Tracing trophic pathways through the marine ecosystem of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Zapata‐Hernández, Germán; Sellanes, Javier; Letourneur, Yves; Harrod, Chris; Morales, Naití; Plaza, Paula; Meerhoff, Erika; Yannicelli, Beatriz; Carrasco, Sergio A.; Hinojosa, Iván A.; Gaymer, Carlos F.

doi:10.1002/aqc.3500

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…Wieking and Kröncke (2005) also found that stations with the unstable, highly heterogeneous composition of OM represented relatively higher benthic diversity in comparison to sites with a more stable OM supply. Similarly, in the marine ecosystem of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) reef‐associated fauna (invertebrates and fishes), which exploited more variable food resources than pelagic fishes, also showed higher trophic diversity (Zapata‐Hernández et al 2021). Our results clearly support the above‐mentioned findings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional structure and diversity of marine benthos reflect food availability and quality, as evidenced by isotopic diversity

Szczepanek,

Silberberger,

Kędra

2024

Limnology & Oceanography

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Organic matter (OM) resources shape not only the trophic diversity of benthic communities but also the diversity of benthic functional traits. The resulting community structure has a direct effect on many ecosystem processes and functions. Still, the relationship between functional diversity of marine benthos and its trophic diversity in response to the variability of food remains poorly investigated. To explore this relationship we focused on the assessment of various facets of macrobenthic diversity in two temperate coastal areas (southern Baltic Sea) characterized by similar species pool and habitat properties but different OM sources and supplies. We also identified spatio‐temporal patterns of functional structure and assessed, which OM properties had the strongest influence on benthic communities. In our study, functional space dispersion followed isotopic space dispersion, reflecting the positive relationship between food variability and ecological functions of benthic communities. Moreover, functional structure in shallow areas was more location‐specific in comparison to deeper areas, and this was significantly related to OM parameters. Higher OM variability close to the river mouth prevented the community from becoming dominated by one specialized species, whereas limited OM supply at shallow open coast lowered the diversity by enabling stronger competitor to dominate the community. In more offshore areas, local OM variability ceased and hence, communities tended to reflect similar trophic and functional patterns. Our study demonstrates that functional and isotopic diversity approaches can be effectively combined to better understand mechanisms driving benthic community structure and confirm that greater variability in OM supply increases diversity of benthic communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional structure and diversity of marine benthos reflect food availability and quality, as evidenced by isotopic diversity

Szczepanek,

Silberberger,

Kędra

2024

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…If one wants to go further in the representation of trajectory net changes, (1) net changes may be represented at each transitional state by the data point size and (2) the overall net change may be represented by a dotted line or arrow between the initial and final state of a time series. We recommend also the generalization of density curves in the periphery of trajectory diagrams, as is sometimes done to compare different food webs (Zapata-Hern andez et al, 2021). Schmidt et al (2007) first introduced the use of direction and distance in their arrow diagrams.…”

Section: Trajectory Diagramsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable Isotope Trajectory Analysis (SITA): A new approach to quantify and visualize dynamics in stable isotope studies

Sturbois

Cáceres

Desroy

et al. 2022

Ecological Monographs

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HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution -NonCommercial -NoDerivatives| 4.0

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“…Reef-building corals in shallow water are a good example of this mixed influence, as the ridges contain some coral species that are related to those found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama (Glynn et al, 2007;Easton et al, 2019). It is important to highlight that the Salas y Goḿez and Nazca ridges are the only place in the Southeast Pacific, and one of the few places in ABNJ globally, where seamounts peak in waters shallow enough (<200m) to host photosynthetic reef-building corals (CBD, 2017;Easton et al, 2017;Wagner et al, 2020;Wagner et al, 2021a;Wagner et al, 2021b;Zapata-Hernańdez et al, 2021). These reef-building corals in turn are important ecosystem engineers that create habitat for a wide variety of associated species (Wagner et al, 2020;Georgian et al, 2021).…”

Section: Genetic and Larval Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Borderless conservation: Integrating connectivity into high seas conservation efforts for the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges

et al. 2022

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Connectivity is essential to consider in area-based marine conservation measures because it greatly impacts vital ecological processes (e.g., recycling nutrients, regulating temperature, sequestering carbon, and supporting the life cycle of species). However, it is generally not well studied or integrated into conservation measures, particularly in the Southeast Pacific. This region is home to the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges, two adjacent seamount chains that stretch between the Peruvian coast and Rapa Nui (i.e., Easter Island). The area has been recognized for its exceptional natural and cultural significance as well as one of the most important global areas to protect. However, over 73% of the ridges are in areas beyond national jurisdiction, where they are unprotected and under threat. This study provides a synthesis of what we know about connectivity in the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges and provides practical recommendations for integrating this knowledge into conservation and management measures for the region. While data on connectivity is still limited, it should not constrain the development of conservation measures, which should be co-designed and co-developed, leveraging the expertise of international working groups throughout the region. Due to their high rates of endemism, as well as importance as migratory corridors, enacting large-scale conservation measures would address important conservation considerations for both connectivity and endemism. Enacting such large-scale conservation measures would not only elevate the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges as an exemplary case study, providing lessons for other marine regions seeking to implement similar measures, but could also help raise awareness on the severity of externally originating threats like climate change and plastic pollution to global audiences.

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Tracing trophic pathways through the marine ecosystem of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Abstract: 1. The structure of food webs provides important insight into biodiversity, organic matter (OM) pathways, and ecosystem functioning. 2. Stable isotope analysis (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) was used to characterize the trophic structure and the main OM pathways supporting food webs in the Rapa Nui

Cited by 6 publications

References 101 publications

Functional structure and diversity of marine benthos reflect food availability and quality, as evidenced by isotopic diversity

Functional structure and diversity of marine benthos reflect food availability and quality, as evidenced by isotopic diversity

Stable Isotope Trajectory Analysis (SITA): A new approach to quantify and visualize dynamics in stable isotope studies

Borderless conservation: Integrating connectivity into high seas conservation efforts for the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges

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