Past and present grazing boosts the photo-autotrophic biomass of biofilms

Skov, Martin W.; Volkelt-Igoe, Megan; Hawkins, Stephen J.; Jesus, Bruno; Thompson, Richard C.; Doncaster, C. Patrick

doi:10.3354/meps08481

Cited by 40 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…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%

“…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. Deepening our knowledge of spatio-temporal variability of these organisms is an important and rarely accomplished step toward the identification of factors affecting major primary producers of rocky shore habitats.…”

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: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal variability in Mediterranean rocky shore microphytobenthos

Maggi¹,

Rindi²,

Bello³

et al. 2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…It is important to note that although herbivore effects were traditionally assumed to be negative (Lubchenco & Gaines 1981), some recent studies confirmed that grazers may also exert facilitative effects on their prey, for example by removing a biofilm−detritus complex and facilitating light and nutrient penetration (Underwood & Murphy 2008, Skov et al 2010). In addition, excretion of limiting resources may fertilize MPB assemblages (Plagányi & Branch 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Latitudinal- and local-scale variations in a rocky intertidal interaction web

Maggi¹,

Milazzo

Graziano³

et al. 2015

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Natural assemblages are structured by a complex combination of positive and negative interactions, and the relative importance of each interaction can vary across spatial scales. By using a simple interaction web (barnacles−grazers−microphytobenthos) in a rocky intertidal system, we tested the hypothesis that the relative strength of positive and negative interactions would vary as a function of different environmental stress between 2 latitudinal levels and local environmental conditions. We manipulated the cover of barnacles and the presence of limpets at 2 sites in northern and southern Italy and non-destructively examined the response of microphytobenthos (MPB) (photosynthetic biomass, F 0, and maximum efficiency, F v /F m ) and of its small-sized grazers (littorinids). At northern sites, a density-dependent facilitative effect of barnacles on F 0 was detected. The effect was likely due to the addition of favourable secondary habitat (i.e. barnacle shells) and amelioration of abiotic conditions to nearby rock. At southern sites, a positive effect of increasing barnacle cover was observed on littorinid density. The subsequent indirect trophic effect on F 0 , in addition to local nutrient input from anthropogenic activities, likely masked the positive effects of increasing cover of barnacles on F 0 at this latitude. No factors influenced F v /F m , suggesting a lack of changes in the relative abundance of MPB species. There was no effect of excluding herbivores at either latitude. Results suggest that species interactions supported by foundation species might be undermined by the concomitant action of temperature-related changes and local anthropogenic stressors, whose interactive effects are likely to become more severe with global climate change.

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“…The halo area increases linearly with snail density per refuge (Skov et al 2010). Halos contract in winter when the biofilm food is rich (Thompson et al 2004) and expand in spring with reducing biofilm biomass, becoming less visible during the summer lull in biofilm productivity (Skov et al 2010). Melarhaphe neritoides rarely move outside the grazing halo, although they can travel 20 cm h À1 (Stafford and Davies 2005).…”

Section: Conceptual Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was estimated using Color Infra-Red photography (CIR; Murphy et al 2006), with methods detailed fully in Skov et al (2010). A CIR camera was mounted in an aluminum frame to produce images of the 50 3 50 cm plot centers.…”

Section: Response Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patchiness in resource distribution mitigates habitat loss: insights from high-shore grazers

Skov¹,

Hawkins²,

Volkelt-Igoe³

et al. 2011

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Theory predicts that coarse-grained heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of resources benefits the abundances of exploiter populations that are vulnerable to habitat loss, in contrast to finegrained habitat fragmentation. This generic principle has never been tested empirically, despite its potential application across scales of exploitation from foraging ranges to metapopulations. We designed a field experiment to measure population responses to the distributional pattern of limiting resources independently of resource richness. Populations of the rocky-shore snail Melarhaphe neritoides were monitored for responses in density to controlled manipulations of the pattern and abundance of refuges. On two shores, one with naturally high snail density and one with naturally low density, snail refuges were made by drilling holes into each of three 0.5-m 2 plots in each of two categories of distribution pattern:patchy or even, at each of four richness levels: 4, 16, 36, or 64 holes per plot. We found that snail densities over the subsequent 2 yrs remained higher in patchy than even plots at the low-density shore, and higher in even than patchy plots at the high-density shore. Grazed areas were larger in patchy than even plots at low refuge richness, switching to larger in even than in patchy at high refuge richness. Both scales of pattern-by-richness interaction were explained by density-dependent overlap of foraging ranges around refuges. The novel implication for wildlife management is that vulnerable populations (often species of conservation concern) may benefit from clumping their resources, whereas robust populations (often pest species) may benefit from even distributions.

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Past and present grazing boosts the photo-autotrophic biomass of biofilms

Cited by 40 publications

References 28 publications

Spatio-temporal variability in Mediterranean rocky shore microphytobenthos

Spatio-temporal variability in Mediterranean rocky shore microphytobenthos

Latitudinal- and local-scale variations in a rocky intertidal interaction web

Patchiness in resource distribution mitigates habitat loss: insights from high-shore grazers

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