Interactive effects between physical forces and ecosystem engineers on seed burial: a case study using <i>Spartina anglica</i>

Zhu, Zhenchang; Cozzoli, Francesco; Chu, Nanyang; Salvador, María Luisa Esteban; Ysebaert, Tom; Zhang, Liquan; Herman, Peter M. J.; Bouma, Tjeerd J.

doi:10.1111/oik.02340

Cited by 24 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…; Zhu et al . ). However, negative influences on seedling establishment are possible through reduced recruitment of seeds because the seeds are buried at a greater depth through bioturbation (Thompson et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Facultative grazing and bioturbation by macrodetritivores alter saltmarsh plant–plant interactions under stress

et al. 2016

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1. The importance of positive plant-plant interactions is generally suggested to increase towards more stressful conditions, due to mutual stress amelioration between plants. Bioturbating macrodetritivores can also ameliorate stress through bioturbation, but can also become selective herbivores under food-limited conditions, making the outcome of plant-plant interactions under stress in the presence of macrodetritivores unclear. 2. We studied how combining environmental stress (waterlogging) with the presence of the soil macrodetritivore Orchestia gammarellus affected the outcome of the interaction between two salt marsh plants: the tall, late successional Elytrigia atherica and the shorter, early successional Festuca rubra. 3. In a replacement design competition experiment under controlled conditions, we found that soil redox potential was negatively affected by waterlogging and positively affected by the presence of O. gammarellus. The survival and shoot biomass of E. atherica was not significantly affected by waterlogging or by the presence of bioturbators. The survival and shoot biomass of F. rubra was especially decreased when waterlogging was combined with the presence of O. gammarellus, as this macrodetritivore turned into a selective grazer on F. rubra under these conditions. 4. We found that E. atherica produced double shoot biomass and F. rubra produced much less shoot biomass in their mixed cultures than was expected from the monocultures of same waterlogging/Orchestia treatments. Hence, the presence of the bioturbator strongly promoted the competitive advantage of E. atherica over F. rubra due to the combination of stress amelioration for the first species and selective herbivory on the second species. 5. Synthesis. This study shows that the inclusion of bioturbating macrodetritivores complicates the standard prediction that plant-plant interactions become more positive towards more stressful conditions. A novel insight is that macrodetritivores can affect the structure and diversity of plant communities through multiple mechanisms. Under benign conditions bioturbating macrodetritivores ameliorated soil conditions, permitting co-occurrence of competing plant species. At high environmental stress (waterlogging) macrodetritivores selectively graze higher quality plant species and emerging seedlings, thus promoting dominance of the lower quality species. Hence, the facultative feeding behaviour of macrodetritivores deserves further attention.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Facultative grazing and bioturbation by macrodetritivores alter saltmarsh plant–plant interactions under stress

et al. 2016

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“…Sprouting may also be found for other ragworm species (e.g., Alitta virens and Neanthes Succinea ), given their comparable feeding behaviors and niches (Blackburn and Orth , Zhu et al. ). Similarly, this phenomenon also likely occurs for seeds of other macrophytes, e.g., seagrass and glasswort, that can be cached by ragworms (Paramor and Hughes , Delefosse and Kristensen ), provided that their seed coats can prevent immediate seed consumption.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, H. diversicolor (Delefosse and Kristensen ) and its close relatives, Alitta virens (Zhu et al. ) and Neanthes su ccinea (Blackburn and Orth ), have been reported to collect and bury seeds of seagrass (Delefosse and Kristensen ), glasswort (Paramor and Hughes ) and cordgrass (Emmerson , Zhu et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…) and Neanthes su ccinea (Blackburn and Orth ), have been reported to collect and bury seeds of seagrass (Delefosse and Kristensen ), glasswort (Paramor and Hughes ) and cordgrass (Emmerson , Zhu et al. ). However, direct seed consumption has only been reported for the seagrass Zostera noltii (Hughes et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For WB and CB, seeds were buried at 1 cm depth, the typical depth at which ragworms bury seeds (Delefosse and Kristensen , Blackburn and Orth , Zhu et al. ). To avoid germination during incubation, we conducted the experiment in the winter (January 2014) in a green house where the temperature fluctuated between 3–12°C, using cordgrass seeds without any stratification treatments that had been harvested 2 months beforehand (November 2013).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sprouting as a gardening strategy to obtain superior supplementary food: evidence from a seed‐caching marine worm

Zhu

Belzen

Hong

et al. 2016

Ecology

Self Cite

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Abstract. Only a handful of non-human animals are known to grow their own food by cultivating high-yield fungal or algal crops as staple food. Here we report an alternative strategy utilized by an omnivorous marine worm, Hediste diversicolor, to supplement its diet: gardening by sprouting seeds. In addition to having many other known feeding modes, we showed using video recordings and manipulative mesocosm experiments that this species can also behave like gardeners by deliberately burying cordgrass seeds in their burrows, which has been previously shown to reduce the loss of seeds to water. These seeds, however, are protected by the seed husk, and we used feeding experiments to show that they were not edible for H. diversicolor until they had sprouted or the seed husk had been artificially removed. Additionally, sprouts were shown to be highly nutritious, permitting higher growth rates in H. diversicolor than the low-quality basal food, detritus. We propose both a proximate cause (seed husk as a physical barrier) and ultimate cause (nutritional demand) for this peculiar feeding behavior. Our findings suggest that sprouting may be a common strategy used by seed-collecting animals to exploit nutrients from well-protected seeds.

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Limited seed retention during winter inhibits vegetation establishment in spring, affecting lateral marsh expansion capacity

Regteren

Colosimo

Vries

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Coastal systems worldwide deliver vital ecosystem services, such as biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and coastal protection. Effectivity of these ecosystem services increases when vegetation is present. Understanding the mechanisms behind vegetation establishment in bio‐geomorphic systems is necessary to understand their ability to recover after erosive events and potential adaptations to climate change. In this study, we examined how seed availability affects vegetation establishment in the salt marsh–intertidal flat transition zone: the area with capacity for lateral marsh expansion. This requires vegetation establishment; therefore, seed availability is essential. In a 6‐month field experiment, we simulated a before and after winter seed dispersal at two locations, the salt‐marsh vegetation edge and the intertidal flat, and studied seed retention, the seed bank, and the seed viability of three pioneer marsh species: Salicornia procumbens, Aster tripolium, and Spartina anglica. During winter storm conditions, all supplied seeds eroded away with the sediment surface layer. After winter, supplied seeds from all three species were retained, mostly at the surface while 9% was bioturbated downwards. In the natural seed bank, A. tripolium and S. anglica were practically absent while S. procumbens occurred more frequently. The viability of S. procumbens seeds was highest at the surface, between 80% and 90%. The viability quickly decreased with depth, although viable S. procumbens seeds occurred up to 15 cm depth. Only when seeds were supplied after winter, many S. procumbens and some S. anglica individuals did establish successfully in the transition zone. Viable seed availability formed a vegetation establishment threshold, even with a local seed source. Our results suggest that, although boundary conditions such as elevation, inundation, and weather conditions were appropriate for vegetation establishment in spring, the soil surface in winter can be so dynamic that it limits lateral marsh expansion. These insights can be used for designing effective nature‐based coastal protection.

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Interactive effects between physical forces and ecosystem engineers on seed burial: a case study using Spartina anglica

Cited by 24 publications

References 53 publications

Facultative grazing and bioturbation by macrodetritivores alter saltmarsh plant–plant interactions under stress

Facultative grazing and bioturbation by macrodetritivores alter saltmarsh plant–plant interactions under stress

Sprouting as a gardening strategy to obtain superior supplementary food: evidence from a seed‐caching marine worm

Limited seed retention during winter inhibits vegetation establishment in spring, affecting lateral marsh expansion capacity

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