Ecology of the Gastropod Epifauna of Eelgrass in a Virginia Estuary

Marsh, Geraldine

doi:10.2307/1351196

Cited by 24 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…These figures were similar to the epifaunal densities reported by Marsh (1973) for another Zostera bed, now extinct, in the York estuary. The average annual densities of Marsh (1973) were 100-170 individuals g 21 plant dry wt, with maximum densities near 500 individuals g 21 . Our values for total mesograzer biomass and production averaged 61 mg AF dry wt 3 g plant dry wt 21 and 1.4 mg AF dry wt 3 g plant dry wt 21 3 d 21 , respectively.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Negative responses of mesograzers to freshwater disturbance on landscape scales have been documented previously in this system. Prior to intense freshwater flooding associated with Hurricane Agnes in 1972, the isopod Paracerceis caudata was by far the most abundant crustacean mesograzer in an eelgrass bed of the York estuary (Marsh 1973) and presumably throughout Chesapeake Bay (Anderson et al 1973). While the species is still common in the salty coastal bays of Virginia's Eastern Shore, it has apparently never returned to abundance within Chesapeake Bay; we have collected only 18 individuals of P. caudata in 9 yr of sampling.…”

Section: Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, mobile epifauna have seldom been included in observational studies designed to relate seagrass performance to physicochemical conditions (Kemp et al 2004), making it difficult evaluate the contributions of consumers to seagrass ecosystem properties. Likewise, observations of consumer abundance and distribution in seagrass beds (Marsh 1973;Nelson et al 1982;Edgar 1990b) have rarely assessed their top-down effects on seagrass health, with the notable exception of Jørgensen et al (2007). Analysis of long-term monitoring data with both physical and biological components is one approach to more fully understanding how top-down and bottom-up processes interact to affect seagrass beds in natural settings.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal and interannual change in a Chesapeake Bay eelgrass community: Insights into biotic and abiotic control of community structure

Douglass¹,

France²,

Richardson³

et al. 2010

Limnology & Oceanography

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We characterized the seasonal and interannual variation in macrophytes, epiphytes, invertebrate herbivores, small demersal predators, and physicochemical characteristics of an eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, over 10 yr, to explore the relative importance of abiotic and biotic forcing on community composition and abundance. Our hypotheses were (1) physicochemical drivers affect community structure directly, (2) bottom‐up trophic control is evidenced by positive covariance among trophic levels, (3) top‐down control generates inverse patterns of abundance at adjacent trophic levels, and (4) species diversity among herbivores contributes to temporal stability. Composition and abundance of eelgrass‐associated species varied strongly among seasons and years. Much of this variation correlated with temperature and salinity anomalies, and multivariate analysis grouped communities roughly by season, supporting our first hypothesis. Severe seagrass loss during the hot summer of 2005 shifted the community toward a novel composition, but community structure rebounded within a year. Evidence for trophic control was mixed: selected taxa showed patterns consistent with top‐down or bottom‐up control, but these patterns generally disappeared at the level of whole years and entire trophic levels. Our ability to detect trophic effects may have been limited, however, by consumer movement or changing behavioral responses to resource availability and predation. There was also little evidence that diversity stabilized total herbivore abundance. Although consumer effects on lower levels were inconsistent, the strong physicochemical forcing of community structure supports suggestions that eelgrass communities are highly vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic changes in climate and hydrography.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal and interannual change in a Chesapeake Bay eelgrass community: Insights into biotic and abiotic control of community structure

Douglass¹,

France²,

Richardson³

et al. 2010

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…Nevertheless, no epifaunal species were collected in this eelgrass bed, due to unknown local circumstances or a sampling bias. Similar trends have been registered in other eelgrass beds of the Atlantic and PaciWc coasts (Marsh 1976;Nakaoka et al 2001) as well as in beds of other seagrass species from soft bottoms (e.g. Zostera noltii: Jacobs et al 1983, Cymodocea nodosa: Scipione et al 1996Terlizzi and Russo 1997).…”

Section: Intra-annual Variationsupporting

confidence: 73%

Diel and seasonal variation of a molluscan taxocoenosis associated with a Zostera marina bed in southern Spain (Alboran Sea)

2008

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The diel and seasonal variation of molluscs living in a Zostera marina bed (12-14 m depth) from southern Spain have been studied for one year using a small Agassiz trawl for collecting the samples (222 m 2 ). The frequent and dominant species were very similar in both diurnal and nocturnal samples, including mainly gastropods such as Jujubinus striatus, Nassarius pygmaeus, Mitrella minor, Calliostoma planatum, Rissoa membranacea or Smaragdia viridis. Nevertheless, a signiWcant increase of abundance of scavengers (e.g. Nassarius spp.) and carnivores (e.g. cephalopods) was registered in nocturnal samples. The abundance was maximal in spring and summer in diurnal and nocturnal samples and also in autumn for nocturnal ones, displaying signiWcantly higher values in nocturnal samples. The species richness, diversity and evenness displayed a similar seasonal trend for diurnal and nocturnal samples, with maximum values during summer months. Monthly variation of the molluscan composition (species presenceabsence data) was more acute than diel variation, according to the Cluster, MDS and ANOSIM results. Nevertheless, both monthly and diel changes in the structure (species abundance data) of the molluscan taxocoenosis were important throughout the year. Diel changes in the structure of the molluscan fauna are related to an increase of abundance of some species at nighttime due to vertical movements from the sediment to the shoots or along them (e.g. J. striatus, Nassarius spp.) or due to horizontal movements from adjacent habitats (e.g. cephalopods). Nevertheless, some species such as Rissoa spp. or Bittium spp. stay on the leaves of Z. marina during day as well as nighttime.

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“…) e gramas marinhas(Marsh, 1976) Bugula neritina (Linnaeus, 1758) Espécie rara, suas colônias, sempre com poucos zoécios, foram encontradas aderidas aos talos da alga-substrato ou epizóicas em Crepidula. No inverno/75 e no verão, esta espécieFig.…”

unclassified

Organismos do fital Amphiroa beauvoisii Lamouroux, 1816 (Rhodophyta: Corallinaceae): II. Autoecologia

Masunari¹

1983

Bol. Zool. (Online)

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Ecology of the Gastropod Epifauna of Eelgrass in a Virginia Estuary

Cited by 24 publications

References 2 publications

Seasonal and interannual change in a Chesapeake Bay eelgrass community: Insights into biotic and abiotic control of community structure

Seasonal and interannual change in a Chesapeake Bay eelgrass community: Insights into biotic and abiotic control of community structure

Diel and seasonal variation of a molluscan taxocoenosis associated with a Zostera marina bed in southern Spain (Alboran Sea)

Organismos do fital Amphiroa beauvoisii Lamouroux, 1816 (Rhodophyta: Corallinaceae): II. Autoecologia

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