Mangrove expansion into temperate marshes alters habitat quality for recruiting Callinectes spp.

Johnston, Cora A.; Caretti, Olivia N

doi:10.3354/meps12176

Cited by 23 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…In salt marsh ecosystems, marsh crabs (e.g. Uca spp., A. cinereum ) are dominant, highly connected species with high food web importance relative to other species (McCann et al ). Although Uca spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Eurytium limosum , Panopeus herbstii ) in the structure of salt marsh habitat (Lee and Kneib ), and Spartina detritus likely acts as an additional refuge from these predators. Structural refuge decreases predator capture efficiency in these environments (Vince et al , Gotceitas and Colgan , Lewis and Eby ), and decreased structural refuge availability in expanded habitats could have further cascading effects on multiple trophic levels (Grabowski , Byers et al ) – for example, for nekton that have distinct habitat preferences between mangrove and salt marsh habitats (Caudill , Smee et al ). Replacement of Spartina by Avicennia could deprive dominant crab species of preferred salt marsh habitat and essential detritus structural refuge or facilitate novel competitor species, such as the mangrove tree crab, Aratus pisonii , which is already expanding into salt marshes ahead of the mangrove expansion front (Riley et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Eight of the sites (south, n = 4; central, n = 4) coincided with permanent vegetation plots established by Simpson et al , and we divided each site into waterward fringe and landward interior sections (Fig. 1) to encompass a diversity of abiotic conditions at each site, and in the case the of central region, a mix of both habitat types (Simpson et al ). Within each region, these sections exhibited different inundation regimes, edaphic conditions and vegetation types.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spartina alterniflora and Avicennia germinans (hereafter Spartina and Avicennia ) are morphologically distinct. Spartina (0.3–1 m tall) is clonal, grassy and herbaceous, with multiple flat leaves that extend from a central stem; Avicennia (1–5 m tall at our field sites) has woody trunks and branches, leafy canopies and dense pneumatophores (pencil‐sized aerial roots) (Simpson et al ). These physical differences could directly affect the composition of epifaunal invertebrate communities by altering refuge availability, or indirectly, through changes to the abiotic environment (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detrital traits affect substitutability of a range‐expanding foundation species across latitude

Smith

Osborne

Feller

et al. 2019

Oikos

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Climate‐driven range shifts of foundation species could alter ecosystem processes and community composition by providing different resources than resident foundation species. Along the US Atlantic coast, the northward expanding foundation species, black mangrove Avicennia germinans, is replacing the dominant salt marsh foundation species, marsh cordgrass Spartina alterniflora. These species have distinct detrital attributes that ostensibly provide different resources to epifauna. We experimentally examined how detritus of these species affects decomposition and community composition in different habitat contexts at regional and local scales. First, we manipulated detritus identity (Avicennia, Spartina) at 13 sites across a 5° latitudinal gradient spanning mangrove, mixed marsh‐mangrove and salt marsh habitats. Across latitude, we found that Avicennia detritus decomposed 2–4 times faster than Spartina detritus, suggesting that detrital turnover will increase with mangrove expansion. Epifaunal abundance and richness increased 2–7 times from south to north (mangrove to salt marsh) and were equivalent between Avicennia and Spartina detritus except for crabs, a dominant taxonomic group that preferred Spartina detritus. Second, to examine the whether changing habitat context affected regional patterns, we manipulated detritus identity and surrounding habitat type (mangrove, salt marsh) at a single mixed site, also including inert mimics to separate structural and nutritional roles of detritus. Epifaunal richness was similar between the two detrital types, but crabs were 2–7 times more abundant in Spartina detritus due to its structural attributes. Surrounding habitat type did not influence decomposition rate or community patterns, which suggests that latitudinal influences, not surrounding habitat, drove the regional community patterns in the first experiment. Overall, mangrove expansion could alter epifaunal communities due to the lower structural value and faster turnover of mangrove detritus. As species shift with changing climate, understanding foundation species substitutability is critical to predict community change, but we must account for concomitant environmental changes that also modify communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Detrital traits affect substitutability of a range‐expanding foundation species across latitude

Smith

Osborne

Feller

et al. 2019

Oikos

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The importance of specific structural forms also may have been underestimated in prior studies if structural affinity is not always closely tied to structural refuge from predation, which has been most commonly studied (Minello and Zimmerman , Primavera , Kon et al. , Johnston and Caretti ). As found here, structure may also be influential if it is necessary for basic behavior and functions, such as foraging by arboreal crabs and epiphytic grazers (Laegdsgaard and Johnson , this study).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine fauna sort at fine resolution in an ecotone of shifting wetland foundation species

Johnston

Gruner

2018

Ecology

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Climate-driven global change is shifting the distribution and abundance of foundation species that form the base of ecosystems. The corresponding responses of inhabitant species to shifts in habitat-forming species are poorly understood, however we expect community responses to depend on how species perceive habitat patches and sort among them, particularly along range edges. We used the poleward shift of a mangrove-marsh ecotone to evaluate sorting of marine macrofauna (small fish and decapod crustaceans) among vegetation patches at a series of nested scales. Within the mangrove-marsh ecotone, we deployed retrievable panels of artificial vegetation structures mimicking a marsh grass and two mangrove species in patches dominated by each of these three foundation species. Over six months, we observed macrofaunal sorting by physical structure, isolated on panels, and by patch type, which included stand-level attributes such as production, shading, and chemical cues. We found multiscale partitioning of macrofaunal community composition by site (kilometer scale), vegetation type, and patch type with stand attributes (meters), and physical structure (centimeters). Differences in community composition between vegetation types at each scale indicated that mangroves and marsh grass differ as habitat for marine fauna and that wetland inhabitants can distinguish and sort among fine-grain habitat patches that co-occur within the ecotone. Such differences suggest that shifts in wetland vegetation are consequential for the protection and management of coastal populations. Studies that determine which habitat attributes shape inhabitant fauna associations can help reveal not just the spatial grain at which inhabitants associate with emerging frontier habitat but also how the redistribution of foundation species shapes the pace and resolution of broader community change.

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Effects of oil exposure, plant species composition, and plant genotypic diversity on salt marsh and mangrove assemblages

et al. 2018

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2018. Effects of oil exposure, plant species composition, and plant genotypic diversity on salt marsh and mangrove assemblages. Ecosphere 9(4):Abstract. Climate change is causing shifts in the distribution and abundance of many species.Because species vary in the rate and degree of these shifts, novel transition zones have developed where new combinations of species overlap. If climate-mediated range shifts result in greater diversity, transition communities could have enhanced resistance and/or resilience, particularly if the resident and colonizing species differ in their response to environmental change. The range expansion of the tropical black mangrove, Avicennia germinans, into salt marshes dominated by the temperate cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, provides an opportunity to examine the responses of climate-mediated transition zones to disturbance. We conducted a yearlong mesocosm experiment testing the effects of plant species identity and composition (A. germinans, S. alterniflora), as well as plant genotypic diversity (S. alterniflora only), on the response of coastal wetlands to oiling disturbance. Oil negatively impacted S. alterniflora and A. germinans both above-and belowground, though the timing of these effects varied, with S. alterniflora showing more immediate declines than A. germinans. As hypothesized, the magnitude of the oil effect was reduced in the mixed plant species treatment compared to the single species treatment for A. germinans survival (12% vs. 21% reduction) and belowground biomass (19% vs. 71% reduction). In addition, when exposed to oil, A. germinans crown area and volume were greater in the mixed species treatment compared to the single species treatment at the end of the experiment. However, we did not detect any benefit of mixed species communities or S. alterniflora genotypic diversity for the S. alterniflora response to oil. Our results suggest that transition habitats in the northern Gulf of Mexico where A. germinans and S. alterniflora co-occur will be negatively impacted by future oiling events, but that they are no more susceptible, and perhaps slightly less so, than habitats dominated by either individual species.

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Mangrove expansion into temperate marshes alters habitat quality for recruiting Callinectes spp.

Cited by 23 publications

References 67 publications

Detrital traits affect substitutability of a range‐expanding foundation species across latitude

Detrital traits affect substitutability of a range‐expanding foundation species across latitude

Marine fauna sort at fine resolution in an ecotone of shifting wetland foundation species

Effects of oil exposure, plant species composition, and plant genotypic diversity on salt marsh and mangrove assemblages

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