Adult sand flounder (n = 78) were classified to have originated from shallow intertidal dominated estuaries (62%), followed by Otago Harbour (32%) and shallow, short residence time river and tidal river with adjoining lagoon estuaries (6%). The results highlight how otolith microchemistry can provide information on the use of critical estuarine nursery habitats for a commercially important species.
{"title":"Otolith microchemistry identifies shallow, intertidal-dominated estuaries as important nurseries for sand flounder in New Zealand","authors":"Tim H. Currie, Stephen R. Wing, Leonardo M. Durante","doi":"10.3354/meps14646","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14646","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: Estuaries provide critical habitat, food, and refuge for juvenile fish. Elemental concentrations in otoliths can retrospectively identify estuarine nursery habitats that contribute disproportionately to adult populations, providing valuable information for fisheries and coastal ecosystems. The present study aimed to (1) compare elemental signatures of juvenile (age 0+) sand flounder <i>Rhombosolea plebeia</i> otoliths collected from 9 estuaries in east Otago, New Zealand, and (2) assess the application of otolith microchemistry for identifying the nursery habitats contributing to adult (age 1+) sand flounder from the coastal shelf population. Otoliths from juvenile flounder were collected in November 2020, and adults of the same cohort were collected in the winter/spring of 2022. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry quantified 12 element concentrations within the post-settlement region of juvenile and adult otoliths using depth-profiling and ablation transects, respectively. Significant differences in post-settlement elemental concentrations were detected among estuaries. Juvenile and adult sand flounder were classified to their nursery origin using canonical analysis of principal coordinates. Grouping estuaries by the New Zealand Estuary Trophic Index classification scheme improved the overall juvenile classification accuracy from 56.7% (51/90) to 82.2% (74/90). Adult sand flounder (n = 78) were classified to have originated from shallow intertidal dominated estuaries (62%), followed by Otago Harbour (32%) and shallow, short residence time river and tidal river with adjoining lagoon estuaries (6%). The results highlight how otolith microchemistry can provide information on the use of critical estuarine nursery habitats for a commercially important species.","PeriodicalId":18193,"journal":{"name":"Marine Ecology Progress Series","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141930413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Edna G. Fernandez-Figueroa, Savannah A. Mapes, Stephanie R. Rogers
ABSTRACT: Fish kill events threaten aquatic life, local economies, and human health worldwide. However, due to their unpredictable and often short-lived nature, information about fish kill spatiotemporal trends, as well as the species composition and abundance of carcasses, remains limited. In coastal SW Florida, fish kill events are frequent, but much of what we know is based on citizen reports to the Florida Fish Kill Hotline and fisher experiences. This study aimed to identify spatiotemporal patterns of fish kill events in coastal SW Florida from 2010 to 2022 by analyzing open access Florida Fish Kill Hotline reports, red tide-related manatee mortality cases, and environmental monitoring data. Additionally, fish categories identified in Fish Kill Hotline reports were compared to carcass enumeration surveys conducted by the authors during a fish kill event in Tampa Bay, Florida, in July 2021. The results of the 2010-2022 dataset analysis indicate that Fish Kill Hotline reports were useful in identifying the location and duration of fish kills. The number of reports has also increased over the past 12 yr, particularly during the warmer summer months. However, Fish Kill Hotline reports were spatially biased and did not provide carcass enumeration results. Additionally, Fish Kill Hotline reports mainly included recreational fish groups, whereas enumeration surveys indicated the abundance of pinfish Lagodonrhomboides and demersal fish. These findings highlight the need for resources that enable citizens to accurately identify and enumerate carcasses accurately.
{"title":"Fish kill lessons and data needs: a spatiotemporal analysis of citizen fish kill reports in coastal SW Florida","authors":"Edna G. Fernandez-Figueroa, Savannah A. Mapes, Stephanie R. Rogers","doi":"10.3354/meps14627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14627","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: Fish kill events threaten aquatic life, local economies, and human health worldwide. However, due to their unpredictable and often short-lived nature, information about fish kill spatiotemporal trends, as well as the species composition and abundance of carcasses, remains limited. In coastal SW Florida, fish kill events are frequent, but much of what we know is based on citizen reports to the Florida Fish Kill Hotline and fisher experiences. This study aimed to identify spatiotemporal patterns of fish kill events in coastal SW Florida from 2010 to 2022 by analyzing open access Florida Fish Kill Hotline reports, red tide-related manatee mortality cases, and environmental monitoring data. Additionally, fish categories identified in Fish Kill Hotline reports were compared to carcass enumeration surveys conducted by the authors during a fish kill event in Tampa Bay, Florida, in July 2021. The results of the 2010-2022 dataset analysis indicate that Fish Kill Hotline reports were useful in identifying the location and duration of fish kills. The number of reports has also increased over the past 12 yr, particularly during the warmer summer months. However, Fish Kill Hotline reports were spatially biased and did not provide carcass enumeration results. Additionally, Fish Kill Hotline reports mainly included recreational fish groups, whereas enumeration surveys indicated the abundance of pinfish <i>Lagodon</i> <i>rhomboides</i> and demersal fish. These findings highlight the need for resources that enable citizens to accurately identify and enumerate carcasses accurately.","PeriodicalId":18193,"journal":{"name":"Marine Ecology Progress Series","volume":"172 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141930418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jean-Charles Leclerc, Maéva Gonzalez, Jean-Philippe Pezy, Aurore Raoux, Romain Crechriou, Caroline Broudin, Céline Houbin, Aline Migné, Stéphane Loisel, Laure Sevin, Jérôme Coudret, Dominique Davoult, Mathilde Charbonnelle, Jean-Baptiste Valerdi, Ferdinand Schlicklin, Robin Van Paemelen, Suzie Humbert, Cécile Massé, Frédérique Viard, Karen Filbee-Dexter, Thomas Wernberg, Eric Thiébaut
ABSTRACT: Redistribution of biodiversity represents a key challenge for understanding scales of spatial variation in natural marine communities. With increasing coastal urbanization, artificial structures are proliferating, with impacts on natural habitats, yet we have limited knowledge on the spatial scales of processes operating over their associated species assembly. This is exemplified by novel communities establishing along and around floating infrastructures, such as pontoons in marinas. In this study, we explored multi-scale patterns in the diversity and community structure of fouling seaweeds, invertebrates and fish communities associated with pontoons in 18 marinas, distributed along ∼1000 km of coastline in NW France. With respect to the distribution of marinas across 3 distinct ecoregions, we predicted that their seaweed communities would follow spatial patterns reported in native communities from rocky shores. This hypothesis was poorly supported, and the variation among ecoregions (8%) was largely explained by the abundance of nonindigenous kelps. However, as anticipated, we observed important variability among and within marinas in all response variables (e.g. richness of sessile invertebrates and fish). These variations were related to contrasting sea surface temperature regimes among marinas, along with a number of explanatory variables (e.g. distance to marina entry). As also hypothesized, fouling and fish communities covaried with kelp biomass, although covariations were strengthened at the scale of the region and at the scale of the marina and pontoon when nonindigenous and native kelp were considered, respectively. Specificities in distributions and influences of foundation species in urban environments could be worth scrutinizing to inform their management.
{"title":"Multi-scale patterns in the structure of fish and fouling communities associated with seaweeds in marinas","authors":"Jean-Charles Leclerc, Maéva Gonzalez, Jean-Philippe Pezy, Aurore Raoux, Romain Crechriou, Caroline Broudin, Céline Houbin, Aline Migné, Stéphane Loisel, Laure Sevin, Jérôme Coudret, Dominique Davoult, Mathilde Charbonnelle, Jean-Baptiste Valerdi, Ferdinand Schlicklin, Robin Van Paemelen, Suzie Humbert, Cécile Massé, Frédérique Viard, Karen Filbee-Dexter, Thomas Wernberg, Eric Thiébaut","doi":"10.3354/meps14641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14641","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: Redistribution of biodiversity represents a key challenge for understanding scales of spatial variation in natural marine communities. With increasing coastal urbanization, artificial structures are proliferating, with impacts on natural habitats, yet we have limited knowledge on the spatial scales of processes operating over their associated species assembly. This is exemplified by novel communities establishing along and around floating infrastructures, such as pontoons in marinas. In this study, we explored multi-scale patterns in the diversity and community structure of fouling seaweeds, invertebrates and fish communities associated with pontoons in 18 marinas, distributed along ∼1000 km of coastline in NW France. With respect to the distribution of marinas across 3 distinct ecoregions, we predicted that their seaweed communities would follow spatial patterns reported in native communities from rocky shores. This hypothesis was poorly supported, and the variation among ecoregions (8%) was largely explained by the abundance of nonindigenous kelps. However, as anticipated, we observed important variability among and within marinas in all response variables (e.g. richness of sessile invertebrates and fish). These variations were related to contrasting sea surface temperature regimes among marinas, along with a number of explanatory variables (e.g. distance to marina entry). As also hypothesized, fouling and fish communities covaried with kelp biomass, although covariations were strengthened at the scale of the region and at the scale of the marina and pontoon when nonindigenous and native kelp were considered, respectively. Specificities in distributions and influences of foundation species in urban environments could be worth scrutinizing to inform their management.","PeriodicalId":18193,"journal":{"name":"Marine Ecology Progress Series","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141930420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT: Studying patterns of biodiversity is central to ecological research. Temporal beta diversity, i.e. the change in community composition over time, has emerged as a promising study field during the last decades. Following global climatic change, understanding the consequences of environmental alterations on temporal community composition has become increasingly important. We examined patterns and drivers of temporal beta diversity and whether the temporal variation in community composition is related to temporal environmental variation among 9 coastal diatom communities sampled 12 times at a ca. 10 d interval. We applied a temporal beta diversity index (TBI) decomposed into gains and losses to quantify changes in taxonomic and functional community similarity through time, and for environmental variables to determine temporal change in local abiotic conditions. We assessed environmental and spatial drivers of temporal community change by regression models and partitioned variation in the community composition according to sampling day by distance-based redundancy analyses. Taxonomic TBI was higher than functional TBI, characterized by sharper changes in species gains and losses. Taxonomic TBI was explained by site location, whereas functional TBI had a linkage with both spatial and environmental variables. Environmental TBI was significantly related to taxonomic TBI only. The sites significantly differing in taxonomic or functional TBI did not coincide with those with a significantly different environmental TBI between the sites. The communities were probably structured by both environmental variation and random stochastic processes, creating unpredictability in the TBI. Our results highlight the importance of rapid environmental alterations in shaping temporal beta diversity within dynamic coastal communities.
{"title":"Environmental and stochastic processes drive diatom taxonomic and functional temporal beta diversity","authors":"Sonja Aarnio, Janne Soininen","doi":"10.3354/meps14642","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14642","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: Studying patterns of biodiversity is central to ecological research. Temporal beta diversity, i.e. the change in community composition over time, has emerged as a promising study field during the last decades. Following global climatic change, understanding the consequences of environmental alterations on temporal community composition has become increasingly important. We examined patterns and drivers of temporal beta diversity and whether the temporal variation in community composition is related to temporal environmental variation among 9 coastal diatom communities sampled 12 times at a ca. 10 d interval. We applied a temporal beta diversity index (TBI) decomposed into gains and losses to quantify changes in taxonomic and functional community similarity through time, and for environmental variables to determine temporal change in local abiotic conditions. We assessed environmental and spatial drivers of temporal community change by regression models and partitioned variation in the community composition according to sampling day by distance-based redundancy analyses. Taxonomic TBI was higher than functional TBI, characterized by sharper changes in species gains and losses. Taxonomic TBI was explained by site location, whereas functional TBI had a linkage with both spatial and environmental variables. Environmental TBI was significantly related to taxonomic TBI only. The sites significantly differing in taxonomic or functional TBI did not coincide with those with a significantly different environmental TBI between the sites. The communities were probably structured by both environmental variation and random stochastic processes, creating unpredictability in the TBI. Our results highlight the importance of rapid environmental alterations in shaping temporal beta diversity within dynamic coastal communities.","PeriodicalId":18193,"journal":{"name":"Marine Ecology Progress Series","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141930421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anaëlle Bizien, Chirine Toumi, Aurélien Boyé, Anthony Sturbois, Michel Le Duff, Jacques Grall, Mathieu Helias, Olivier Gauthier, Thomas Burel
ABSTRACT: Macroalgal communities are essential to coastal ecosystems, yet increasing effects of global change and anthropogenic pressures are leading to their global decline. Investigating the long-term dynamics of these communities across different localities appears crucial to better understand their responses to such pressures, as our knowledge of spatial heterogeneities in macroalgal trajectories remains elusive. To fill this gap, the community trajectory analysis framework provides a set of innovative multivariate metrics to characterize and quantitatively compare the temporal dynamics of different communities. Using long-term monitoring data (2004-2022), this method was applied to intertidal macroalgal communities across 10 locations distributed over more than 500 km of coastline in Brittany, France. Three distinct temporal dynamics were identified. High-shore communities exhibited minimal changes over time, while low-shore communities were characterized by a fluctuating understorey species composition but a general stability pattern. In contrast, the mid-shore community dominated by Ascophyllum nodosum underwent conspicuous changes in composition and structure. Further analysis of the latter community unveiled clear spatial patterns, with a significant deterioration of the structural state attributed to canopy loss in eastern Brittany, negatively impacting understorey species. This decline may ultimately lead to massive changes in coastal ecosystem functioning and services. This study emphasizes the importance of maintaining long-term ecological monitoring as well as the pertinence of temporal trajectories methods to identify and understand community changes at various spatial scales.
{"title":"Contrasted trends of intertidal macroalgal communities and sharp decline of canopy-forming species across two decades","authors":"Anaëlle Bizien, Chirine Toumi, Aurélien Boyé, Anthony Sturbois, Michel Le Duff, Jacques Grall, Mathieu Helias, Olivier Gauthier, Thomas Burel","doi":"10.3354/meps14652","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14652","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: Macroalgal communities are essential to coastal ecosystems, yet increasing effects of global change and anthropogenic pressures are leading to their global decline. Investigating the long-term dynamics of these communities across different localities appears crucial to better understand their responses to such pressures, as our knowledge of spatial heterogeneities in macroalgal trajectories remains elusive. To fill this gap, the community trajectory analysis framework provides a set of innovative multivariate metrics to characterize and quantitatively compare the temporal dynamics of different communities. Using long-term monitoring data (2004-2022), this method was applied to intertidal macroalgal communities across 10 locations distributed over more than 500 km of coastline in Brittany, France. Three distinct temporal dynamics were identified. High-shore communities exhibited minimal changes over time, while low-shore communities were characterized by a fluctuating understorey species composition but a general stability pattern. In contrast, the mid-shore community dominated by <i>Ascophyllum nodosum</i> underwent conspicuous changes in composition and structure. Further analysis of the latter community unveiled clear spatial patterns, with a significant deterioration of the structural state attributed to canopy loss in eastern Brittany, negatively impacting understorey species. This decline may ultimately lead to massive changes in coastal ecosystem functioning and services. This study emphasizes the importance of maintaining long-term ecological monitoring as well as the pertinence of temporal trajectories methods to identify and understand community changes at various spatial scales.","PeriodicalId":18193,"journal":{"name":"Marine Ecology Progress Series","volume":"84 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141930415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT: Concerns are mounting over the effects of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) (Acanthasteridae) outbreaks, prompting the need for integrated management strategies. Although direct control methods are short-term and localized, they remain one of the few operational tools that can be easily implemented by locals. Vinegar injections have recently emerged as a highly effective method; however, their impact on reproductive behavior remains untested. Here, we investigated the short-term spawning response of mature COTS to double injections of household vinegar. First, COTS abundances and reproductive status were monitored during a massive outbreak affecting New Caledonia’s reefs. In situ and laboratory experiments were then conducted to determine whether injected COTS would trigger synchronized spawning among mature individuals in close proximity. Our results indicated that injections had no significant effect on spawning behavior, even in densely populated aggregations (>4000 COTS ha-1). In the field, starfish exhibited ripe gonads with high gamete content (up to 35% of body weight) 3 d after conspecifics were injected. In the laboratory, mature COTS that were held with injected, decaying individuals in a confined volume did not expel their gametes after 2 d. This suggests that vinegar injections could be used at any time, even during peak spawning, without risking synchronized spawning in the affected areas.
{"title":"Vinegar injections can be used safely to control outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster cf. solaris during the peak spawning season","authors":"Pascal Dumas, Amaury Durbano, Bertrand Bourgeois, Hugues Gossuin, Christophe Peignon","doi":"10.3354/meps14649","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14649","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: Concerns are mounting over the effects of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) (Acanthasteridae) outbreaks, prompting the need for integrated management strategies. Although direct control methods are short-term and localized, they remain one of the few operational tools that can be easily implemented by locals. Vinegar injections have recently emerged as a highly effective method; however, their impact on reproductive behavior remains untested. Here, we investigated the short-term spawning response of mature COTS to double injections of household vinegar. First, COTS abundances and reproductive status were monitored during a massive outbreak affecting New Caledonia’s reefs. <i>In situ</i> and laboratory experiments were then conducted to determine whether injected COTS would trigger synchronized spawning among mature individuals in close proximity. Our results indicated that injections had no significant effect on spawning behavior, even in densely populated aggregations (>4000 COTS ha<sup>-1</sup>). In the field, starfish exhibited ripe gonads with high gamete content (up to 35% of body weight) 3 d after conspecifics were injected. In the laboratory, mature COTS that were held with injected, decaying individuals in a confined volume did not expel their gametes after 2 d. This suggests that vinegar injections could be used at any time, even during peak spawning, without risking synchronized spawning in the affected areas.","PeriodicalId":18193,"journal":{"name":"Marine Ecology Progress Series","volume":"82 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141930417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antonio Garcia-Quintas, Paco Bustamante, Christophe Barbraud, Anne Lorrain, Dennis Denis, Sophie Lanco
ABSTRACT: Trophic ecology of seabirds in tropical regions remains poorly understood despite the large number of multispecies breeding colonies supported by these ecosystems. Here, we used the isotopic niche (δ15N and δ13C) of 5 Laridae species at 2 breeding areas in Cuba to analyze the plasticity and interspecific overlap of trophic niche determined from chick down and feather samples. The down samples reflected the female trophic regime before laying, while the feather samples incorporated the trophic regime of the chicks provided by the parents during rearing. Two main species groups were identified by their isotopic niche characteristics: species with small and quite stable isotopic niches (trophic specialists) and species with large and highly variable isotopic niches (trophic generalists). Laughing gull Leucophaeus atricilla, royal tern Thalasseus maximus, and sandwich tern T. sandvicensis were the generalists and showed significant isotopic niche differences between breeding areas and phases. Bridled tern Onychoprion anaethetus and roseate tern Sterna dougallii were trophic specialists, but only the former exhibited significant variations in isotopic niche breadth between breeding phases. Overall, trophic (inferred from isotopic) niche overlap was relatively low, suggesting that these tropical seabirds reduce competition through niche partitioning. We concluded that trophic niche plasticity and segregation appear to constitute an important adaptive strategy to ensure the breeding success of sympatrically breeding Laridae in north-central Cuba.
{"title":"Plasticity and overlap of trophic niches in tropical breeding Laridae","authors":"Antonio Garcia-Quintas, Paco Bustamante, Christophe Barbraud, Anne Lorrain, Dennis Denis, Sophie Lanco","doi":"10.3354/meps14653","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14653","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: Trophic ecology of seabirds in tropical regions remains poorly understood despite the large number of multispecies breeding colonies supported by these ecosystems. Here, we used the isotopic niche (δ<sup>15</sup>N and δ<sup>13</sup>C) of 5 Laridae species at 2 breeding areas in Cuba to analyze the plasticity and interspecific overlap of trophic niche determined from chick down and feather samples. The down samples reflected the female trophic regime before laying, while the feather samples incorporated the trophic regime of the chicks provided by the parents during rearing. Two main species groups were identified by their isotopic niche characteristics: species with small and quite stable isotopic niches (trophic specialists) and species with large and highly variable isotopic niches (trophic generalists). Laughing gull <i>Leucophaeus atricilla</i>, royal tern <i>Thalasseus maximus</i>, and sandwich tern <i>T. sandvicensis</i> were the generalists and showed significant isotopic niche differences between breeding areas and phases. Bridled tern <i>Onychoprion anaethetus</i> and roseate tern <i>Sterna dougallii</i> were trophic specialists, but only the former exhibited significant variations in isotopic niche breadth between breeding phases. Overall, trophic (inferred from isotopic) niche overlap was relatively low, suggesting that these tropical seabirds reduce competition through niche partitioning. We concluded that trophic niche plasticity and segregation appear to constitute an important adaptive strategy to ensure the breeding success of sympatrically breeding Laridae in north-central Cuba.","PeriodicalId":18193,"journal":{"name":"Marine Ecology Progress Series","volume":"71 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141930422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT: The assembly mechanisms of generalists and specialists have been extensively studied for prokaryotes but underexplored for microeukaryotes, the crucial players in marine ecosystems. In addition, the latitudinal gradient of biodiversity on the scale of the global ocean has been well documented, but is less studied at a regional scale. Here, we investigated plankton assemblages along a latitudinal gradient of a subtropical regional coastline using high-throughput sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene (rDNA) V4 region. We observed a trend of increasing diversity with decreasing latitudes in this provincial spatial scale, resembling the previously reported global-scale trend. Based on niche breadth, microeukaryotes in our samples were grouped into generalists, opportunists and specialists. Generalists were more influenced by selection than specialists, with temperature being an important factor. In addition, we found that dispersal limitation had a greater influence on the generalists than on the specialists. Interestingly, dinoflagellates, a major component in both generalist and specialist subcommunities, were important to stabilization in the generalist subcommunity. Chlorophyta, in contrast, had a crucial effect on network stability for specialists. Overall, this study verifies the latitudinal gradient of biodiversity at a mesoscale, and provides new insights into the ecotypic grouping and assembly mechanism of microeukaryotes. It also sheds light on the potential differential importance of Dinoflagellata and Chlorophyta.
{"title":"Niche features and assembly mechanisms of microeukaryotic generalists and specialists along a north-south gradient of a subtropical coastal sea","authors":"Yifan Gu, Senjie Lin, Yuanyuan Mo, Ling Li, Minglei Ma, Jiashun Li, Sitong Lin, Huatao Yuan, Chengmin Zhu, Hao Luo, Wenjing Zhang","doi":"10.3354/meps14647","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14647","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: The assembly mechanisms of generalists and specialists have been extensively studied for prokaryotes but underexplored for microeukaryotes, the crucial players in marine ecosystems. In addition, the latitudinal gradient of biodiversity on the scale of the global ocean has been well documented, but is less studied at a regional scale. Here, we investigated plankton assemblages along a latitudinal gradient of a subtropical regional coastline using high-throughput sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene (rDNA) V4 region. We observed a trend of increasing diversity with decreasing latitudes in this provincial spatial scale, resembling the previously reported global-scale trend. Based on niche breadth, microeukaryotes in our samples were grouped into generalists, opportunists and specialists. Generalists were more influenced by selection than specialists, with temperature being an important factor. In addition, we found that dispersal limitation had a greater influence on the generalists than on the specialists. Interestingly, dinoflagellates, a major component in both generalist and specialist subcommunities, were important to stabilization in the generalist subcommunity. Chlorophyta, in contrast, had a crucial effect on network stability for specialists. Overall, this study verifies the latitudinal gradient of biodiversity at a mesoscale, and provides new insights into the ecotypic grouping and assembly mechanism of microeukaryotes. It also sheds light on the potential differential importance of Dinoflagellata and Chlorophyta.","PeriodicalId":18193,"journal":{"name":"Marine Ecology Progress Series","volume":"128 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141930416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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