Use of benthic vs planktonic organic matter by sandy-beach organisms: A food tracing experiment with 13C labelled diatoms

Maria, Tatiana F.; Troch, Marleen De; Vanaverbeke, Jan; Esteves, André Morgado; Vanreusel, Ann

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2011.06.028

Cited by 28 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Microphytobenthos, despite its low abundance, has been shown to be a potential carbon source for nematode species from the sandbar microhabitat (Maria et al . ). In addition, nematodes can shift their preferential food source according to their maturation stage or the availability of resources (Moens & Vincx ; Nicholas ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Tidal exposure or microhabitats: what determines sandy‐beach nematode zonation? a case study of a macrotidal ridge‐and‐runnel sandy beach in Belgium

et al. 2012

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Lately, across-shore zonation has been found to be more important in structuring the nematode community of a tropical macrotidal sandy beach than microhabitat heterogeneity. To evaluate whether this zonation pattern applies to a temperate beach, a macrotidal ridge-and-runnels sandy beach in the North Sea was studied. We investigated whether a similar zonation occurs in sandbar and runnel microhabitats, and whether the runnels harbour a different community from the subtidal. Our results indicate that nematode communities from runnel and sandbar habitats are significantly different. In addition, horizontal zonation patterns for nematode communities differ between both habitats. Nematode assemblages from sandbars are divided to lower, middle and upper beach while upper and middle runnels cluster together. The subtidal and upper runnels showed dissimilar nematode assemblages, although runnels showed the same dominant species (Daptonema normandicum), which increases its abundance towards the upper runnels. This study illustrates the importance of microhabitat heterogeneity, which resulted in different zonation patterns across the sandy beach examined. The divergent zonation between sandbars and runnels in the macrotidal temperate sandy beach, compared with the pattern observed for a subtropical sandy beach with similar morphodynamics, indicates that generalizations about nematode distribution patterns should be made with caution.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Tidal exposure or microhabitats: what determines sandy‐beach nematode zonation? a case study of a macrotidal ridge‐and‐runnel sandy beach in Belgium

et al. 2012

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Section: Planktonic Vs Benthic Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, due to the overlapping of SPM and other MPB (cyanobacteria and green algae) 13 C-depleted isotopic signatures, it remains impossible to clearly conclude whether 13 C-depleted heterotrophs rely exclusively on either MPB or SPM, or partly on 2 or 3 sources. Benthic diatoms are suggested to be the preferred C source for benthic fauna (Maria et al 2011).Harpacticoid copepods Huntemania jadensis and Paraleptastacus spinicauda had high 13 C natural abundance, indicating that they relied substantially on benthic diatoms. However, MPB grazing is often species-specific and density-dependent (De Troch et al 2005) and thus favours resource partitioning strategies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of phytodetritus and microphytobenthos for heterotrophs in a shallow subtidal sandy sediment

Evrard¹,

Huettel²,

Cook³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The relative importance of allochthonous phytodetritus deposition and autochthonous microphytobenthos (MPB) production for benthic consumers in an organic carbon (C org )-poor sandy sediment was assessed using a 13 C-stable isotope natural abundance study combined with a dual 13 C-tracer addition approach. In a first experiment (Expt 1), a set of sediment cores received a pulse of 13 C-labelled phytodetritus and the fate of that organic matter was followed in the benthic food web (bacteria, meiofauna and macrofauna) over a period of 72 h. In a second experiment (Expt 2), the MPB present in a set of sediment cores was labelled with 13 C-bicarbonate and the fate of labelled MPB was followed the same way over a period of 96 h. Natural 13 C abundances of sources and consumers revealed that the benthic food web likely relied primarily on MPB. In particular, diatoms contributed at least 40% to the diet of 12 out of the 16 taxonomic groups identified. The dual approach revealed the complexity of the trophic interactions and gave evidence for resource partitioning between 2 species of harpacticoid copepods. Both 13 C-tracer addition experiments showed a fast transfer of label to most heterotrophs. Bacteria, which comprised the largest fraction of the heterotroph biomass, incorporated more 13 C than other consumers. Meiofauna had similar relative incorporations in both experiments and likely relied equally on benthic and pelagic inputs. Macrofauna relied significantly more on MPB. In both experiments, most of the 13 C-label that was incorporated by heterotrophs was respired. While phytodetritus-derived C org consumed by heterotrophs was 41 mg C m −2 , MPB-derived was at least one order of magnitude higher. The benthic community growth efficiency in Expt 2 (40%) was higher than that of Expt 1 (25%), confirming the pivotal role of MPB.KEY WORDS: Stable isotopes · 13 C · Food web · Benthic microalgae · Phytoplankton · Meiofauna · Macrofauna · Bacteria Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 455: [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] 2012 ments (i.e. heterotrophic bacteria, microfauna, meiofauna and macrofauna) undergo frequent reworking due to physical forces. However, recent studies have provided strong evidence of high primary production (Billerbeck et al. 2007, Cook et al. 2007, Evrard et al. 2008) and enhanced remineralization rates supported by advective porewater transport (Huettel & Gust 1992a, Rusch et al. 2001, Ehrenhauss et al. 2004.The relative importance of the heterotrophic compartments has been assessed and some generic distribution patterns related to grain size have been illustrated. Firstly, the biomass of macrofauna (which generally comprises the metazoans larger than 1 mm) shows a decreasing trend towards coarser sediments ). This has been attributed to the greater influence of hydrodynamics on coarser grains as well as the patchiness of resources. Secondly, there is a coupled decrease in densities...

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“…One explanation is that B. pilosa is “released” from intraspecific competition in the community as it is surrounded by fewer conspecifics, potentially making it a more successful competitor with other species. Bathyporeia pilosa has a preference for benthic microalgae (Maria, De Troch, Vanaverbeke, Esteves, & Vanreusel, ) and feeds by scraping the organic material from sand grains (Nicolaisen & Kanneworff, ). In contrast, H. arenarius and S. squamata both have a less distinguished preference for food particles (Dauer, ; Dennell, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonadditive effects of consumption in an intertidal macroinvertebrate community are independent of food availability but driven by complementarity effects

Egmond

Bodegom

Hal

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Suboptimal environmental conditions are ubiquitous in nature and commonly drive the outcome of biological interactions in community processes. Despite the importance of biological interactions for community processes, knowledge on how species interactions are affected by a limiting resource, for example, low food availability, remains limited. Here, we tested whether variation in food supply causes nonadditive consumption patterns, using the macroinvertebrate community of intertidal sandy beaches as a model system. We quantified isotopically labeled diatom consumption by three macroinvertebrate species (Bathyporeia pilosa, Haustorius arenarius, and Scolelepis squamata) kept in mesocosms in either monoculture or a three‐species community at a range of diatom densities. Our results show that B. pilosa was the most successful competitor in terms of consumption at both high and low diatom density, while H. arenarius and especially S. squamata consumed less in a community than in their respective monocultures. Nonadditive effects on consumption in this macroinvertebrate community were present and larger than mere additive effects, and similar across diatom densities. The underlying species interactions, however, did change with diatom density. Complementarity effects related to niche‐partitioning were the main driver of the net diversity effect on consumption, with a slightly increasing contribution of selection effects related to competition with decreasing diatom density. For the first time, we showed that nonadditive effects of consumption are independent of food availability in a macroinvertebrate community. This suggests that, in communities with functionally different, and thus complementary, species, nonadditive effects can arise even when food availability is low. Hence, at a range of environmental conditions, species interactions hold important potential to alter ecosystem functioning.

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Use of benthic vs planktonic organic matter by sandy-beach organisms: A food tracing experiment with 13C labelled diatoms

Cited by 28 publications

References 34 publications

Tidal exposure or microhabitats: what determines sandy‐beach nematode zonation? a case study of a macrotidal ridge‐and‐runnel sandy beach in Belgium

Tidal exposure or microhabitats: what determines sandy‐beach nematode zonation? a case study of a macrotidal ridge‐and‐runnel sandy beach in Belgium

Importance of phytodetritus and microphytobenthos for heterotrophs in a shallow subtidal sandy sediment

Nonadditive effects of consumption in an intertidal macroinvertebrate community are independent of food availability but driven by complementarity effects

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