During a cold La Niña period (August 2007–January 2008) in the central Galápagos archipelago, 70% of Pocillopora branching corals were severely bleached across three long‐term monitoring sites, ...affording an opportunity to examine its impact on the persistence of these corals and their associated community of fish and mobile macroinvertebrates. Using a time series empirical approach, we tagged and tracked the fate of 96 coral heads and their associates. When surveyed in July 2008, recovered live and dead corals that were previously severely bleached supported similar levels of species richness (randomized observed and estimated Chao 1). By contrast, richness on the surviving live corals remained fairly stable, while Chao 1 estimated richness on dead corals underwent a nearly 50% increase between July and January 2009, thereafter declining to 50% of originally surveyed richness by February 2010. This nonlinear change in species richness was largely due to an influx and decline in opportunistic generalists including pencil urchin bioeroders, gastropod snails, and hermit crabs that colonized dead corals and fed on sessile invertebrates and algae that had initially recruited to dead and undefended coral substrate. Thus, dead corals retained high overall species richness until live corals had recovered, after which richness declined as dead corals eroded and disintegrated (July 2011). Live corals attracted a less speciose but stable assemblage of mutualistic xanthid crabs and fishes that increased in abundance over time with the recovery and growth of live coral tissue. Overall, coral status (live/dead), planar area and maximum branch length predicted the number of species associated with each colony. The delayed diversity loss of associated species following La Niña disturbance to a foundation species represents a local extinction debt of 32–49‐month duration. A better understanding of the scale of extinction debt in foundational marine ecosystems is needed to quantify the breadth of impacts of climate oscillations on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Humans have restructured food webs and ecosystems by depleting biomass, reducing size structure and altering traits of consumers. However, few studies have examined the ecological impacts of ...human-induced trait changes across large spatial and temporal scales and species assemblages. We compared behavioural traits and predation rates by predatory fishes on standard squid prey in protected areas of different protection levels and ages, and found that predation rates were 6.5 times greater at old, no-take (greater than 40 years) relative to new, predominantly partial-take areas (approx. 8 years), even accounting for differences in predatory fish abundance, body size and composition across sites. Individual fishes in old protected areas consumed prey at nearly twice the rate of fishes of the same species and size at new protected areas. Predatory fish exhibited on average 50% longer flight initiation distance and lower willingness to forage at new protected areas, which partially explains lower foraging rates at new relative to old protected areas. Our experiments demonstrate that humans can effect changes in functionally important behavioural traits of predator guilds at large (30 km) spatial scales within managed areas, which require protection for multiple generations of predators to recover bold phenotypes and predation rates, even as abundance rebounds.
Interspecific variation in resource use is critical to understanding species diversity, coexistence, and ecosystem functioning. A growing body of research describes analogous intraspecific variation ...and its potential importance for population dynamics and community outcomes. However, the magnitude of intraspecific variation relative to interspecific variation in key dimensions of consumer-resource interactions remains unknown, hampering our understanding of the importance of this variation for population and community processes. In this study, we examine feeding preference through repeated laboratory choice feeding assays of 444 wild-caught individuals of eight invertebrate grazer species on rocky reefs in northern California. Between-species variation accounted for 25%–33% of the total variation in preference for the preferred resource, while between-individual variation accounted for 4%–5% of total variation. For two of the eight species, between-individual variation was significantly different from zero and on average contributed 14% and 17% of the total diet variation, even after accounting for differences due to size and sex. Therefore, even with clearly distinguishable between-species differences in mean preference, diet variation between and within individuals can contribute to the dietary niche width of species and guilds, which may be overlooked by focusing solely on species’ mean resource use patterns.
Predation is a critical ecological process that alters the structure and functioning of ecosystems through density-mediated and trait-mediated effects on lower trophic levels. Although studies have ...focused on harvest-driven reductions in abundances and sizes of targeted species, human harvest also alters species morphologies, life histories, and behaviors by selection, plasticity, and shifts in species interactions. Restricting harvest can recover the biomass of targeted species, but it is less clear how behavioral phenotypes recover, particularly relative to the impacts of potentially opposing pathways of human influence. We investigated the effects of protection on the behavioral traits of a marine fish assemblage, recording behavior of 1377 individual fishes of nine targeted kelp forest species across 16 California marine protected areas (MPAs) varying in age, protection level, and diver visitation. With long-term, full protection from harvest, all fish species exhibited shorter flight initiation distance (FID, or the distance at which an animal flees from an approaching threat) and longer time delays before fleeing, despite differences in trophic position, microhabitat use, and other ecological characteristics. These escape behaviors were amplified across new MPAs regardless of protection level, suggesting that recovery is slow and likely the result of differences in genetic or early-life experience among individuals in these long-lived species. Although the effects of full protection from harvest were partially offset by recovering populations of large piscivorous predators, the net effect of long-term, full protection on fish behavior was shorter FID. Additionally, all species had shorter FID at sites more frequently visited by divers, and this effect was greater in sites with long-term, full protection from fishing. To the extent that escape behavior is correlated with foraging behavior and predation rates, these results suggest that human-induced behavioral changes may affect ecosystem processes, even after abundances have recovered. If recovery of ecosystem functioning and services are the management goal, assessments should be broadened to include the recovery of functional traits (including behavior).
Plant microbiomes are known to serve several important functions for their host, and it is therefore important to understand their composition as well as the factors that may influence these ...microbial communities. The microbiome of
has only recently been explored, and studies to-date have primarily focused on characterizing the microbiome of plants in a single region. Here, we present the first characterization of the composition of the microbial communities of
across a wide geographical range spanning three distinct regions with varying physicochemical conditions. We collected samples of leaves, roots, sediment, and water from six sites throughout the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. We then analyzed these samples using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. We found that site and region can influence the microbial communities of
, while maintaining a plant-associated core microbiome. A comprehensive comparison of available microbial community data from
studies determined a core microbiome composed of 14 ASVs that consisted mostly of the family Rhodobacteraceae. The most abundant genera in the microbial communities included organisms with possible plant-beneficial functions, like plant-growth promoting taxa, disease suppressing taxa, and nitrogen fixers.
Humans have restructured food webs and ecosystems by depleting biomass, reducing size structure and altering traits of consumers. However, few studies have examined the ecological impacts of ...human-induced trait changes across large spatial and temporal scales and species assemblages. We compared behavioural traits and predation rates by predatory fishes on standard squid prey in protected areas of different protection levels and ages, and found that predation rates were 6.5 times greater at old, no-take (greater than 40 years) relative to new, predominantly partial-take areas (approx. 8 years), even accounting for differences in predatory fish abundance, body size and composition across sites. Individual fishes in old protected areas consumed prey at nearly twice the rate of fishes of the same species and size at new protected areas. Predatory fish exhibited on average 50% longer flight initiation distance and lower willingness to forage at new protected areas, which partially explains lower foraging rates at new relative to old protected areas. Our experiments demonstrate that humans can effect changes in functionally important behavioural traits of predator guilds at large (30 km) spatial scales within managed areas, which require protection for multiple generations of predators to recover bold phenotypes and predation rates, even as abundance rebounds.
The global distribution of primary production and consumption by humans (fisheries) is well-documented, but we have no map linking the central ecological process of consumption within food webs to ...temperature and other ecological drivers. Using standardized assays that span 105° of latitude on four continents, we show that rates of bait consumption by generalist predators in shallow marine ecosystems are tightly linked to both temperature and the composition of consumer assemblages. Unexpectedly, rates of consumption peaked at midlatitudes (25 to 35°) in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres across both seagrass and unvegetated sediment habitats. This pattern contrasts with terrestrial systems, where biotic interactions reportedly weaken away from the equator, but it parallels an emerging pattern of a subtropical peak in marine biodiversity. The higher consumption at midlatitudes was closely related to the type of consumers present, which explained rates of consumption better than consumer density, biomass, species diversity, or habitat. Indeed, the apparent effect of temperature on consumption was mostly driven by temperature-associated turnover in consumer community composition. Our findings reinforce the key influence of climate warming on altered species composition and highlight its implications for the functioning of Earth’s ecosystems.
Climate change is altering the functioning of foundational ecosystems. While the direct effects of warming are expected to influence individual species, the indirect effects of warming on species ...interactions remain poorly understood. In marine systems, as tropical herbivores undergo poleward range expansion, they may change food web structure and alter the functioning of key habitats. While this process ('tropicalization') has been documented within declining kelp forests, we have a limited understanding of how this process might unfold across other systems. Here we use a network of sites spanning 23° of latitude to explore the effects of increased herbivory (simulated via leaf clipping) on the structure of a foundational marine plant (turtlegrass). By working across its geographic range, we also show how gradients in light, temperature and nutrients modified plant responses. We found that turtlegrass near its northern boundary was increasingly affected (reduced productivity) by herbivory and that this response was driven by latitudinal gradients in light (low insolation at high latitudes). By contrast, low-latitude meadows tolerated herbivory due to high insolation which enhanced plant carbohydrates. We show that as herbivores undergo range expansion, turtlegrass meadows at their northern limit display reduced resilience and may be under threat of ecological collapse.
A global review of marine recreational spearfishing Sbragaglia, Valerio; Arlinghaus, Robert; Blumstein, Daniel T. ...
Reviews in fish biology and fisheries,
12/2023, Letnik:
33, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Recreational spearfishing is a fishing method that occurs globally, yet receives considerably less attention in the scientific literature relative to other recreational fishing methods, such as ...angling. Lack of scientific information on spearfishing may negatively affect the development and management of marine recreational fisheries. We conducted a systematic review of 102 peer-reviewed papers published between 1967 and 2022 pertaining to marine recreational spearfishing. Based on this literature review, we provide an overview of key insights across social, economic, and ecological dimensions of marine recreational spearfishing. While spearfishers represent less than 5% of marine recreational fishers, the participants are younger and may differ from recreational anglers in their motivations, with suggestions of increased well-being generated from a close connection with the sea during underwater fishing. Recreational spearfishers mostly target species of moderate to high levels of vulnerability that are mid to high trophic level carnivores. Though spearfishers can deliberately target larger individuals of exploited populations, this is not a generalizable pattern. Despite a growing body of research on the ecological impacts of marine recreational spearfishing, there is limited knowledge of these effects and their mechanisms across biological levels of organization (e.g., individual, population, community and ecosystem) compared with those of other fishing methods. Recreational spearfishers can contribute to advances in marine ecological knowledge, and inclusive participatory management could represent a key step towards transformative sustainable development of marine recreational spearfishing. Throughout the review, we identify gaps in the research and areas where future research is needed to better inform the socio-economic importance, ecosystem impacts and future management of marine recreational spearfishing.
The organic carbon (C
org
) stored in seagrass meadows is globally significant and could be relevant in strategies to mitigate increasing CO
2
concentration in the atmosphere. Most of that stored C
...org
is in the soils that underlie the seagrasses. We explored how seagrass and soil characteristics vary among seagrass meadows across the geographic range of turtlegrass (
Thalassia testudinum
) with a goal of illuminating the processes controlling soil organic carbon (C
org
) storage spanning 23° of latitude. Seagrass abundance (percent cover, biomass, and canopy height) varied by over an order of magnitude across sites, and we found high variability in soil characteristics, with C
org
ranging from 0.08 to 12.59% dry weight. Seagrass abundance was a good predictor of the C
org
stocks in surficial soils, and the relative importance of seagrass-derived soil C
org
increased as abundance increased. These relationships suggest that first-order estimates of surficial soil C
org
stocks can be made by measuring seagrass abundance and applying a linear transfer function. The relative availability of the nutrients N and P to support plant growth was also correlated with soil C
org
stocks. Stocks were lower at N-limited sites than at P-limited ones, but the importance of seagrass-derived organic matter to soil C
org
stocks was not a function of nutrient limitation status. This finding seemed at odds with our observation that labile standard substrates decomposed more slowly at N-limited than at P-limited sites, since even though decomposition rates were 55% lower at N-limited sites, less C
org
was accumulating in the soils. The dependence of C
org
stocks and decomposition rates on nutrient availability suggests that eutrophication is likely to exert a strong influence on carbon storage in seagrass meadows.
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