The role of annual macroalgal morphology in driving its epifaunal assemblages

Torres, Ana Catarina; Veiga, Puri; Rubal, Marcos; Sousa-Pinto, Isabel

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2014.12.016

Cited by 49 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Morphological complexity has been shown to be positively correlated with the number of meso‐invertebrates (Holmlund, Peterson & Hay ; Warfe, Barmuta & Wotherspoon ; Veiga, Rubal & Sousa‐Pinto ; Torres et al . , this study). By incorporating percent cover into our calculations of complexity, we found that greater densities of introduced filamentous forms led to a more biogenically complex seaweed habitat that could support two and three times the richness and abundance of lower trophic‐level species compared to the native seaweed assemblage (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Invasive seaweeds transform habitat structure and increase biodiversity of associated species

et al. 2017

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Summary The visual landscape of marine and terrestrial systems is changing as a result of anthropogenic factors. Often these shifts involve introduced species that are morphologically dissimilar to native species, creating a unique biogenic structure and habitat for associated species within the landscape. While community‐level changes as a result of introduced species have been documented in both terrestrial and marine systems, it is still unclear how long‐term shifts in species composition will affect habitat complexity or its potential to influence the biodiversity of species that occur at the base of the food web. We analysed quadrat photos collected at several subtidal sites in the Gulf of Maine over a 30+ year period, and collected individual seaweed species to determine their complexity and the biodiversity of meso‐invertebrates associated with each species. By coupling the relationship of 30+ years of shifts in seaweed assemblages, morphological structure of the seaweed assemblage, and their meso‐invertebrates, we determined introduced seaweeds have increased by up to 90%, corresponding to a rise in two‐dimensional (2D) structure, and a decline in canopy height of subtidal rocky habitats. The highly complex two‐dimensional habitat provided by introduced filamentous red seaweeds supports two to three times more meso‐invertebrate individuals and species that form the base of the food web than simpler forms of morphological habitat. Synthesis. The present study demonstrates a long‐term shift in foundation species towards a dominance of invasive seaweeds that directly reduce canopy height and increase the 2D biogenic structure of the habitat. These introduced seaweeds harbour greater biodiversity of species found at the base of the food web than seaweeds with simpler forms such as the native kelp species. Such shifts in habitat structure will propagate to food webs by influencing the structure of lower trophic‐level meso‐invertebrates and indirectly upper trophic‐level species that feed on these invertebrates and use the seaweed structure as refuge.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Invasive seaweeds transform habitat structure and increase biodiversity of associated species

et al. 2017

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“…However, our results suggest that later communities are a consequence of specific variation during early and middle colonisation, mediated by habitat complexity (Maggi et al, 2009). Studies in hard-bottom habitats have shown that mobile organisms increase as more habitat complexity is produced by the development of sessile biota, e.g., overstory, understory macroalgae and sessile invertebrates (Dean and Connell, 1987;Antoniadou et al, 2010;Valdivia et al, 2014;Torres et al, 2015). This latter pattern may be due to the presence of habitat-forming species (kelp beds in this experiment) influencing the variability of the densities of mobile and sessile invertebrate species (e.g., small crustaceans, amphipods, polychaetes, small molluscs) during succession (Maggi et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Successional patterns of hard-bottom macrobenthic communities at kelp bed (Lessonia trabeculata) and barren ground sublittoral systems

Uribe

Ortiz

Macaya

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

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“…Padina and Chondrus) for shelters (Steneck and Dethier, 1994). Polychaetes need both types of macrophytes to survive in the rocky intertidal shores, and hence the complexity of macrophytes is always important for many intertidal invertebrates (Best et al, 2014;Torres et al, 2015;Martín et al, 2016). Indeed, this study showed that polychaetes were found more on the macrophytes composed by Gracilaria salicornia, Chaetomorpha crassa, and Ulva lactuca.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Taxonomic Level Needed to Detect Significant Changes in Polychaete Communities Over Different Macrophyte Assemblages on Rocky Intertidal Shores

Hadiyanto

2017

Mar. Res. Indonesia

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Environmental degradation has more significant impacts on rocky intertidal communities after global changes increase progressively. Thus, ecological monitoring should be conducted properly to analyse potential drivers and their impacts. However, most of the ecological monitoring in rocky intertidal shores is more interested in macroalgae. Polychaetes associated with macrophyte assemblages should be also involved in the monitoring because they are important in determining coastal health and productivity. A successful ecological monitoring should consider three factors: taxonomic level, statistical power, and sample size. In this study, those factors were analysed in the relationships between polychaetes and macrophytes. Four taxonomic levels of polychaetes (i.e. order, family, genus, species) were tested based on 25 samples collected from rocky intertidal shores of Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Relationships between each of taxonomic richness of polychaetes and each of macrophytes variables (i.e. species richness, biomass, species composition) were analysed using a Generalised Linear Models fitted by Poisson Distribution and log link. The statistical power of those relationships and the sample size needed to obtain a strong statistical power (>0.8) were also recorded. Relationships between each of taxonomic composition of polychaetes and each of macrophyte variables were analysed using a distance based Redundancy Analysis based on Bray Curtis dissimilarity on log(x+1) transformed abundance data with 999 permutations. Results showed that family based data analysis was sufficient to detect significant relationships between polychaetes and macrophytes. However, the statistical power of most relationships was relatively weak (< 0.8). Hence, the family-based data analysis should select a 44 sample size to gain significant relationships with a strong statistical power.

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The role of annual macroalgal morphology in driving its epifaunal assemblages

Cited by 49 publications

References 57 publications

Invasive seaweeds transform habitat structure and increase biodiversity of associated species

Invasive seaweeds transform habitat structure and increase biodiversity of associated species

Successional patterns of hard-bottom macrobenthic communities at kelp bed (Lessonia trabeculata) and barren ground sublittoral systems

Taxonomic Level Needed to Detect Significant Changes in Polychaete Communities Over Different Macrophyte Assemblages on Rocky Intertidal Shores

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