Foraging by the mud snail, Ilyanassa obsoleta (Say), modulates spatial variation in benthic community structure

Kelaher, Brendan P.; Levinton, Jeffrey S.; Hoch, J. Matthew

doi:10.1016/s0022-0981(03)00183-7

Cited by 62 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…alters energy allocation under hypoxic conditions to enhance survival (Cheung et al 2008), and this strategy might also be employed by I. obsoleta, which was the only taxon that was significantly more abundant in the eutrophic estuary than in the non-eutrophic estuary (Table 4). The Ulva detritus, which is ubiquitous in CR, might be supporting the high numbers of I. obsoleta observed in this estuary, since this gastropod is attracted to areas with high levels of Ulva detritus (Kelaher et al 2003). The δ 15 N values of these gastropods in CR, however, suggest that a larger proportion of their diet is likely coming from living macroalgal tissues than from detritus.…”

Section: Benthic Community Response To Eutrophication and Hypoxiamentioning

confidence: 58%

Restructuring of benthic communities in eutrophic estuaries: lower abundance of prey leads to trophic shifts from omnivory to grazing

Fox¹,

Teichberg²,

Olsen³

et al. 2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Anthropogenic nutrient loading to coastal waters has increased producer biomass, leading to more frequent hypoxic events particularly in estuarine systems. To examine how eutrophication and hypoxia might alter consumer assemblages, we surveyed benthic communities in 2 subestuaries of Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts, representing a eutrophic-hypoxic regime and an oligotrophic-oxic regime. The number of consumer species and abundance of organisms were lower in the eutrophic estuary. In particular, there were fewer primary consumers, mainly small crustaceans. These differences in consumer community structure also alter trophic interactions. To examine changes in food web structure that might result from lower prey abundance, we sampled organisms from the 2 sub-estuaries and determined their trophic relationships based on nitrogen stable isotope ratios. Reduced numbers of primary consumers, and hence lower prey availability, led to changes in food web linkages. Specifically, omnivores shifted their diets from an omnivorous diet that is mainly carnivorous in the oligotrophic estuary to feeding mainly as herbivores in the eutrophic estuary, where prey were scarce and macroalgae were abundant. These shifts in trophic structure may have consequences for higher trophic levels.KEY WORDS: Eutrophication · Hypoxia · Benthic community · Crustacean · Food web · Trophic structure · MacroalgaeResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

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Section: Benthic Community Response To Eutrophication and Hypoxiamentioning

confidence: 58%

Restructuring of benthic communities in eutrophic estuaries: lower abundance of prey leads to trophic shifts from omnivory to grazing

Fox¹,

Teichberg²,

Olsen³

et al. 2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Each core was sieved and the annelids were quantified using the methods described above. A control treatment to test for the disturbance of adding U. rotundata was not included, because previous work had indicated that this manual disturbance had no detectable impact on annelid assemblages (Kelaher et al 2003, see also third subsection of 'Results').…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in detrital enrichment causes spatio-temporal variation in soft-sediment assemblages

Kelaher¹,

Levinton²

2003

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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We investigated the importance of algal detritus in determining complex patterns of spatio-temporal variation in annelid assemblages in sites separated by 10s of meters on mudflats on Long Island, New York. We used field sampling to test the hypothesis that spatio-temporal variation in annelid assemblages contributes substantially more to total variation than consistent spatial differences among sites (pure spatial variation). While this pattern was generally shown by dominant surface-feeding annelids (e.g. Paranais litoralis and Streblospio benedicti), this was not the case for the deeper-feeding orbinid polychaete Leitoscolopolos robustus. We enriched the sediment with Ulva rotundata detrius to test the hypothesis that variation in detrital enrichment creates complex spatio-temporal patterns in annelid assemblages. Initially, the diversity and abundance of annelids was lower in enriched sites compared to untouched sites because of anoxic conditions at the sediment -water interface in the manipulated treatment. After about 1 mo, however, populations of opportunistic surface-feeding annelids (e.g. P. litoralis and Capitella capitata) increased in enriched sites to peak significantly higher than those in unmanipulated sediment, indicating resourcelimitation. The annelid assemblages in different treatments then converged in June/July when the excess detrital resources were sufficiently depleted. Overall, we demonstrate the important role that deposition of detritus plays in determining variation in soft-sediment communities. More than just simple spatial variation, however, we show that detritus enrichment can generate the complicated spatio-temporal patterns observed in natural annelid assemblages.

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“…A significant contribution of POM R to macrobenthos diet was not detected in AG1. Kelaher et al (2003). *Based on information for another species of same family, **opportunistically changes feeding types IsoSource could not determine a dominant source for SPOM in AG1 due to the stable signatures falling outside the ranges of potential sources.…”

Section: Relative Importance Of Potential Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of small rivers on chemical properties of sediment and diets for primary consumers in estuarine tidal flats

Sakamaki¹,

Richardson²

2008

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Foraging by the mud snail, Ilyanassa obsoleta (Say), modulates spatial variation in benthic community structure

Cited by 62 publications

References 55 publications

Restructuring of benthic communities in eutrophic estuaries: lower abundance of prey leads to trophic shifts from omnivory to grazing

Restructuring of benthic communities in eutrophic estuaries: lower abundance of prey leads to trophic shifts from omnivory to grazing

Variation in detrital enrichment causes spatio-temporal variation in soft-sediment assemblages

Effects of small rivers on chemical properties of sediment and diets for primary consumers in estuarine tidal flats

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