Some Aspects of the Population Dynamics of<i>Asterina Gibbosa</i>(Asteroidea)

Crump, R. G.; Emson, R. H.

doi:10.1017/s0025315400028113

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…A. Menge; personal observations ). One moderately successful method is change in mean mass or length during periods when the size structure is stable to provide a crude measure of growth (Smith 1940, Feder 1970, Crump and Emson 1978).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Keystone predation: trait‐based or driven by extrinsic processes? Assessment using a comparative‐experimental approach

Menge

Foley

Robart

et al. 2020

Ecological Monographs

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Keystone predation can be a determinant of community structure, including species diversity, but factors underlying “keystoneness” have been minimally explored. Using the system in which the original keystone, the sea star Pisaster ochraceus, was discovered, we focused on two potential (but overlapping) determinants of keystoneness: intrinsic traits or state variables of the species (e.g., size, density), and extrinsic environmental parameters (e.g., prey productivity) that may provide conditions favorable for keystone predator evolution. Using a comparative‐experimental approach, with repeated field experiments at multiple sites across a variable coastal environment, we tested predation rates, or how quickly predators consumed prey, and predation effects, or community response to predator presence or absence. We tested five hypotheses: (H1) predation rates and effects will vary in space but not time; (H2) per population predation rates will vary primarily with individual traits and population variables; (HJHH3) per capita predation rates will vary only with individual traits; (H4) predation effects will vary with traits, variables, and external drivers; and (H5) as predicted by the keystone predation hypothesis, diversity will vary unimodally with predation pressure. As hypothesized, predation rates differed among sites but not over time (H1), and in caging exclusion experiments, predation effect varied with both intrinsic and extrinsic factors (H4). Unexpectedly, predation rates varied with both intrinsic and extrinsic (H2, per population), or only with extrinsic (H3, per capita) factors. Further, in large‐plot exclusion experiments, predation effect was most closely associated with individual traits (contra H4). Finally, taxon diversity varied unimodally with proxies of predation pressure (sessile prey abundance) and was sensitive to extrinsic factors (mussel growth, temperature, and upwelling, H5). Hence, keystoneness depended on predator individual traits, predator population variables, and environmental parameters. However, temporal differences in caging experiments suggested that environmental characteristics underlying prey dynamics may be preeminent. Compared to prior experiments, predation was weaker with low prey input compared to periods with high prey input. Collectively, our results suggest that keystone predator evolution depends on the coalescence of species‐specific characteristics, and environmental parameters favoring high prey productivity. Our approach may be a model for future studies exploring the generality of keystoneness.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Keystone predation: trait‐based or driven by extrinsic processes? Assessment using a comparative‐experimental approach

Menge

Foley

Robart

et al. 2020

Ecological Monographs

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Section: Open Pen Access Ccessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some species have been well studied and can increase spatial heterogeneity either directly (Chesher 1969, Paine 1974 or indirectly (Duggins 1983). Juveniles (Sloan 1980) and adults of some species, particularly of Asterinidae, may, however, feed primarily on algal or microbial biofilms (Crump & Emson 1978, Branch & Branch 1980, Jangoux 1982.Herbivorous starfish have, in contrast, received virtually no attention from ecologists, although Linckia laevigata, a subtidal starfish, eats coralline algae and can influence assemblages on coral reefs by slowing recolonisation by hard corals after disturbances (Laxton 1974). Yet, they may have important influences on the structure of intertidal assemblages, because their grazing contributes to the distribution and abundance of ecologically important biofilms, having numerous important indirect consequences as described above.…”

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confidence: 99%

Patiriella exigua: grazing by a starfish in an overgrazed intertidal system

Jackson¹,

Murphy²,

Underwood³

2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Intertidal rocky shores in south-eastern Australia are dominated by a diverse assemblage of grazing invertebrates that feed on micro-algal biofilms. This resource is spatially variable and frequently over-grazed, causing strong inter-and intra-specific competition among grazers. Most studies on intertidal grazing are about gastropod molluscs. We observed, however, damaged patches in intertidal biofilms that appeared to be associated with the herbivorous asterinid starfish Patiriella exigua (Lamarck). In contrast with predatory starfish, there have been few ecological studies about herbivorous starfish, even though they are often abundant. We demonstrated that these patches were caused by grazing by this starfish. We then used field-based remote-sensing methods to demonstrate that amounts of chlorophyll were reduced inside grazing marks, quantified these changes and measured their longevity. In experiments, starfish could graze up to 60% of the epilithic micro-algae beneath their everted stomach during a single feeding event lasting on average 22 min. Over 5 d, 2 caged starfish could remove nearly half of the available micro-algae from areas of 144 cm 2 . Changes to the amounts of chlorophyll in grazing marks were persistent, remaining visible on sandstone substrata for several weeks. Amounts of chlorophyll on grazed areas of substratum were significantly different from ungrazed areas up to 28 d after being grazed. Recovering areas were demonstrated to be bio-equivalent to ungrazed areas after a similar period. Thus, P. exigua can have a large effect on the temporal and spatial distribution of micro-algal food, with numerous possible consequences for intertidal assemblages. The ecological importance of herbivorous starfish may be greater than previously perceived.KEY WORDS: Herbivore · Intertidal · Echinoderm · Micro-algae · Spatial heterogeneity · Chlorophyll · Food 376: 153-163, 2009 species, persistence of poorer competitors may be dependent on physical heterogeneity in the distribution of resources (Fletcher & Underwood 1987, Fransen et al. 2001. Heterogeneous dispersion of resources can also support greater densities of organisms (Doncaster 2001). Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher OPEN PEN ACCESS CCESSMar Ecol Prog SerSettlement of the dispersive larvae of many sessile invertebrates (e.g. barnacles, oysters) is also influenced strongly by amounts and types of biofilm (Keough & Raimondi 1995, 1996, Wieczorek & Todd 1998. Thus, grazers altering the amounts, types and distributions of biofilms also affect patterns of settlement and subsequent assemblage structure.Grazing on micro-algae also removes the early stages of development of macro-algae, preventing the growth of foliose macro-algae, which has numerous effects on the diverse assemblages in these habitats (reviewed in Hawkins & Hartnoll 1983). Where the early microscopic phases of life history are not removed by grazing, fleshy, branched algae grow, smothering sessile animals, such as barnacles (B...

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“…Adults of A. gibbosa are mainly small (R < 30 mm), protandrous hermaphrodites that deposit large, yolky eggs (500 urn) in benthic masses like those of P. exigua Crump 1976, 1979;Crump and Emson 1978), where their offspring develop as benthic larvae inside the egg mass.…”

Section: Life Histories Of Asterinid Starfishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of Life-History Evolution in Asterinid Starfish

Hart¹,

Byrne²,

Smith³

1997

Evolution

102

108

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We analyzed phylogenetic relationships among 12 nominal species of starfish in the genera Patiriella and Asterina (Order Valvatida, Family Asterinidae), based on complete sequences for a mitochondrial protein coding gene (cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and five mitochondrial transfer RNA genes (alanine, leucine, asparagine, glutamine, and proline) (1923 bp total). The resulting phylogeny was used to test a series of hypotheses about the evolution of life-history traits. (1) A complex, feeding, planktonic larva is probably ancestral for these starfish, but this is not the most parsimonious reconstruction of ancestral larval states. (2) The feeding larval form was lost at least four times among these species, and three of these losses occurred among members of a single clade. (3) Small adult size evolved before both cases of hermaphroditism and viviparous brooding, but viviparity was not always preceded by an intermediate form of external brooding. (4) An ordered transformation series from feeding planktonic development to viviparous brooding has been predicted for starfish, but we could not find an example of this transformation series. (5) Viviparity evolved recently (< 2 Mya). (6) Both species selection and transformation of lineages may have contributed to the accumulation of species with nonfeeding development among these starfish. (7) Neither Asterina nor Patiriella are monophyletic genera. Larval forms and life-history traits of these starfish have evolved freely under no obvious constraints, contrary to the widely assumed evolutionary conservatism of early development.

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Some Aspects of the Population Dynamics ofAsterina Gibbosa(Asteroidea)

Cited by 23 publications

References 15 publications

Keystone predation: trait‐based or driven by extrinsic processes? Assessment using a comparative‐experimental approach

Keystone predation: trait‐based or driven by extrinsic processes? Assessment using a comparative‐experimental approach

Patiriella exigua: grazing by a starfish in an overgrazed intertidal system

Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of Life-History Evolution in Asterinid Starfish

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