Predicting diversity in benthic macro‐scale communities associated with mussel matrices in three Pacific ecoregions

Abstract

Marine benthic fauna is highly diverse. Among these, marine mussels are widely abundant and known to form complex beds which can host a diverse assembly of marine fauna and flora (Commito

A Case for Trans-Regional Intertidal Research in Unstudied Areas in the Northeast and Southeast Pacific: Filling the Gaps

“…Furthermore, it is important to remember that a temporal survey design may reveal new or previously unreported species, such as the polychaete (cf.) Boccardia wellingtonensis collected by Wilbur et al [99] in varying abundance over the course of a three-year survey at Reserva Punta San Juan (PSJ) in the RNSIIPG.…”

“…Today, mussels have economic value as a product of commercial-scale aquaculture [97]. The term "mussel matrix" is a term used to describe the layers and depth of mussel assemblages, and the magnitude of layers in a mussel matrix has been correlated with mussel spat recruitment and shell size with varying wave factors as well as their function as islands of habitat for intertidal species [93,98,99]. Matrix depth, sedimentation, and algal canopy are factors that play a significant role in species richness.…”

“…Matrix depth, sedimentation, and algal canopy are factors that play a significant role in species richness. In the eastern Pacific, positive correlations have been identified between multi-layer mussel matrices and biodiversity, while an inverse relationship exists between multi-layer matrices and species evenness [92,99]. Furthermore, the relationship between mussel matrices and algae is a commensal one; the matrices provide space for the settlement of algal sporelings, and the algal sporophytes form canopies that retain moisture and thereby minimize desiccation, thus providing a benefit to intertidal biota living near the threshold of their thermal tolerance limits [92,94,100].…”

“…A lack of research focus on the biological and structural complexity of wild mussel assemblages has contributed to a lack of understanding on the diversity of invertebrate and algal communities associated with mussels as well as the response of these communities to environmental stress and disturbance, and the role they play in temperate nearshore food webs has been largely unexplored. The effect of environmental factors (nutrient inputs, sediment loading, area of the assemblage, environmental heterogeneity, emersion times, etc., on the structural complexity and species richness in mussel assemblages have all been examined on the coasts of Japan, Washington, Chile, and central Peru with variable effect size based on the explanatory factors used in the analysis [90,92,96,[98][99][100][101]107,108]. Only recently have efforts been made on the outer coast of Southeast Alaska and the northern subtropical and warm temperate coasts of Peru to study the biological and environmental variables that drive mussel assemblage complexity, with the discovery of a physical biomarker as a predictor of diversity in algal and invertebrate communities living within mussel assemblages [99].…”

“…The effect of environmental factors (nutrient inputs, sediment loading, area of the assemblage, environmental heterogeneity, emersion times, etc., on the structural complexity and species richness in mussel assemblages have all been examined on the coasts of Japan, Washington, Chile, and central Peru with variable effect size based on the explanatory factors used in the analysis [90,92,96,[98][99][100][101]107,108]. Only recently have efforts been made on the outer coast of Southeast Alaska and the northern subtropical and warm temperate coasts of Peru to study the biological and environmental variables that drive mussel assemblage complexity, with the discovery of a physical biomarker as a predictor of diversity in algal and invertebrate communities living within mussel assemblages [99].…”