Top-down control inhibits spatial self-organization of a patterned landscape

Weerman, Ellen J.; Herman, Peter M. J.; Koppel, Johan van de

doi:10.1890/10-0270.1

Cited by 65 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…In some northwestern European flats, MPB maxima have been detected slightly later in spring and in September (van der Wal et al, 2010). The summer depression has been observed in some more southerly mudflats such as MarennesOléron Bay (France) (Cariou-Le Gall and Blanchard, 1995), the Tagus estuary (Portugal) (Brito et al, 2013), Cadiz Bay (Spain) (Garcia-Robledo et al, 2016), and in the Wadden Sea (The Netherlands) (van der Wal et al, 2010;Stief et al, 2013), and has been related to increased macrobenthos grazing in summer (Peletier, 1996;Weerman et al, 2011). Low NDVI values in summer may also be due to thermo-inhibition when sediment temperature exceeds 25 • C (Blanchard et al, 1997).…”

Section: Mpb Temporal Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Satellite remote sensing reveals a positive impact of living oyster reefs on microalgal biofilm development

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Satellite remote sensing (RS) is routinely used for the large-scale monitoring of microphytobenthos (MPB) biomass in intertidal mudflats and has greatly improved our knowledge of MPB spatio-temporal variability and its potential drivers. Processes operating on smaller scales however, such as the impact of benthic macrofauna on MPB development, to date remain underinvestigated. In this study, we analysed the influence of wild Crassostrea gigas oyster reefs on MPB biofilm development using multispectral RS. A 30-year time series combining high-resolution (30 m) Landsat and SPOT data was built in order to explore the relationship between C. gigas reefs and MPB spatial distribution and seasonal dynamics, using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Emphasis was placed on the analysis of a before-after control-impact (BACI) experiment designed to assess the effect of oyster killing on the surrounding MPB biofilms. Our RS data reveal that the presence of oyster reefs positively affects MPB biofilm development. Analysis of the historical time series first showed the presence of persistent, highly concentrated MPB patches around oyster reefs. This observation was supported by the BACI experiment which showed that killing the oysters (while leaving the physical reef structure, i.e. oyster shells, intact) negatively affected both MPB biofilm biomass and spatial stability around the reef. As such, our results are consistent with the hypothesis of nutrient input as an explanation for the MPB growth-promoting effect of oysters, whereby organic and inorganic matter released through oyster excretion and biodeposition stimulates MPB biomass accumulation.MPB also showed marked seasonal variations in biomass and patch shape, size and degree of aggregation around the oyster reefs. Seasonal variations in biomass, with higher NDVI during spring and autumn, were consistent with those observed on broader scales in other European mudflats. Our study provides the first multi-sensor RS satellite evidence of the promoting and structuring effect of oyster reefs on MPB biofilms.

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Section: Mpb Temporal Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Satellite remote sensing reveals a positive impact of living oyster reefs on microalgal biofilm development

et al. 2018

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“…self-organization | resilience | multiscale patterns | ecosystems | mussels F ormation of regular spatial patterns by habitat-forming organisms, such as clumping and banding, have been observed in many different ecosystems, ranging from forests (1) to savannahs (2,3), peat lands (4)(5)(6), and intertidal ecosystems (7)(8)(9)(10). Theoretical studies have highlighted that local ecological interactions can explain the formation of large-scale spatial patterns through a process called spatial self-organization (9,11,12) (Fig.…”

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confidence: 99%

Behavioral self-organization underlies the resilience of a coastal ecosystem

Paoli

Heide

Berg

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Self-organized spatial patterns occur in many terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems. Theoretical models and observational studies suggest self-organization, the formation of patterns due to ecological interactions, is critical for enhanced ecosystem resilience. However, experimental tests of this cross-ecosystem theory are lacking. In this study, we experimentally test the hypothesis that self-organized pattern formation improves the persistence of mussel beds (Mytilus edulis) on intertidal flats. In natural beds, mussels generate selforganized patterns at two different spatial scales: regularly spaced clusters of mussels at centimeter scale driven by behavioral aggregation and large-scale, regularly spaced bands at meter scale driven by ecological feedback mechanisms. To test for the relative importance of these two spatial scales of self-organization on mussel bed persistence, we conducted field manipulations in which we factorially constructed small-scale and/or large-scale patterns. Our results revealed that both forms of self-organization enhanced the persistence of the constructed mussel beds in comparison to nonorganized beds. Small-scale, behaviorally driven cluster patterns were found to be crucial for persistence, and thus resistance to wave disturbance, whereas large-scale, self-organized patterns facilitated reformation of small-scale patterns if mussels were dislodged. This study provides experimental evidence that self-organization can be paramount to enhancing ecosystem persistence. We conclude that ecosystems with self-organized spatial patterns are likely to benefit greatly from conservation and restoration actions that use the emergent effects of self-organization to increase ecosystem resistance to disturbance.self-organization | resilience | multiscale patterns | ecosystems | mussels

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“…Recently, there is an increasing amount of evidence pointing at the key importance of the interplay of habitat modification and biotic interactions in structuring soft-sediment marine ecosystems like mudflats and seagrasses (Weerman et al, 2011; van der Heide et al, 2012a,b). Our study clearly demonstrates that such interactions are equally important for bivalve recruitment dynamics in intertidal soft-sediment ecosystems and that knowledge of the interaction between predation and facilitation mechanisms is key to understanding how these ecosystems can be managed sustainably.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%