Relationships between an invasive crab, habitat availability and intertidal community structure at biogeographic scales

Gribben, Paul E.; Simpson, Michael S.; Wright, Jeffrey T.

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2015.08.006

Cited by 11 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Communities on the bottom of boulders were quantified as in Gribben et al. (, ). Briefly, for the bottom community, mobile invertebrates beneath each boulder were collected by hand, stored in 70% ethanol and counted back in the lab.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study was undertaken on the northern coast of Tasmania, southern Australia. Intertidal rocky shores in this region are semi to fully exposed and are typically characterized by relatively low wave energy and low vertical relief boulder fields (Gribben et al 2013(Gribben et al , 2015. The boulders on these shores vary in size but reach up to 2,000 cm 2 (bottom surface area, J. T. Wright, unpublished data).…”

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In southeastern Australia, the undersides of intertidal boulders are often covered (up to 100% cover) by a matrix of tubes from the habitat‐forming serpulid Galeolaria caespitosa (Gribben et al. , Wright et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In southeastern Australia, the undersides of intertidal boulders are often covered (up to 100% cover) by a matrix of tubes from the habitat-forming serpulid Galeolaria caespitosa (Gribben et al 2015, Wright et al 2016). This matrix is made up of hundreds of small tubes approximately~30 mm in length (Halt et al 2009) which creates a highly complex microstructure with many small crevices and interstices ( Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disturbance‐mediated facilitation by an intertidal ecosystem engineer

Wright

Gribben

2017

Ecology

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Abstract. Ecosystem engineers facilitate communities by providing a structural habitat that reduces abiotic stress or predation pressure for associated species. However, disturbance may damage or move the engineer to a more stressful environment, possibly increasing the importance of facilitation for associated communities. In this study, we determined how disturbance to intertidal boulders (i.e., flipping) and the subsequent movement of a structural ecosystem engineer, the tube-forming serpulid worm Galeolaria caespitosa, from the bottom (natural state, low abiotic stress) to the top (disturbed state, high abiotic stress) surface of boulders influenced the importance of facilitation for intertidal communities across two intertidal zones. Theory predicts stronger relative facilitation should occur in the harsher environments of the top of boulders and the high intertidal zone. To test this prediction, we experimentally positioned boulders with the serpulids either face up or face down for 12 months in low and high zones in an intertidal boulder field. There were very different communities associated with the different boulders and serpulids had the strongest facilitative effects on the more stressful top surface of boulders with approximately double the species richness compared to boulders lacking serpulids. Moreover, within the serpulid matrix itself there was also approximately double the species richness (both zones) and abundance (high zone only) of small invertebrates on the top of boulders compared to the bottom. The high relative facilitation on the top of boulders reflected a large reduction in temperature by the serpulid matrix on that surface (up to 10°C) highlighting a key role for modification of the abiotic environment in determining the community-wide facilitation. This study has demonstrated that disturbance and subsequent movement of an ecosystem engineer to a more stressful environment increased the importance of facilitation and allowed species to persist that would otherwise be unable to survive in that environment.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disturbance‐mediated facilitation by an intertidal ecosystem engineer

Wright

Gribben

2017

Ecology

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“…In this study, we determined the relationships between C. filiformis cover and fish assemblages on temperate shallow rocky reefs in NSW. We hypothesized that fish assemblages, in particular herbivorous fishes, would be different at sites where C. filiformis occurred to where it was absent and that within sites, fish community structure would be correlated with the cover of C. filiformis because the influence of invasive species is often dependent on their density or biomass (Gribben et al ., , ; Hendrickx et al ., ; Thomsen et al ., ). Relationships between C. filiformis and fish assemblages were assessed by surveying sites with and without dense mono‐specific stands of the alga using a well‐used underwater visual census technique (Beck et al ., ; Cummings & Williamson, ) to quantify the diversity, abundance and assemblages of fishes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Relationships between the spread of Caulerpa filiformis and fish communities on temperate rocky reefs

Bradley

Gladstone

Gribben

2018

Journal of Fish Biology

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The previously sub-dominant native marine macrophyte Caulerpa filiformis is now dominant on many sub-tidal rocky reefs in New South Wales (NSW), Australia and is expanding its distribution. As C. filiformis is highly chemically defended and structurally different to co-occurring habitat-forming macrophytes, two key attributes that govern fish assemblages, we hypothesized that fish assemblages, particularly herbivorous fishes, would be different at sites where C. filiformis occurred from where it was previously absent and within sites, fish community structure would be correlated to the cover of C. filiformis. We investigated these hypotheses by determining reef-associated fish assemblage attributes (assemblage structure, species richness, total abundance, Shannon-Weiner diversity, abundance of herbivorous species) along transects within sites where C. filiformis was present and absent. Surprisingly, despite large patches and very high densities of C. filiformis on the reefs we sampled, at larger spatial scales (i.e., among sites) no fish assemblage metrics differed between sites with large stands of C. filiformis and sites without the alga. Moreover the abundance of one dominant herbivore, the rock cale Aplodactylus lophodon, was greater at sites within large beds of C. filiformis. At smaller spatial scales, however, i.e. within sites where C. filiformis was present, fish assemblages did vary as a function of C. filiformis cover along transects, although this was not consistent across sampling times. Overall, our results suggest that the potential effects of the spread of this alga on faunal communities warrants further investigation.

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Facilitation of an invader by a native habitat‐former increases along interacting gradients of environmental stress

Uyà

Bulleri

Wright

et al. 2020

Ecology

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Native habitat‐forming species can facilitate invasion by reducing environmental stress or consumer pressure. However, the intensity of one stressor along a local gradient may differ when expanding the scale of observation to encompass major variations in background environmental conditions. In this study, we determined how facilitation of the invasive porcelain crab, Petrolisthes elongatus, by the native tube‐forming serpulid, Galeolaria caespitosa, varied with environmental gradients at local (tidal height) and larger (wave exposure) spatial scales. G. caespitosa constructs a complex calcareous matrix on the underside of intertidal boulders and we predicted that its positive effects on P. elongatus density would increase in intensity with shore height and be stronger at wave‐sheltered than wave‐exposed locations. To test these predictions, we conducted two experiments. First, we determined the effects of serpulid presence (boulders with live or dead serpulid matrix vs. bare boulders) at six shore heights that covered the intertidal distribution of P. elongatus. Second, we determined the effects of serpulid presence (present vs. absent), shore height (high vs. low) and wave exposure (sheltered vs. exposed) on crabs across six locations within the invaded range in northern Tasmania, Australia. In Experiment 1, the presence of serpulids (either dead or alive) enhanced P. elongatus densities at all shore heights, with facilitation intensity (as determined by a relative interaction index; RII) tending to increase with shore height. In Experiment 2, serpulids facilitated P. elongatus across shore heights and wave exposures, although crab densities were lower at high shore levels of wave‐sheltered locations. However, the intensity of crab facilitation by serpulids was greater on wave‐sheltered than on wave‐exposed shores, but only at the high shore level. This study demonstrates that local effects of native habitat‐formers on invasive species are dependent on prevailing environmental conditions at larger spatial scales and that, under more stressful conditions, invaders become increasingly reliant on positive interactions with native habitat‐formers. Increased strength of local‐scale facilitation by native species, dampening broader scale variations in environmental stressors, could enhance the ability of invasive species to establish self‐sustaining populations in the invaded range.

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Relationships between an invasive crab, habitat availability and intertidal community structure at biogeographic scales

Cited by 11 publications

References 35 publications

Disturbance‐mediated facilitation by an intertidal ecosystem engineer

Disturbance‐mediated facilitation by an intertidal ecosystem engineer

Relationships between the spread of Caulerpa filiformis and fish communities on temperate rocky reefs

Facilitation of an invader by a native habitat‐former increases along interacting gradients of environmental stress

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