BACKGROUND:Global aquatic environments are changing profoundly as a result of human actions; consequently, so too are the ways in which organisms are distributing themselves through space and time. Our ability to predict organism and community responses to these alterations will be dependent on knowledge of animal movements, interactions, and how the physiological and environmental processes underlying them shape species distributions. These patterns and processes ultimately structure aquatic ecosystems and provide the wealth of ecosystem services upon which humans depend. Until recently, the vast size, opacity, and dynamic nature of the aquatic realm have impeded our efforts to understand these ecosystems. With rapid technological advancement over the past several decades, a suite of electronic tracking devices (e.g., acoustic and satellite transmitters) that can remotely monitor animals in these challenging environments are now available. Aquatic telemetry technology is rapidly accelerating our ability to observe animal behavior and distribution and, as a consequence, is fundamentally altering our understanding of the structure and function of global aquatic ecosystems. These advances provide the toolbox to define how future global aquatic management practices must evolve.
We examined the importance of the Eurasian zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in structuring macroinvertebrate communities on hard substrata in the Great Lakes -St. Lawrence River system. An experiment using artificial substrata (i.e., cement bricks with either a layer of living zebra mussels, a layer of intact empty shells that mimicked living mussels, or with no added layer) showed that macroinvertebrate abundance is enhanced in the presence of zebra mussels and that macroinvertebrate responses to physical versus biological attributes of mussel beds (e.g., spatial habitat created by clumped shells; biodeposition) vary among taxa. Moreover, densities of zebra mussels and associated epifauna have increased severalfold at various sites in the Great Lakes -St. Lawrence River system within the past decade; changes in community composition were similar to those observed in our artificial substrate experiment. Our results suggest that dense zebra mussel colonization alters macroinvertebrate communities on hard substrata by enhancing conditions for deposit-feeding organisms, small gastropods, and small predatory invertebrates, and by displacing large gastropods and certain large filterers. In the St. Lawrence River, these effects were associated with zebra mussel densities of 1500-4000 individuals/m 2 , which are likely to be supported by most waterbodies in North America.Résumé : Nous avons examiné l'importance de la moule zébrée eurasienne (Dreissena polymorpha) dans la structuration des communautés de macroinvertébrés sur des substrats durs dans le réseau des Grands Lacs et du Saint-Laurent. Une expérience faisant appel à des substrats artificiels (c.-à-d., des briques de ciment soit couvertes d'une couche de moules zébrées vivantes, soit portant une couche de coquilles vides intactes ressemblant à des moules vivantes, soit sans recouvrement) a révélé que l'abondance de macroinvertébrés est accrue en présence de moules zébrées, et que les taxons de macroinvertébrés varient en fonction des attributs physiques ou des attributs biologiques des gisements de moules (p. ex., habitat spatial créé par les coquilles entassées; nourriture fournie par le dépôt de matières organiques). En outre, les densités des moules zébrées et de l'épifaune associée ont augmenté plusieurs fois à divers sites du réseau des Grands Lacs et du Saint-Laurent au cours de la dernière décennie; les changements dans la composition des communautés étaient similaires à ceux que nous avons observés pendant notre expérience sur les substrats artificiels. Nos résultats font ressortir que la colonisation par les moules zébrées modifie les communautés de macroinvertébrés sur les substrats durs en stimulant les conditions favorables aux organismes déposivores, aux petits gastropodes et aux petits invertébrés prédateurs, et en déplaçant les gros gastropodes et certains filtreurs de grande taille. Dans le Saint-Laurent, ces effets étaient associés à des densités de moules zébrées de 1500-4000 individus/m 2 , qui sont susceptibles d'être observées dans la plup...
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