Grazing preferences of marine isopods and amphipods on three prominent algal species of the Baltic Sea

Goecker, Margene E.; S, Kåll

doi:10.1016/j.seares.2003.04.003

Cited by 57 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Algae also constituted the main source of food for the amphipod Microdeutopus gryllotalpa, whereas the isopod Idotea baltica and the gastropod Radix baltica appeared to feed only partly on algae, which agrees with other results in the literature , Jormalainen et al 2001, Goecker & Kåll 2003, Andersson 2005. The nitrogen isotope signatures of the grazers did not reveal clear enrichment compared to algae.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Trophic interactions in Zostera marina beds along the Swedish coast

Jephson¹,

Nyström²,

Moksnes³

et al. 2008

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

102

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We compared eelgrass Zostera marina communities in 3 regions in Sweden believed to be affected by eutrophication and overfishing, to determine whether bottom-up or top-down processes control the biomass of epiphytic macroalgae and grazers. Nitrogen and carbon isotope signatures were analyzed to explore the food webs and to identify the grazing species feeding on filamentous algae and/or eelgrass. Mixing model (IsoSource version 1.3.1) analysis of the isotope signatures indicated that the amphipods Gammarus locusta and Microdeutopus gryllotalpa fed primarily on filamentous algae and that only 2 small gastropod species consumed eelgrass. Moreover, the grass shrimp Palaemon elegans and P. adspersus were ca. 1 trophic level above amphipods and algae, but according to the mixing model played different trophic roles in the different areas. The highest biomass of filamentous algae was found in the west coast beds housing grazers with the lowest biomass and mean size (predominantly G. locusta and M. gryllotalpa, 0.5 to 3 mm). In contrast, the Baltic Sea beds had low algal biomass, but the grazers (mostly G. locusta and Idotea baltica) had higher biomass and were significantly larger (mean size ca. 10 mm). An overall negative correlation was found between grazer biomass and biomass of filamentous algae. The significantly smaller grazers and absence of isopod grazers on the west coast may be due to substantial consumption by small predatory fish. This supports the suggestions that, in Swedish eelgrass beds, grazers are top-down controlled, and overexploitation of large predators and eutrophication play an important role in the recent increases in algal biomass.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Trophic interactions in Zostera marina beds along the Swedish coast

Jephson¹,

Nyström²,

Moksnes³

et al. 2008

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

102

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“…On the other hand, the similarity of the increases in area and length between the No grazer and Idotea only treatments may mask the effect of the Idotea grazing activities; this is because this herbivore, as well as grazing on Fucus itself, simultaneously reduces the epiphytic load on the Fucus, which in turn may have positively affected its growth. This possibility is supported by feeding preference studies showing that Idotea preferred filamentous algae over Fucus (Ravanko 1969, Goecker & Kåll 2003, Orav-Kotta & Kotta 2004. The positive effects of Idotea sp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The main eutrophication effect found in these systems is an increasing amount of annual filamentous opportunistic algae (Schramm & Nienhuis 1996, Valiela et al 1997. These algal species are often more nutritious than the slow-growing macroalgae (Chopin et al 1996, Pedersen & Borum 1996, and are often favoured as food by mesoherbivores (Ravanko 1969, Goecker & Kåll 2003, Orav-Kotta & Kotta 2004; there are, however, trade-offs between food quality and shelter from predation (e.g. Duffy & Hay 1991, Jormalainen et al 2001.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grazer identity is crucial for facilitating growth of the perennial brown alga Fucus vesiculosus

Råberg

Kautsky²

2008

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The positive top-down effects on macrophytes of the removal of fouling epiphytes by herbivores versus negative bottom-up effects of enhanced epiphyte growth through nutrient enrichment are known from previous works. However, few studies have differentiated effects within the suite of herbivore species, nor have they investigated the potential negative effects of these grazers on macrophytes. We conducted a mesocosm experiment to investigate the impact of different grazer compositions (no grazers, the isopod Idotea baltica, the gastropod Theodoxus fluviatilis, and a mixture of both species) and nutrient levels (ambient and enriched) on growth of the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus. Herbivore facilitation depended on grazer identity, as only the treatments that included T. fluviatilis increased the growth rate of F. vesiculosus. Since I. baltica reduced the epiphyte population by the same amount as T. fluviatilis, we suggest that the grazing activities of this isopod on F. vesiculosus itself may have counteracted any positive effect of epiphytic removal. The same explanation may account for the similar growth rates in the treatments with T. fluviatilis alone and with both herbivorous species together, despite the lower epiphytic load in the latter treatment. In contrast, earlier published data suggested that T. fluviatilis facilitation is greater than that of I. baltica because of different epiphytic algal preferences between the grazers. Nutrient addition treatments, despite significantly increasing epiphyte load, had no effect on the growth rate of F. vesiculosus.

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“…The amphipods show a great variety of feeding habits, which can be suspensivorous, detritivorous, predatory or herbivorous; they may even feed on different items, characterizing them as omnivorous (Duffy, 1990). Herbivorous amphipods can consume macroalgal substrate or associated epiphytic algae indiscriminately or they can show feeding preference for some species (Duffy & Hay, 1994;Viejo, 1999;Goeckera & Kåll, 2003). Therefore, the presence of particular species of algae in the environment can directly influence the distribution and abundance of these mesoherbivores (Edgar, 1992;Martin-Smith, 1993;Jernakoff & Nielsen, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of epiphytic algae and different species of Sargassum in the distribution and feeding of herbivorous amphipods

Jacobucci¹,

Pereira-Leite²

2014

lajar

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ABSTRACT. The presence of particular algal species can directly influence the distribution and abundance of mesoherbivores. The aim of this study was to answer the following questions: Do Sargassum beds of different localities show variation in the load of epiphytic algae? Do Sargassum beds of different localities show variation in the density of herbivore amphipods? Does the density of these amphipods in the same algal bed vary with epiphyte load? Are species of Sargassum and their epiphytes equally consumed by amphipods? The collections were carried out in three infralitoral algal beds in southeastern Brazil. Fronds of Sargassum were collected at each algal bed and the associated ampithoid and hyalid amphipods were separated, identified and counted. Sargassum fronds and epiphytes were identified, dryed and weighted. Experiments were carried out to determine the consumption of Sargassum species and epiphytes by amphipods. The weight of the epiphytes Hypnea musciformis and Dyctiopteris delicatula and the density of amphipods were different among sampling sites. There was a relationship between amphipod density and epiphyte weight at two sampling sites. The four amphipod species tested consumed algae, but showed different patterns of consumption. Despite consuming the epiphytes, the ampithoids preferentially feed on the three species of Sargassum, while Hyale nigra had a preference for Hypnea musciformis.

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Grazing preferences of marine isopods and amphipods on three prominent algal species of the Baltic Sea

Cited by 57 publications

References 29 publications

Trophic interactions in Zostera marina beds along the Swedish coast

Trophic interactions in Zostera marina beds along the Swedish coast

Grazer identity is crucial for facilitating growth of the perennial brown alga Fucus vesiculosus

The role of epiphytic algae and different species of Sargassum in the distribution and feeding of herbivorous amphipods

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