Intertidal community composition along rocky shores in South-west Greenland: a quantitative approach

Høgslund, Signe; Sejr, Mikael K.; Wiktor, Jozef; Blicher, Martin E.; Wegeberg, Susse

doi:10.1007/s00300-014-1541-7

Cited by 28 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…In Greenland, populations of blue mussels are widely found in fjords in West and South Greenland, but they have not been found north of central east Greenland (Versteegh et al 2012;Høgslund et al 2014). The M. edulis species complex consists of three morphologically similar congeners: M. edulis, M. trossulus and M. galloprovincialis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A first report on coexistence and hybridization of Mytilus trossulus and M. edulis mussels in Greenland

et al. 2015

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Semi-sessile Mytilus mussels are used as indicators of climate changes, but their geographic distribution is not sufficiently known in the Arctic. The aim of this study was to investigate the taxonomic status and genetic differentiation of Mytilus populations in a Northwest Greenlandic fjord at Maarmorilik, impacted by contaminations from a former mine. In this study, mussels were collected at three sites differing in exposure to environmental factors. A total of 54 polymorphic SNPs found in the Mytilus EST and DNA sequences analyzed were successfully applied to 256 individuals. The results provided the first evidence for the existence of M. trossulus in Greenland. The mussel from M. trossulus and M. edulis taxa are shown to coexist and hybridize in the fjord. The three studied sites were found to differ significantly in the distribution of taxa with a higher prevalence of M. trossulus in the inner fjord. The identified M. edulis 9 M. trossulus hybrids mostly had a hybrid index score of about 0.5, indicating a similar number of alleles characteristic for M. trossulus and M. edulis. There was a low number of backcrosses between 'pure' taxa and hybrids. This newly discovered hybrid zone between the two taxa is unique in comparison with the Canadian populations. As Mytilus mussels in Greenland hitherto have been regarded as the one taxon M. edulis, the results have importance for biogeography and future monitoring and environmental studies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mytilus edulis is important in the coastal areas in Greenland and has been applied in a range of ecology studies (e.g., Theisen 1973;Strand and Asmund 2003;Wanamaker et al 2007;Blicher et al 2013;Høgslund et al 2014;Thyrring et al 2015). In the mid-intertidal zone, blue mussel beds are found to dominate at wave-exposed steep sites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A first report on coexistence and hybridization of Mytilus trossulus and M. edulis mussels in Greenland

et al. 2015

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“…Hence biological patterns are controlled primarily by physical (see discussion above) and physiological factors, and secondarily by resource availability (Blicher et al 2013, Høgslund et al 2014. Because Mytilus are semi-sessile animals, they rely on cold tolerance to survive sub-zero temperatures (Thyrring et al 2015a).…”

Section: The Importance Of Cold Tolerancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…pdf), ocean and air temperatures and length of the period with primary production (Sejr et al 2009, Krause-Jensen et al 2012. Because only few quantitative studies have been conducted in this intertidal zone (Hansen 1999, Blicher et al 2013, Høgslund et al 2014, preliminary research should focus on foundation species because of their importance for ecosystems. Foundation species include shell-forming molluscs as they create hard substrates increasing the abundance of a diverse associated fauna (Gutiérrez et al 2011, Thyrring et al 2015b.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rising air temperatures will increase intertidal mussel abundance in the Arctic

Thyrring¹,

Blicher²,

Sørensen³

et al. 2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…This coastline forms a complex network of fjords and open coasts that contains multiple features contributing to heterogeneity, such as continental ice and freshwater discharge at the headwaters, variable slopes and substrates, differential water residence time conducive to widely distinct temperature regimes within neighbouring areas (Olesen et al, 2015), and tides that generate intertidal habitats and force flow patterns. In addition, Greenland fjords often support highly productive kelp forests (Krause-Jensen et al, 2012) and intertidal seaweed communities (Høgslund et al, 2014), which have been suggested to have the capacity to affect pH and arag locally . Such effects have been demonstrated for Antarctic and temperate kelp/macroalgal ecosystems (Middelboe and Hansen 2007;Delille et al, 2009;Cornwall et al, 2013a) as well as for subtropical and tropical seagrass meadows (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroalgae contribute to nested mosaics of pH variability in a subarctic fjord

et al. 2015

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Abstract. The Arctic Ocean is considered the most vulnerable ecosystem to ocean acidification, and large-scale assessments of pH and the saturation state for aragonite ( arag ) have led to the notion that the Arctic Ocean is already close to a corrosive state. In high-latitude coastal waters the regulation of pH and arag is, however, far more complex than offshore because increased biological activity and input of glacial meltwater affect pH. Effects of ocean acidification on calcifiers and non-calcifying phototrophs occupying coastal habitats cannot be derived from extrapolation of current and forecasted offshore conditions, but they require an understanding of the regimes of pH and arag in their coastal habitats. To increase knowledge of the natural variability in pH in the Arctic coastal zone and specifically to test the influence of benthic vegetated habitats, we quantified pH variability in a Greenland fjord in a nested-scale approach. A sensor array logging pH, O 2 , PAR, temperature and salinity was applied on spatial scales ranging from kilometre scale across the horizontal extension of the fjord; to 100 m scale vertically in the fjord, 10-100 m scale between subtidal habitats with and without kelp forests and between vegetated tidal pools and adjacent vegetated shores; and to centimetre to metre scale within kelp forests and millimetre scale across diffusive boundary layers of macrophyte tissue. In addition, we assessed the temporal variability in pH on diurnal and seasonal scales. Based on pH measurements combined with point samples of total alkalinity, dissolved inorganic carbon and relationships to salinity, we also estimated variability in arag . Results show variability in pH and arag of up to 0.2-0.3 units at several scales, i.e. along the horizontal and vertical extension of the fjord, between seasons and on a diel basis in benthic habitats and within 1 m 3 of kelp forest. Vegetated intertidal pools exhibited extreme diel pH variability of > 1.5 units and macrophyte diffusive boundary layers a pH range of up to 0.8 units. Overall, pelagic and benthic metabolism was an important driver of pH and arag producing mosaics of variability from low levels in the dark to peak levels at high irradiance generally appearing favourable for calcification. We suggest that productive coastal environments may form niches of high pH in a future acidified Arctic Ocean.

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Intertidal community composition along rocky shores in South-west Greenland: a quantitative approach

Cited by 28 publications

References 52 publications

A first report on coexistence and hybridization of Mytilus trossulus and M. edulis mussels in Greenland

A first report on coexistence and hybridization of Mytilus trossulus and M. edulis mussels in Greenland

Rising air temperatures will increase intertidal mussel abundance in the Arctic

Macroalgae contribute to nested mosaics of pH variability in a subarctic fjord

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