Colonization, succession, and nutrition of macrobenthic assemblages in a restored wetland at Tijuana Estuary, California

Moseman, Serena M.; Levin, Lisa A.; Currin, Carolyn A.; Forder, Charlotte

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2004.03.013

Cited by 62 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…4). In both seasons, the macrofauna in unshaded treatments resembled communities seen in newly restored Salicornia virginica (de Szalay et al 1996) and Spartina foliosa (Levin and Talley 2002) salt marshes in southern California; as plant cover increases, oligochaetes, crustaceans, and polychaetes increase, and insects decrease in representation (Talley and Levin 1999, Levin and Talley 2002, Moseman et al 2004. Similar compositional shifts in the macrofaunal community were observed in our experiments conducted in both grass-and succulent-dominated marsh habitats, reinforcing the generic role of plant cover in ameliorating harsh physical conditions in a manner essential to the development and maintenance of a natural sediment ecosystem (Bertness and Hacker 1994).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Regulation of Benthic Algal and Animal Communities by Salt Marsh Plants: Impact of Shading

Whitcraft

Levin

2007

Ecology

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Abstract. Plant cover is a fundamental feature of many coastal marine and terrestrial systems and controls the structure of associated animal communities. Both natural and human-mediated changes in plant cover influence abiotic sediment properties and thus have cascading impacts on the biotic community. Using clipping (structural) and light (shading) manipulations in two salt marsh vegetation zones (one dominated by Spartina foliosa and one by Salicornia virginica), we tested whether these plant species exert influence on abiotic environmental factors and examined the mechanisms by which these changes regulate the biotic community. In an unshaded (plant and shade removal) treatment, marsh soils exhibited harsher physical properties, a microalgal community composition shift toward increased diatom dominance, and altered macrofaunal community composition with lower species richness, a larger proportion of insect larvae, and a smaller proportion of annelids, crustaceans, and oligochaetes compared to shaded (plant removal, shade mimic) and control treatment plots. Overall, the shaded treatment plots were similar to the controls. Plant cover removal also resulted in parallel shifts in microalgal and macrofaunal isotopic signatures of the most dynamic species. This suggests that animal responses are seen mainly among microalgae grazers and may be mediated by plant modification of microalgae. Results of these experiments demonstrate how light reduction by the vascular plant canopy can control salt marsh sediment communities in an arid climate. This research facilitates understanding of sequential consequences of changing salt marsh plant cover associated with climate or sea level change, habitat degradation, marsh restoration, or plant invasion.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stable isotopic techniques have recently been used to assess trophic succession in created and invaded salt marshes (Currin et al 2003, Moseman et al 2004. The enriched d…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regulation of Benthic Algal and Animal Communities by Salt Marsh Plants: Impact of Shading

Whitcraft

Levin

2007

Ecology

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“…The effect of structural complexity of macrophyte vegetations like seagrasses and salt marsh species, have been well described with respect to protection from predation, reduction of current velocity, retention of particle and the accretion of sediment. Several studies show that these physical changes tend to increase macrofaunal species richness and/or abundances (seagrasses : Orth 1992;Heck et al 1995;Bartholomew, 2002;salt marsh plant: Rader 1984;Netto et al 1997, Netto andLana 1999;Whaley and Minello 2002;Brusati and Grosholz 2006), but with exceptions, especially for the salt marsh species (e.g., Moseman et al 2004;Neira et al 2005;Levin and Talley 2000). The contrasting influence of Spartina species on macrobenthos composition may be due to conditional outcomes of ecosystem engineering.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing biodiversity effects among ecosystem engineers of contrasting strength: macrofauna diversity in Zostera noltii and Spartina anglica vegetations

2008

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Whereas it is well known that ecosystem engineers can have a large influence on biodiversity, underlying mechanisms are still not fully clear. We try to enhance insight by comparing biodiversity effects of two neighboring intertidal, clonal, ecosystem engineering plant species that modify the physical environmental parameters in a similar way, but with a different magnitude. Macrobenthic assemblages were compared between meadows of the seagrass Zostera noltii, small patches (B0.5 m Ø) and large areas ()5 m Ø) of the emergent halophyte Spartina anglica and the surrounding bare tidal mudflat (control). Multivariate analyses revealed that the mudflat benthic assemblage and Zostera meadow assemblage showed highest similarities, whereas the Spartina marsh assemblage showed the highest dissimilarity with these two areas. Whereas the descriptive nature of our study limits interpretation of the data, some clear patterns were observed. For all vegetated areas, species diversity was lower compared to the unvegetated mudflat, and we observed a strong shift from endo-towards epibenthic species, suggesting that increased above-ground habitat complexity may be a main driving process in our system. As there were no clear patterns related to feeding types, food availability/productivity appeared to be of minor importance in structuring the benthic assemblages. Nevertheless, animals were in general smaller in vegetated areas. Patchiness had a distinct positive effect on biodiversity.

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“…Almost all prior studies have shown differences in community structure between constructed and natural marshes persisting within the first few years after restoration [10] [13] [14]. There are some exceptions: a restored marsh in southern California supported equivalent levels of macrofaunal densities, species richness, and diversity as that of the nearby reference marsh in 19 months, although species composition remained different [15]. A strong correlation appears to exist between time since restoration and many benthic parameters, with older marshes showing more structural similarities to natural marshes [3] [10] [11] [16]- [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on results of other studies, newly restored wetlands are often quickly colonized by a large, if not species-rich, group of opportunistic non-native species that eventually gives way to a more stable assemblage dominated by both opportunistic taxa and those more characteristic of natural marshes [13] [30] [31]. Opportunistic species may take advantage of restoration-related disturbance to become the dominant fauna [3] [13] [15] [30] [31]. In some instances, however, numbers of invasives have been higher in reference wetlands than restored ones [9].…”

Section: Role Of Invasive Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the Food Web Linked to Restoration Effort Intensity and Watershed Conditions

Parsons¹,

Sanders²,

Ryan³

et al. 2015

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Many tidal wetland restoration projects have focused on changes in vegetation or avian communities to determine whether restoration efforts have been successful. However, a functioning restored ecosystem relies on complex interactions among organisms on every level of the food web. In 2008, more than 223 hectares (ha) of former dairy ranch were restored to tidal wetland in Tomales Bay, California. To evaluate changes, we monitored zooplankton, benthic invertebrate, and fish communities before and after restoration in the Project Area and several natural marshes. Zooplankton and benthic invertebrate communities differed from natural marshes prior to restoration, but began to converge with natural marshes after restoration in terms of species composition, richness, and diversity. Fish communities in the Project Area remained distinct from those of natural marshes after restoration, although abundance of non-native species decreased. In past studies, fish communities have changed more quickly than invertebrate ones. The divergent evolutionary path taken by this system may stem from differences in restoration approach. This project did not involve extensive excavation or fill with dredge spoil material, and this minimalistic approach may promote more rapid colonization by invertebrates, especially if source populations exist nearby. While convergence with natural marshes was an objective, rapid colonization may not be beneficial in this instance as natural marshes have turned out to be dominated by nonnative, opportunistic invertebrate species. Ultimately, success of restoration projects may be determined by factors extrinsic to the project itself such as climatic variability and prevalence of invasive species within watersheds.

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Colonization, succession, and nutrition of macrobenthic assemblages in a restored wetland at Tijuana Estuary, California

Cited by 62 publications

References 31 publications

Regulation of Benthic Algal and Animal Communities by Salt Marsh Plants: Impact of Shading

Regulation of Benthic Algal and Animal Communities by Salt Marsh Plants: Impact of Shading

Comparing biodiversity effects among ecosystem engineers of contrasting strength: macrofauna diversity in Zostera noltii and Spartina anglica vegetations

Changes in the Food Web Linked to Restoration Effort Intensity and Watershed Conditions

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