Using molluscs to assess ecological quality status of soft-bottom habitats along the Atlantic coastline of the United States

Pruden, Matthew J.; Dietl, Gregory P.; Handley, John C.; Smith, Julian F.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107910

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Molluscs are among the dominant groups within the shallow marine benthos. Molluscs are sensitive to marine stressors and are frequently used to assess the ecological quality of marine habitats [67]. In the present study, the bivalves Dosinia and Tellina were recorded in relatively high averaged seasonal densities in Arad Bay (190.5 and 27.2 individual m −2 , respectively).…”

Section: Community Structurementioning

confidence: 61%

Community Structures of Benthic Macrofauna in Reclaimed and Natural Intertidal Areas in Bahrain, Arabian Gulf

Naser¹

2022

JMSE

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Costal reclamation has been carried out extensively along the coastlines of the Arabian Gulf during the last decades. As a small archipelago country, coastal reclamation continues to be a major option for securing land to meet the needs of the expanding population and economic development in Bahrain. Macrobenthic communities often reflect the integrity of ecosystems as they respond to natural and anthropogenic stressors. This study characterized the community structures of macrobenthic invertebrates in three reclaimed intertidal areas and a protected natural mudflat in Bahrain (August 2019 and December 2020). Macrobenthic community structures and sediment characteristics differed significantly between natural and reclaimed areas. A total of 43 species were recorded in the four study areas, of which 38 were collected from the natural mudflat. Polychaetes dominated macrobenthic communities, followed by molluscs and crustaceans. Polychaetes accounted for more than 90% of the communities in the reclaimed coastal areas. Macrobenthic monitoring is considered essential for detecting changes in coastal and marine ecosystems due to dredging and reclamation activities along the coastlines of the Arabian Gulf. The findings of this study can provide insights into the ecological dynamics of macrobenthic communities in reclaimed coastal areas for environmental monitoring and coastal planning and management in the Arabian Gulf.

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Section: Community Structurementioning

confidence: 61%

Community Structures of Benthic Macrofauna in Reclaimed and Natural Intertidal Areas in Bahrain, Arabian Gulf

Naser¹

2022

JMSE

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“…One strategy to increase the utility of conservation paleobiology data is to adapt it to the methods and data formats already familiar to decision makers (Dietl et al 2016; Barnosky et al 2017; Smith et al 2020). Aquatic benthic indices, which describe the ecological quality of a water body based on the composition of the benthic (bottom dwelling) macroinvertebrate communities, present one such opportunity for conservation paleobiologists to use a metric already familiar to resource managers, due to the abundance of taxonomically identifiable remains of benthic organisms that lived at a site in the past, preserved as buried death assemblages on the sea floor (Nerlović et al 2011; Leshno et al 2015; Dietl et al 2016; Leshno et al 2016; Smith et al 2020; Pruden et al 2021). Here we use a simulated benthic community to investigate the differences in performance between death assemblage data and living assemblage data as reference condition information for the widely used marine benthic index, Multivariate AZTI Marine Biotic Index (M-AMBI).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Identifying appropriate historical reference conditions using existing assessments and monitoring records for benthic indices is challenging, particularly as no truly pristine sites likely exist (e.g., Halpern et al 2008). The importance, yet lack of, historical reference conditions provides an opportunity for the incorporation of geohistorical data (Dietl et al 2016; Smith et al 2020; Pruden et al 2021). In particular, molluscan death assemblages can provide location- specific, long-term ecological information on the response of marine benthic communities to anthropogenic stressors, which would otherwise be inaccessible to decision makers (Nerlović et al 2011; Leshno et al 2015; Dietl et al 2016; Leshno et al 2016; Smith et al 2020; Pruden et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The importance, yet lack of, historical reference conditions provides an opportunity for the incorporation of geohistorical data (Dietl et al 2016; Smith et al 2020; Pruden et al 2021). In particular, molluscan death assemblages can provide location- specific, long-term ecological information on the response of marine benthic communities to anthropogenic stressors, which would otherwise be inaccessible to decision makers (Nerlović et al 2011; Leshno et al 2015; Dietl et al 2016; Leshno et al 2016; Smith et al 2020; Pruden et al 2021). Moreover, studies with data from Europe (Dietl et al 2016) and the United States (Pruden et al 2021) have demonstrated that mollusks are reliable proxies for the whole benthic macroinvertebrate communities under the AMBI and M-AMBI framework.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, molluscan death assemblages can provide location- specific, long-term ecological information on the response of marine benthic communities to anthropogenic stressors, which would otherwise be inaccessible to decision makers (Nerlović et al 2011; Leshno et al 2015; Dietl et al 2016; Leshno et al 2016; Smith et al 2020; Pruden et al 2021). Moreover, studies with data from Europe (Dietl et al 2016) and the United States (Pruden et al 2021) have demonstrated that mollusks are reliable proxies for the whole benthic macroinvertebrate communities under the AMBI and M-AMBI framework. Before the implementation of this approach with molluscan death assemblages, however, it is necessary to evaluate the effects of common death assemblages biases (e.g., preservation bias, time averaging) on the parameters used to define reference conditions (i.e., richness, diversity, AMBI), and their combined effects on M-AMBI (Dietl et al 2016; Smith et al 2020; Pruden et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the utility of death assemblages as reference conditions in a common benthic index (M-AMBI) with simulations

Smith

Pruden

Handley

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Incorporating paleontological data into the methods and formats already familiar to conservation practitioners may facilitate greater use of paleontological data in conservation practice. Benthic indices (e.g., Multivariate - AZTI Marine Biotic Index; M-AMBI) already incorporate reference conditions and are a good candidate for integration. In simulations of living communities under constant and changing environmental conditions, we evaluate the capacity of death assemblage reference conditions to replicate M-AMBI values when used in place of reference conditions from the final ten generations of the simulation or all five hundred simulated generations. Reference conditions from all death assemblage scenarios successfully replicated correct remediation decisions in the majority of simulation runs with environmental change and stability. Variations in M-AMBI values were due to overestimated richness and diversity in the death assemblages but effects of changes to these parameters varied across scenarios, emphasizing the importance of evaluating multiple metrics. Time averaging was largely beneficial, particularly when environmental change occurred and short-term ecological observations (ten generations) produced incorrect remediation decisions. When the duration of time averaging is known, death assemblages can provide valuable long-term perspectives with the potential to outperform temporally constrained baseline information from monitoring the living community.

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Spatial Variation Ecological Quality Assessment of Live and Dead Molluscan Assemblages in the Aegean Sea

Aslan

Ovalis²

2023

Ocean Sci. J.

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Using molluscs to assess ecological quality status of soft-bottom habitats along the Atlantic coastline of the United States

Cited by 12 publications

References 59 publications

Community Structures of Benthic Macrofauna in Reclaimed and Natural Intertidal Areas in Bahrain, Arabian Gulf

Community Structures of Benthic Macrofauna in Reclaimed and Natural Intertidal Areas in Bahrain, Arabian Gulf

Assessing the utility of death assemblages as reference conditions in a common benthic index (M-AMBI) with simulations

Spatial Variation Ecological Quality Assessment of Live and Dead Molluscan Assemblages in the Aegean Sea

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