Are natural microcosms useful model systems for ecology?

Srivastava, Diane S.; Kolasa, Jurek; Bengtsson, Jan; Gonzalez, Andrew; Lawler, Sharon P.; Miller, Thomas E.; Munguia, Pablo; Romanuk, Tamara N.; Schneider, David C.; Trzcinski, M. Kurtis

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2004.04.010

Cited by 356 publications

(280 citation statements)

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“…A suitable study system to address these questions, in particular for organisms with short generation times, are small island-like habitats (Srivastava et al, 2004), as they combine the advantages of small sizes and clear boundaries but are still exposed to natural environmental variance, openness and realistic species combinations. Here, we work with rock pools, that is, water-filled bedrock depressions, which constitute small, semipermanent, discrete entities embedded in a landscape of rocks close to the sea.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal variation of β-diversity and assembly mechanisms in a bacterial metacommunity

et al. 2011

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The turnover of community composition across space, b-diversity, is influenced by different assembly mechanisms, which place varying weight on local habitat factors, such as environmental conditions and species interactions, and regional factors such as dispersal and history. Several assembly mechanisms may function simultaneously; however, little is known about how their importance changes over time and why. Here, we implemented a field survey where we sampled a bacterial metacommunity consisting of 17 rock pools located at the Swedish Baltic Sea coast at 11 occasions during 1 year. We determined to which extent communities were structured by different assembly mechanisms using variation partitioning and studied changes in b-diversity across environmental gradients over time. b-Diversity was highest at times of high overall productivity and environmental heterogeneity in the metacommunity, at least partly due to species sorting, that is, selection of taxa by the prevailing environmental conditions. In contrast, dispersal-driven assembly mechanisms were primarily detected at times when b-diversity was relatively low. There were no indications for strong and persistent differences in community composition or b-diversity between permanent and temporary pools, indicating that the physical disturbance regime is of relatively minor importance. In summary, our study clearly suggests that there are temporal differences in the relative importance of different assembly mechanisms related to abiotic factors and shows that the temporal variability of those factors is important for a more complete understanding of bacterial metacommunity dynamics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal variation of β-diversity and assembly mechanisms in a bacterial metacommunity

et al. 2011

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“…Given the range in dispersion indices and high variation in community structure, the pen shell system shows the same spatial variability associated with other marine communities (Palmer et al 1996;Srivastava et al 2004). Pen shell density seems to explain little variation in community structure, which supports the idea that individual species may persist at diVerent spatial scales.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Field research has focused on identifying the mechanisms that regulate diversity in natural systems . However, few ecological communities have been found to have the appropriate attributes for testing spatial theory (Srivastava et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…have been found to aVect macrofauna diversity in surrounding habitats (e.g., Warwick et al 1997;Cummings et al 1998), and even studied as settling habitat for sessile species (e.g., Keough 1984). Pen shell communities have the potential to address questions regarding spatially structured communities (Srivastava et al 2004), but Wrst their spatial structure and role within the larger sea grass bed community must be described. Therefore, in this study I asked the following questions: (1) Do the species occupying pen shells constitute a discrete community, or are they just part of a larger community within sea grass beds?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial structure of communities on dead pen shells (Atrina rigida) in sea grass beds

Munguia

2007

Mar Biol

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Delimiting communities in marine habitats is diYcult because co-occurring species often have diVerent life histories and the life stages experience the environment at diVerent spatial scales. The habitat of a particular community is embedded within a larger habitat or ecosystem with many species shared between the focal community and the larger system. Pen shells (Atrina rigida) are large bivalves that, once the mollusk dies, provide shelter for motile species and hard substrate for settling larval invertebrates and egg-laying Wshes. In St. Joseph's Bay, Florida (29°45ЈN, 85°15ЈW), pen shells are the most abundant source of hard substrate, especially inside sea grass (Thalassia testudinum) beds, where they reach densities of 0.1-4.0 m ¡2 . This study, which was conducted from May to August 2005, measured the overlap in species densities between dead pen shells and the surrounding sea grass communities at eight sites to determine the discreteness of the pen shell communities. Of the 70-epibenthic taxa recorded, 66% were found on the pen shells but not in the surrounding sea grass habitat. Community structure, which varied among shells within sites and among the eight sites, could be related to sea grass characteristics such as blade density and length either directly (e.g., inhabitants of pen shells directly beneWt from the surrounding sea grass) or indirectly (e.g., pen shells and sea grass both beneWt from similar factors such as current and nutrients). Pen shells were randomly distributed at several spatial scales within the 15 £ 15 m sites as were many motile species. Two exceptions were the shrimp, Palaemon Xoridanus and the amphipod, Dulichella appendiculata, whose distributions were clumped. Most of the sessile species had clumped distributions, tending to be very abundant when they were present. These pen shell communities provide an opportunity for experimental studies of factors aVecting species diversity on small, discrete, naturally occurring habitats.

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“…Our results may also be useful for the future studies on phytotelmata, in particular on Calathea and Heliconia bract containers that offer interesting possibilities for testing hypotheses in the field of community ecology. Phytotelmata possess most of the advantages usually attributed to laboratory microcosms, being natural systems inhabited by communities of organisms that evolved together under natural dispersal rates (Srivastava et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selective predation by a harpacticoid copepod on ciliates in phytotelmata: a laboratory experiment

Wiackowski

Kocerba‐Soroka

2016

Hydrobiologia

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Copepods are the most numerous metazoans in water-filled phytotelmata formed by Heliconia and Calathea floral bracts in cloud forests of Cordillera de la Costa, Northern Venezuela. We estimated the potential effect of copepods on ciliate community structure in this habitat with a laboratory experiment. Predation effects of five life stages of a harpacticoid copepod on a mixed culture of five bacterivorous ciliate species were measured during a 48-hour incubation. The predation effect depended on copepod life stage and on ciliate prey species. The abundances of Colpoda inflata, Tetrahymena pyriformis, and Colpidium kleini were significantly reduced, the actual effect strongly depending on copepod developmental stage. No detectable predation was observed on Paramecium aurelia or Tachysoma pellionellum. The results suggest that predation by harpacticoid copepods is an important factor influencing ciliate community structure in phytotelmata.

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Are natural microcosms useful model systems for ecology?

Cited by 356 publications

References 50 publications

Temporal variation of β-diversity and assembly mechanisms in a bacterial metacommunity

Temporal variation of β-diversity and assembly mechanisms in a bacterial metacommunity

Spatial structure of communities on dead pen shells (Atrina rigida) in sea grass beds

Selective predation by a harpacticoid copepod on ciliates in phytotelmata: a laboratory experiment

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