Effects of grazer diversity on marine microphytobenthic biofilm: a ‘tug of war’ between complementarity and competition

Sanz‐Lázaro, Carlos; Rindi, Luca; Maggi, Elena; Bello, Martina Dal; Benedetti‐Cecchi, Lisandro

doi:10.3354/meps11507

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Our results highlight the importance of examining spatial and temporal variation simultaneously to correctly identify key scales of variability in the abundance of organisms. In fact, a previous study conducted on the same coast suggested scale-invariance in the spatial distribution of EMPB biomass (Dal Bello et al 2015), apparently in contrast with our results. In this previous study, however, EMPB was sampled continuously over a few meters of substratum and in the cold season, so the results are not directly comparable to those obtained here.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…In the system investigated in this study, small-scale topographic features, such as pits and crevices, could have provided more favorable habitats for EMPB during high desiccation stress, thus promoting heterogeneity in biomass distribution more during the warm months than the cold months. In addition, topography might have mediated the impact of biotic interactions, in particular, the grazing pressure exerted on biofilm by the littorinid snail Melaraphe neritoides (Stafford & Davies 2005, Skov et al 2010, Dal Bello et al 2015). An increase in spatial variance of microphytobenthos at small scales has been related to grazing activity both on rocky shores and in soft sediments (Stafford & Davies 2005, Como et al 2014.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At each of the 4 time points, we sampled the same 6 circular ROIs (area = 9 cm 2 ), randomly chosen at T1 (their perimeters were drawn with a white chalk to facilitate their subsequent location). EMPB biomass was estimated as previously described (Dal Bello et al 2015).…”

Section: Daily Variability Of Empb Biomassmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such studies have highlighted that EMPB abundance is usually greater lower on the shore than higher (Castenholz 1963, Underwood 1984, Dye & White 1991, Jackson et al 2010, and in winter than in summer (Underwood 1984, Jenkins & Hartnoll 2001, Williams et al 2001; but see Jackson et al 2010). In the Mediterranean, a recent study compared spatial patterns of EMPB at scales ranging from 0 to 2 m apart and showed that biomass distribution is scale-invariant (Dal Bello et al 2015). However, these studies concentrated on a limited range of spatial scales and focused mostly on seasonal patterns, neglecting other potentially important scales of temporal variability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The EMPB provides food for many grazing invertebrates (such as gastropods and amphipods; e.g. Underwood 1978, Christofoletti et al 2011, Sanz-Lázaro et al 2015 and facilitates the settlement of algal propagules and invertebrate larvae (O'Connor & Richardson 1998, Huang & Hadfield 2003. In addition, relatively recent studies have shown that some invertebrates (namely littorinids and barnacles) can in turn positively affect EMPB biomass through facilitation mechanisms (Skov et al 2010, suggesting that interaction webs involving EMPB are complex.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio-temporal variability in Mediterranean rocky shore microphytobenthos

Maggi¹,

Rindi²,

Bello³

et al. 2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Knowledge of spatio-temporal variability of assemblages is the first step in identifying key factors affecting the abundance and distribution of organisms. Despite a long history of ecological studies on rocky intertidal habitats, there is still a lack of basic knowledge about the microphytobenthic components. We investigated the spatio-temporal variability of microphytobenthos in the northwest Mediterranean at multiple scales, including both seasonal and daily observations, as well as its composition. Spatial variability of microphytobenthic biomass varied significantly with season, with an increase in small-scale variance from cold to warm periods. Furthermore, during warmer months, small-scale variances (tens to hundreds of centimeters) were larger than large-scale components (tens to thousands of meters). These results suggest large spatiotemporal variation in the processes driving variation in microphytobenthic assemblages, including interactive effects among stressful abiotic conditions, substratum topography and grazing. In addition, observed variability on a daily scale suggested that microphytobenthos at the study site (dominated by cyanobacteria) might cope with stressful environmental conditions through both physiological and behavioral strategies at micro-spatial scales, including small movements within the substratum. Additional research on ecological and physiological aspects of rocky shore microphytobenthos is needed to better understand its role within interaction webs and primary productivity processes

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Daily Variability Of Empb Biomassmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio-temporal variability in Mediterranean rocky shore microphytobenthos

Maggi¹,

Rindi²,

Bello³

et al. 2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Hybrid datasets: integrating observations with experiments in the era of macroecology and big data

Benedetti‐Cecchi

Bulleri

Bello

et al. 2018

Ecology

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Understanding how increasing human domination of the biosphere affects life on earth is a critical research challenge. This task is facilitated by the increasing availability of open-source data repositories, which allow ecologists to address scientific questions at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales. Large datasets are mostly observational, so they may have limited ability to uncover causal relations among variables. Experiments are better suited at attributing causation, but they are often limited in scope. We propose hybrid datasets, resulting from the integration of observational with experimental data, as an approach to leverage the scope and ability to attribute causality in ecological studies. We show how the analysis of hybrid datasets with emerging techniques in time series analysis (Convergent Cross-mapping) and macroecology (Joint Species Distribution Models) can generate novel insights into causal effects of abiotic and biotic processes that would be difficult to achieve otherwise. We illustrate these principles with two case studies in marine ecosystems and discuss the potential to generalize across environments, species and ecological processes. If used wisely, the analysis of hybrid datasets may become the standard approach for research goals that seek causal explanations for large-scale ecological phenomena.

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Temporal clustering of extreme climate events drives a regime shift in rocky intertidal biofilms

Bello

Rindi

Benedetti‐Cecchi

2019

Ecology

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Research on regime shifts has focused primarily on how changes in the intensity and duration of press disturbances precipitate natural systems into undesirable, alternative states. By contrast, the role of recurrent pulse perturbations, such as extreme climatic events, has been largely neglected, hindering our understanding of how historical processes regulate the onset of a regime shift. We performed field manipulations to evaluate whether combinations of extreme events of temperature and sediment deposition that differed in their degree of temporal clustering generated alternative states in rocky intertidal epilithic microphytobenthos (biofilms) on rocky shores. The likelihood of biofilms to shift from a vegetated to a bare state depended on the degree of temporal clustering of events, with biofilm biomass showing both states under a regime of non‐clustered (60 d apart) perturbations while collapsing in the clustered (15 d apart) scenario. Our results indicate that time since the last perturbation can be an important predictor of collapse in systems exhibiting alternative states and that consideration of historical effects in studies of regime shifts may largely improve our understanding of ecosystem dynamics under climate change.

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Effects of grazer diversity on marine microphytobenthic biofilm: a ‘tug of war’ between complementarity and competition

Cited by 11 publications

References 58 publications

Spatio-temporal variability in Mediterranean rocky shore microphytobenthos

Spatio-temporal variability in Mediterranean rocky shore microphytobenthos

Hybrid datasets: integrating observations with experiments in the era of macroecology and big data

Temporal clustering of extreme climate events drives a regime shift in rocky intertidal biofilms

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