Implications of dredging induced changes in sediment particle size composition for the structure and function of marine benthic macrofaunal communities

Cooper, Keith; Curtis, Matthew; Hussin, Wan Mohd Rauhan Wan; Froján, Christopher R.S. Barrio; Defew, Emma C.; Nye, Verity; Paterson, David M.

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.07.021

Cited by 44 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Our finding of the importance of sediment characteristics in determining the structure, abundance, evenness (Figure b), richness (Figure c), and diversity of benthic assemblages (Table , Figure ) is in agreement with shallow‐water studies (Biernbaum, ; Cooper et al, ; Johnson, ; Table ). Our results suggest that both moderately low and high proportions (~5%–15% and ~60%–80%, respectively) of sand‐sized particles are optimal in promoting maximal abundance and functional richness, phylogenetic richness, and taxon richness of benthic peracarid assemblages, with higher proportions of sand‐sized particles being more beneficial overall when taxon diversity and evenness, and functional and phylogenetic evenness are additionally considered.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…As such, average sediment grain size may influence the morphological, physiological, and behavioral characteristics of benthic taxa present at a site (Johnson, ). For example, deposit‐feeding taxa, which are common constituents of benthic continental slope macrofauna (Etter & Grassle, ), can be highly selective for particular sediment particle sizes when feeding (Fenchel, ; Fenchel, Kofoed, & Lappalainen, ; Self & Jumars, ; Taghon, ), and hence, changes in sediment characteristics may drive turnover in benthic functional and taxonomic structure and diversity (Biernbaum, ; Cooper et al., ). We hypothesize that sediment particle‐size diversity will be positively related to peracarid diversity and that changes in sediment average grain size will be associated with changes in peracarid diversity, abundance, biomass, and assemblage structure (Table ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating the environmental drivers of deep‐seafloor biodiversity: A case study of peracarid crustacean assemblages in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Ashford

Kenny

Froján

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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The deep‐sea benthos covers over 90% of seafloor area and hosts a great diversity of species which contribute toward essential ecosystem services. Evidence suggests that deep‐seafloor assemblages are structured predominantly by their physical environment, yet knowledge of assemblage/environment relationships is limited. Here, we utilized a very large dataset of Northwest Atlantic Ocean continental slope peracarid crustacean assemblages as a case study to investigate the environmental drivers of deep‐seafloor macrofaunal biodiversity. We investigated biodiversity from a phylogenetic, functional, and taxonomic perspective, and found that a wide variety of environmental drivers, including food availability, physical disturbance (bottom trawling), current speed, sediment characteristics, topographic heterogeneity, and temperature (in order of relative importance), significantly influenced peracarid biodiversity. We also found deep‐water peracarid assemblages to vary seasonally and interannually. Contrary to prevailing theory on the drivers of deep‐seafloor diversity, we found high topographic heterogeneity (at the hundreds to thousands of meter scale) to negatively influence assemblage diversity, while broadscale sediment characteristics (i.e., percent sand content) were found to influence assemblages more than sediment particle‐size diversity. However, our results support other paradigms of deep‐seafloor biodiversity, including that assemblages may vary inter‐ and intra‐annually, and how assemblages respond to changes in current speed. We found that bottom trawling negatively affects the evenness and diversity of deep‐sea soft‐sediment peracarid assemblages, but that predicted changes in ocean temperature as a result of climate change may not strongly influence continental slope biodiversity over human timescales, although it may alter deep‐sea community biomass. Finally, we emphasize the value of analyzing multiple metrics of biodiversity and call for researchers to consider an expanded definition of biodiversity in future investigations of deep‐ocean life.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the environmental drivers of deep‐seafloor biodiversity: A case study of peracarid crustacean assemblages in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Ashford

Kenny

Froján

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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“…In addition, stressors associated with urban, industrial and coastal development will also continue to alter environmental conditions [e.g. dredging (Cooper et al, 2011), nutrient enrichment (Koop et al, 2001), metal contaminants (Lewis et al, 2013) and sedimentation (Risk 2014)]. Thus, marine organisms are exposed not only to natural environmental stressors, but also the compounding effects of anthropogenic stressors, notably increasing global temperatures, reduced pH and pulses of decreased salinity (Hughes & Connell, 1999;Przeslawski et al, 2008;Shi et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review and meta‐analysis of the effects of multiple abiotic stressors on marine embryos and larvae

Przeslawski

Byrne

Mellin

2015

Global Change Biology

411

391

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Marine organisms are simultaneously exposed to anthropogenic stressors with likely interactive effects, including synergisms in which the combined effects of multiple stressors are greater than the sum of individual effects. Early life stages of marine organisms are potentially vulnerable to the stressors associated with global change, but identifying general patterns across studies, species and response variables is challenging. This review represents the first meta-analysis of multistressor studies to target early marine life stages (embryo to larvae), particularly between temperature, salinity and pH as these are the best studied. Knowledge gaps in research on multiple abiotic stressors and early life stages are also identified. The meta-analysis yielded several key results: (1) Synergistic interactions (65% of individual tests) are more common than additive (17%) or antagonistic (17%) interactions. (2) Larvae are generally more vulnerable than embryos to thermal and pH stress. (3) Survival is more likely than sublethal responses to be affected by thermal, salinity and pH stress. (4) Interaction types vary among stressors, ontogenetic stages and biological responses, but they are more consistent among phyla. (5) Ocean acidification is a greater stressor for calcifying than noncalcifying larvae. Despite being more ecologically realistic than single-factor studies, multifactorial studies may still oversimplify complex systems, and so meta-analyses of the data from them must be cautiously interpreted with regard to extrapolation to field conditions. Nonetheless, our results identify taxa with early life stages that may be particularly vulnerable (e.g. molluscs, echinoderms) or robust (e.g. arthropods, cnidarians) to abiotic stress. We provide a list of recommendations for future multiple stressor studies, particularly those focussed on early marine life stages.

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“…Local environments should be studied to define the limits of acceptable changes (Cooper et al, 2011;Cooper, 2013).…”

Section: Reducing the Negative Consequences Of Extractionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sand, rarer than one thinks

Peduzzi¹

2014

Environmental Development

206

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Sand, rarer than one thinks Article reproduced from United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Environmental Alert Service (GEAS) $ Sand and gravel are mined world-wide and account for the largest volume of solid material extracted globally. Formed by erosive processes over thousands of years (John, 2009), they are now being extracted at a rate far greater than their renewal. Furthermore, the volume being extracted is having a major impact on rivers, deltas and coastal and marine ecosystems (Fig. 1), results in loss of land through river or coastal erosion, lowering of the water table and decreases in the amount of sediment supply. Despite the colossal quantities of sand and gravel being used, our increasing dependence on them and the significant impact that their extraction has on the environment, this issue has been mostly ignored by policy makers and remains largely unknown by the general public.

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Implications of dredging induced changes in sediment particle size composition for the structure and function of marine benthic macrofaunal communities

Cited by 44 publications

References 19 publications

Investigating the environmental drivers of deep‐seafloor biodiversity: A case study of peracarid crustacean assemblages in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Investigating the environmental drivers of deep‐seafloor biodiversity: A case study of peracarid crustacean assemblages in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

A review and meta‐analysis of the effects of multiple abiotic stressors on marine embryos and larvae

Sand, rarer than one thinks

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