The outsized trophic footprint of marine urbanization

Malerba, Martino E.; White, Craig R.; Marshall, Dustin J.

doi:10.1002/fee.2074

Cited by 26 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In this way, urbanisation is a multifaceted, heterogeneous and complex phenomenon and it is highly contextual [5]. Its ecological impacts are extreme and often irreparable such as habitat loss, spread of invasive species, disappearance of foundation species, changes in biodiversity, productivity and community composition, settlement of ruderal species and proliferation of jellyfish and toxic algae [4,[6][7][8][9]. Urban impacts have been deeply evaluated on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, showing big modifications on their structure and function [4,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of urbanisation in affecting Mytilus galloprovincialis

et al. 2020

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Urbanisation is considered as one of the most critical and widespread threats to coastal marine ecosystems. The aim of this study was to compare the density, percentage cover, thickness of clumps, condition index and size-frequency distribution of Mytilus galloprovincialis between urban and non-urban shores, at nested spatial scales, in the Northern Portuguese coast. M. galloprovincialis was selected as model because it is economically and ecologically relevant. Moreover, the relationship between mussel size and the other variables (i.e. density, percentage cover, thickness and condition index) were investigated. Mussels on urban shores showed a smaller density and a greater frequency of larger individuals. A significant negative correlation between mussel length with density and with thickness of clumps was also found. Our results seem to indicate that recruitment has declined on urban shores and, as a result, intraspecific competition is also smaller, leading to more resources being available for a fewer individuals which can reach larger sizes. As mussel beds support a great biodiversity of invertebrates and provide many ecosystem services, urbanisation may have indirect effects on communities associated with mussels. Understanding the vulnerability of mussel beds to urbanisation could inform management.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of urbanisation in affecting Mytilus galloprovincialis

et al. 2020

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“…Considering the eminent expansion of the harbor over rocky shores and mangroves from the Araçá Bay and the effects of artificial substrate construction and shading, leading to large modifications on biological substrates on rocky shores [24,55], the anthropogenic impact in the area has the potential to promote large changes to both meiofauna and macrofauna biodiversity in the area. Because both macro-and meiofauna biodiversity are positively related to important ecosystem processes [56,57], such effects can potentially go beyond structural changes in biodiversity and are likely to translate into major impacts to ecosystem functioning.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Habitat Heterogeneity at Distinct Spatial Scales on Hard-Bottom-Associated Communities

et al. 2020

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For marine benthic communities, environmental heterogeneity at small spatial scales are mostly due to biologically produced habitat heterogeneity and biotic interactions, while at larger spatial scales environmental factors may prevails over biotic features. In this study, we investigated how community structure and β-diversity of hard-bottom-associated meio- and macrofauna varied in relation to small-scale (cm–m) changes in biological substrate (an algae “turf” dominated by the macroalgae Gelidium sp., the macroalgae Caulerpa racemosa and the sponge Hymeniacidon heliophile) in a rocky shore and in relation to larger-scale (10’s m) changes in environmental conditions of the same biological substrate (the macroalgae Bostrychia sp) in different habitats (rocky shore vs. mangrove roots). Results showed that both substrate identity and the surrounding environment were important in structuring the smaller-sized meiofauna, particularly the nematode assemblages, whereas the larger and more motile macrofauna was influenced only by larger-scale changes in the surrounding ecosystem. This implies that the macrofauna explores the environment in a larger spatial scale compared to the meiofauna, suggesting that effects of spatial heterogeneity on communities are dependent on organism size and mobility. Changes in taxa composition between environments and substrates highlight the importance of habitat diversity at different scales for maintaining the diversity of the associated fauna.

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“…Finally, while the differences were not all significant, we found the highest level of injury per crab at the most disturbed site (North Causeway), the lowest level of injury at the least disturbed site (Oslo), and intermediate levels at the sites with intermediate disturbance. The field of marine urban ecology is a nascent area of investigation (Malerba et al 2019, Todd et al 2019) and it remains unclear how urbanization and human impacts in highly populated areas influence the health of individual organisms in the marine environment. In terrestrial systems, it has been seen that the health of individual organisms is lower in urbanized areas and higher in rural or wild areas (Murray et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive and energetic costs of injury in the mangrove tree crab

Griffen

Cannizzo

Carver

et al. 2020

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Nonlethal injury is a common and ubiquitous feature of marine systems and can result in altered growth and survival rates. Ecological theory predicts that injured animals should face an energetic tradeoff between investing in recovery vs. investing in reproduction. Possible impacts on reproduction may range in magnitude from very strong (elimination of reproduction), to intermediate (reduced number of offspring), to weak (reduced investment in each offspring). While this tradeoff is well established in terrestrial systems, it has received little attention in the marine environment, particularly in a way that quantitatively relates the degree of injury to the degree of reproductive impact. We examined injury via limb loss across 4 sites in the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii. We found that limb loss was highest at the site that was closest to roads and had the highest level of human presence, and conversely, injury was lowest at the site furthest from the road and with the lowest level of human presence. We found evidence that the quality of consumed food likely decreases with the number of limbs lost, but found no influence of limb loss on amount of food consumed or on energy storage. We show that limb loss reduced the number of eggs produced and that the mass of the ovary declined with the number of regenerating limbs, providing direct evidence for a tradeoff between reproduction and injury recovery. Further, our study therefore suggests that these impacts may increase with the level of human disturbance.

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The outsized trophic footprint of marine urbanization

Cited by 26 publications

References 34 publications

The role of urbanisation in affecting Mytilus galloprovincialis

The role of urbanisation in affecting Mytilus galloprovincialis

The Effects of Habitat Heterogeneity at Distinct Spatial Scales on Hard-Bottom-Associated Communities

Reproductive and energetic costs of injury in the mangrove tree crab

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