Recruitment, abundance, and predation on the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) on northeastern estuarine rocky shores

Abstract

Abstract. We report on patterns of abundance, recruitment, and predation on the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) in three human-dominated estuaries in the northeastern United States. Through replicate field experiments and observational studies at multiple sites nested within each of the three estuaries, we investigated the relative influences of local and regional scale variation in select bottom-up and top-down factors on blue mussel populations on wave-protected rocky shores. The most striking result was the decoupling between adult abundance and recruitment: mussel recruitment rates were highest in the most northern estuary, Casco Bay, while adult abundances were highest in the most southern estuary, Long Island Sound. We detected evidence of top-down forcing on adult abundance by consumers in the two more southern estuaries, Narragansett Bay and Long Island Sound, but not in Casco Bay. Finally, we observed some indications of bottom-up forcing on mussel abundance and recruitment at the withinestuary scale, but these signals were not consistent among estuaries or across the responses measured (e.g., adult abundances and recruitment rates). Our results support previous work demonstrating the importance of both top-down and bottom-up influences on rocky shore populations, and also highlight how future research-particularly integrating studies of the different ontogenetic stages of mussels-could further advance understanding of biological population dynamics in this and other systems.

Potential kleptoparasitism-scavenging interactions between crabs and shell-boring gastropods feeding on bivalve prey: a global survey

“…These K-S interactions between green crabs and dogwhelks feeding on the same blue mussel prey represented a component of the IGP, TMII/BMII, and trophic interactions in this system, with probable impacts on mussel survival and population growth, and subsequently on mussel bed ecosystem dynamics , Cockrell et al 2015, Trussell et al 2017, and yet they had not been reported previously. However, this tritrophic system is by no means unique, as many bivalves throughout the world are consumed by both shell-drilling gastropods and crabs (Carriker & Williams 1978, Kowalewski 2002, Ishida 2004, Klompmaker et al 2019.…”

“…Bivalve molluscs (clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, scallops, etc.) are filter-feeding organisms that form the bases of many aquatic food webs in both marine and freshwater environments (Seed 1976, Cockrell et al 2015. Bivalves are important food sources for a wide variety of secondary and higher-level consumers, including decapod crustaceans, gastropod molluscs, polychaete worms, fishes, birds, humans, and many others (Seed 1976, Hamilton 2000, Morissette & Himmelman 2000, Trussell et al 2017, and also play roles in controlling habitat structure (Enderlein & Wahl 2004) and community diversity .…”

“…Bivalves are important food sources for a wide variety of secondary and higher-level consumers, including decapod crustaceans, gastropod molluscs, polychaete worms, fishes, birds, humans, and many others (Seed 1976, Hamilton 2000, Morissette & Himmelman 2000, Trussell et al 2017, and also play roles in controlling habitat structure (Enderlein & Wahl 2004) and community diversity . Although predation on bivalves by vertebrates can strongly influence their population dynamics (Hamilton 2000, Daleo et al 2005, Cockrell et al 2015, invertebrate consumers also play comparably important roles as bivalve predators (Vadas et al 1994, Trussell et al 2003, Aschaffenberg 2008, Wong et al 2012, Morgan et al 2016, Bolton et al 2019. However, the specific trophic roles and impacts of invertebrate predators on their bivalve prey depend on the interactions that occur among them.…”

Two Non-indigenous Dreissenids (Dreissena polymorpha and D. rostriformis bugensis) in a Southern Baltic Coastal Lagoon: Variability in Populations of the “Old” and a “New” Immigrant

“…Fluctuations in the abundance of sessile bivalve populations, including those of dreissenids, have been explained by invoking effects of internal and/or external drivers. The former involve primarily recruitment and mortality (e.g., Cockrell et al, 2015;Polsenaere et al, 2017) and intra-specific competition (e.g., Naddafi et al, 2010;D'Hont et al, 2018) as mechanisms of population regulation (Krebs, 1995). In the D. polymorpha population studied here, recruitment might have played a role, as the abundance peaks coincided with the appearance of new cohorts, visible as increased numbers of small (<8 mm) individuals in the population (Wawrzyniak-Wydrowska et al, in prep.).…”

The intermingling of benthic macroinvertebrate communities during a period of shifting range: The “East of Nantucket” Atlantic Surfclam Survey and the existence of transient multiple stable states

“…The distribution of mussels along the northeast coast of the United States in the intertidal is noteworthy for being associated with rocky shores or manmade structures(Cockrell, Bernhardt, & Leslie, 2015;Lauenstein et al, 1997), although they commonly occur in intertidal mats along the western European coast(Beukema & Cadée, 1996;Diederich, 2006). The abundance of cobbles and rocks at some survey sites suggests ideal substrate exists for mussels and sites yielding mussels or cobbles and rocks in abundance were often located in a similar depth range along a southeast trending line from the northwestern corner of the HMA south to the central region of the HMA (Figure7).…”