Foundation Species and Dominant Species

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Foundation Species and Dominant Species The Saylor Foundation Species Modify the Environment • Foundation species – ecosystem engineers • Dominant species Foundation Species Great Barrier Reef Biologists describe foundation species as “engineers of ecosystems.” The activities of foundation species physically modify the environment and produce and maintain habitats that benefit other organisms that use those habitats. Example: Corals build coral reefs that many other species use. Terms of Use: This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. It is attributed to Richard Ling and the original version can be found here. Foundation Species “Ecosystem Engineers” The North American beaver is the classic example of a foundation species. Beavers harvest trees, thus removing undergrowth and maintaining an open forest understory. Terms of Use: This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License. It is attributed to Flickr user stevehdc and the original version can be found here. Foundation Species Harvested trees are used to build dams, which retain stream water to form a pond, providing suitable habitat for a variety of aquatic organisms and a water source for terrestrial organisms. With beavers, there is an increase in biodiversity and flood control. Terms of Use: This image is is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. It is attributed to Walter Siegmund and the original version can be found here. Other Foundation Species Other organisms that can be considered foundation species include kelp (at right), whose existence provide shelter and suitable habitat for numerous other organisms in marine ecosystems. Kelp forests are physically formed by brown macroalgae. Terms of Use: The image above is in the public domain. Dominant Species The dominant species in a community is the species that is present in the greatest numbers—in other words, the species with the largest population in the community. In the northeastern United States, the dominant species of the eastern deciduous forest is the maple, which is apparent from the predominance of red leaves (maples) in the New England autumn landscape. Terms of Use: This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. It is attributed to Wikimedia user Ftlombardo and the original version can be found here..

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19 | Population and Community Ecology 515
CHAPTER 19 | POPULATION AND COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 515 19 | POPULATION AND COMMUNITY ECOLOGY Figure 19.1 Asian carp jump out of the water in response to electrofishing. The Asian carp in the inset photograph were harvested from the Little Calumet River in Illinois in May, 2010, using rotenone, a toxin often used as an insecticide, in an effort to learn more about the population of the species. (credit main image: modification of work by USGS; credit inset: modification of work by Lt. David French, USCG) Chapter Outline 19.1: Population Demographics and Dynamics 19.2: Population Growth and Regulation 19.3: The Human Population 19.4: Community Ecology Introduction Imagine sailing down a river in a small motorboat on a weekend afternoon; the water is smooth, and you are enjoying the sunshine and cool breeze when suddenly you are hit in the head by a 20-pound silver carp. This is a risk now on many rivers and canal systems in Illinois and Missouri because of the presence of Asian carp. This fish—actually a group of species including the silver, black, grass, and big head carp—has been farmed and eaten in China for over 1,000 years. It is one of the most important aquaculture food resources worldwide. In the United States, however, Asian carp is considered a dangerous invasive species that disrupts ecological community structure to the point of threatening native species. The effects of invasive species (such as the Asian carp, kudzu vine, predatory snakehead fish, and zebra mussel) are just one aspect of what ecologists study to understand how populations interact within ecological communities, and what impact natural and human-induced disturbances have on the characteristics of communities.
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Modeling Foundation Species in Food Webs 1,3, 2 1 BENJAMIN BAISER, NATHANIEL WHITAKER, and AARON M
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A Comparison of Marsh and Mangrove Foundation Species Erik S
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Energy Flow in the Coral Reef Ecosystem
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Are Foundation Species Effects Different Than Those of Dominant Species? a Case Study of Ant
bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/062265; this version posted July 6, 2016. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 Are foundation species effects different than those of dominant species? A case study of ant 2 assemblages in northeastern North American forests 3 Authors: Sydne Record1, Tempest McCabe1, Benjamin Baiser2, and Aaron M. Ellison3 4 1Bryn Mawr College, Department of Biology ([email protected], [email protected]) 5 2University of Florida, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation ([email protected]) 6 3Harvard University, Harvard Forest ([email protected]) 7 Running title: Loss of foundation versus dominant species 8 Keywords (10): Adelges tsugae; Formicidae; foundation species; functional diversity; Quercus; 9 Tsuga canadensis 10 Article type: Letter 11 Number of words: abstract 149, main text 4,915, 0 text boxes 12 Number of references: 50 13 Number of figures 5, tables 1, and text boxes 0 14 Corresponding author: Sydne Record, 101 North Merion Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA 19010; 01-610- 15 526-5094 (phone); 610-526-5086 (fax); [email protected] 16 17 Statement of authorship: A.M. Ellison and S. Record conceived the study. A.M. Ellison, T. 18 McCabe, and S. Record collected field data. T. McCabe and S. Record did the taxonomic 19 diversity analyses. B. Baiser and S. Record did the functional diversity analyses. All authors 20 contributed to drafts of the manuscript.
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45 | Population and Community Ecology 1317 45 | POPULATION and COMMUNITY ECOLOGY
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Accounting for Multiple Foundation Species in Oyster Reef Restoration Benefits Keryn B
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diversity Article A Facilitation Cascade Enhances Local Biodiversity in Seagrass Beds Y. Stacy Zhang * and Brian R. Silliman Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-252-504-7582 Received: 17 December 2018; Accepted: 16 February 2019; Published: 26 February 2019 Abstract: Invertebrate diversity can be a key driver of ecosystem functioning, yet understanding what factors influence local biodiversity remains uncertain. In many marine and terrestrial systems, facilitation cascades where primary foundation and/or autogenic ecosystem engineering species promote the settlement and survival of a secondary foundation/engineering species have been shown to enhance local biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We experimentally tested if a facilitation cascade occurs among eelgrass (Zostera marina), pen clams (Atrina rigida), and community diversity in temperate seagrass beds in North Carolina, U.S.A., and if this sequence of direct positive interactions created feedbacks that affected various metrics of seagrass ecosystem function and structure. Using a combination of surveys and transplant experiments, we found that pen clam density and survivorship was significantly greater in seagrass beds, indicating that eelgrass facilitates pen clams. Pen clams in turn enhanced local diversity and increased both the abundance and species richness of organisms (specifically, macroalgae and fouling invertebrate fauna)—the effect of which scaled with increasing clam density. However, we failed to detect an impact of pen clams on other seagrass functions and hypothesize that functioning may more likely be enhanced in scenarios where secondary foundation species specifically increase the diversity of key functional groups such as epiphyte grazers and/or when bivalves are infaunal rather than epifaunal.
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