Testing the Habitat Safety Hypothesis with behavioural field experiments: amphipod orientation on sandy beaches with contrasting morphodynamics

Fanini, Lucia; Defeo, Omar; Santos, Cecilia Do; Scapini, Felicita

doi:10.3354/meps08219

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…4d). A group of 3 supralittoral species was able to occur even under the most reflective conditions, which was also noted by Defeo & Gómez (2005), Lastra et al (2009) andFanini et al (2009). Further support for a different response in supralittoral forms comes from Incera et al (2006), who found that supralittoral species were less affected by beach face slope, i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Coupling between macrofauna community structure and beach type: a deconstructive meta-analysis

Defeo¹,

McLachlan²

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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103

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Species richness and abundance of macrofauna on sandy shores increase from microtidal reflective to macrotidal dissipative beach conditions. However, no attempt has been made to deconstruct these patterns. Using information on the macrofauna from 63 microtidal sandy beach surveys in South America, we deconstructed the community to discriminate among taxonomic groups, supralittoral and intertidal forms, and groups with different feeding habits and development modes. We also separated the effects of development mode and beach zone (intertidal vs. supralittoral) at the species level and scaled body size to density estimates. Total species richness decreased towards reflective beaches, but this trend was less marked in crustaceans than in molluscs or polychaetes. Supralittoral air-breathing crustaceans increased in richness and abundance from dissipative to reflective conditions, a reverse trend to that seen in intertidal crustaceans. Development modes (species with direct development and with planktonic larvae) showed the same response to beach type as the community as a whole. Filter feeders, scavengers and deposit feeders showed the same trend, but the latter were scarce or absent on reflective beaches. Zone was more important than either development or feeding modes in determining individual species responses to beach type. Body size decreased and density increased from reflective to dissipative beaches, suggesting that smaller forms are more sensitive to harsh conditions where density is lower, and hence there is less scope for biological interactions in reflective beaches. The deconstruction approach provided insights into the relationships between life cycle characteristics and richness and abundance patterns and the relative importance of environmental variables in beach ecology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Coupling between macrofauna community structure and beach type: a deconstructive meta-analysis

Defeo¹,

McLachlan²

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

Self Cite

103

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“…Behavior was moreover found to be finely tuned to the characteristics of the environment at a local level (Fanini et al, 2009a(Fanini et al, , 2012.…”

Section: Talitrids and Arthropod Fauna As Targets For Impact Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing methods used in estimating biodiversity on sandy beaches: Pitfall vs. quadrat sampling

Fanini

Lowry

2016

Ecological Indicators

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“…Also Bouslama et al (2011) found a link between talitrid behaviour and environmental stability on two beaches of the Tunisian coasts comparing behavioural traits (orientation and locomotor activity rhythms). On the Atlantic coast of Uruguay, Fanini et al (2009) compared the orientation of talitrids from beaches differing in morphodynamics and observed a more precise orientation on a reflective beach than on a dissipative one, due to the protected position of talitrid populations across the beach, where the wave energy is reflected by the beach slope (Habitat Safety Hypothesis, Defeo and Gómez, 2005). On the Pacific coasts, in Chile, on oceanic macrotidal intermediate beaches, a better adapted seaward orientation was observed on a protected beach than on an exposed one (Scapini and Dugan, 2008).…”

Section: Talitrids: Fine Tuning To a Changing Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Talitrid orientation as bioindicator of shoreline stability: Protected headland-bays versus exposed extended beaches

Scapini

Gambineri

Rossano

et al. 2015

Ecological Indicators

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a b s t r a c tThe behaviour of talitrids, being a local adaptation to beaches, is known to be related to environmental stability. The use of behavioural responses of resident populations as bioindicator of shoreline stability has been tested under various conditions, including after soft and hard engineering actions to stabilise eroded beaches. Port structures likely have impact on sediment longshore transportation and shoreline stability. The question was whether talitrid orientation behaviour could be proposed as bioindicator of impacts also for sandy bays of limited extension and highly used for recreation, such as those in the vicinity of touristic port structures. Orientation experiments were carried out on a set of sandy beaches of different extension and morphology, each of them in the vicinity of a touristic port, across the Mediterranean coasts. The protocol included field orientation tests of populations of talitrids, then analysed in terms of orientation precision seawards (considering sun compass orientation as the most locally adapted behavioural mechanism) in different seasons (before and after the touristic season) and times of day. The populations from more protected (either naturally or artificially) headland-bays showed a higher precision of orientation with respect to the shoreline direction than those from extended beaches, more subject to changes in longshore sedimentary transport as consequence of natural and human activities. The distance from the port and touristic pressure had no influence on talitrid orientation. An important stabilising factor for the sandy beach ecosystems, including talitrid populations and their behavioural adaptation, appeared to be the presence of seagrass banquette. The behavioural data point out that biotic information proceeding from local animal populations linked to beach sediments may complement sedimentology data and allow scaling the impacts occurring on a developed coastline. This becomes particularly relevant when considering interdisciplinary approaches to monitoring strategies.

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Testing the Habitat Safety Hypothesis with behavioural field experiments: amphipod orientation on sandy beaches with contrasting morphodynamics

Cited by 20 publications

References 31 publications

Coupling between macrofauna community structure and beach type: a deconstructive meta-analysis

Coupling between macrofauna community structure and beach type: a deconstructive meta-analysis

Comparing methods used in estimating biodiversity on sandy beaches: Pitfall vs. quadrat sampling

Talitrid orientation as bioindicator of shoreline stability: Protected headland-bays versus exposed extended beaches

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