DOCSLIB.ORG

Are the Consequences If Some Algal Species Are Lost? Saarinen, Anniina; Salovius-Lauren, Sonja; Mattila, Johanna

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Are the Consequences If Some Algal Species Are Lost? Saarinen, Anniina; Salovius-Lauren, Sonja; Mattila, Johanna This is an electronic reprint of the original article. This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Epifaunal community composition in five macroalgal species - What are the consequences if some algal species are lost? Saarinen, Anniina; Salovius-Lauren, Sonja; Mattila, Johanna Published in: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2017.08.009 Publicerad: 01/01/2018 Document Version (Referentgranskad version om publikationen är vetenskaplig) Document License CC BY-NC-ND Link to publication Please cite the original version: Saarinen, A., Salovius-Lauren, S., & Mattila, J. (2018). Epifaunal community composition in five macroalgal species - What are the consequences if some algal species are lost? Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 207, 402–413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2017.08.009 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. This document is downloaded from the Research Information Portal of ÅAU: 11. Oct. 2021 1 1 Epifaunal community composition in five macroalgal species – what 2 are the consequences if some algal species are lost? 3 1 4 Corresponding author: Anniina Saarinen a 5 Affiliation address: a Husö biological station, Environmental and Marine Biology, Faculty of 6 Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, Tykistökatu 6, FI-20520 Turku, Finland 7 [email protected] 8 Present address: 1 County Administrative Board of Västerbotten, Storgatan 71 B, SE-903 30, Umeå, 9 Sweden 10 11 Second author: Sonja Salovius-Laurén a 12 Affiliation address: a Husö biological station, Environmental and Marine Biology, Faculty of 13 Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, Tykistökatu 6, FI-20520 Turku, Finland 14 [email protected] 15 2 16 Third author: Johanna Mattila a 17 Affiliation address: a Husö biological station, Environmental and Marine Biology, Faculty of 18 Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, Tykistökatu 6, FI-20520 Turku, Finland 19 Present address: 2 Department of Aquatic Resources, Division of Coastal Research, Swedish 20 University of Agricultural Sciences, Skolgatan 6, SE-742 42 Öregrund, Sweden 21 [email protected] 22 23 24 2 25 Abstract 26 Anthropogenic disturbances such as eutrophication and climate change are affecting the distribution 27 and coverage of macroalgae in coastal areas worldwide. How these changes will affect the littoral 28 food webs is challenging to predict as we still lack basic knowledge of epifaunal communities in 29 different macroalgal species. The aim of this study was therefore to compare the epifauna in five 30 common macroalgal species in the northern Baltic Sea. Samples of macroalgae and the associated 31 epifauna were collected in mesh bags at 2 m depth in July-August 2014. The epifaunal abundance 32 data were analyzed with univariate and multivariate methods. The results revealed significant 33 differences in the epifaunal composition among the studied macroalgal species. Ceramium 34 tenuicorne hosted the significantly highest and Fucus vesiculosus the lowest abundance of epifauna 35 per algal dry weight. When comparing the relative epifaunal abundances in percentage, we found 36 that different epifaunal taxa representing different functional groups dominated Pylaiella littoralis 37 (Chironomidae, deposit feeder), Cladophora rupestris (Gammarus spp., herbivorous/omnivorous) 38 and Furcellaria lumbricalis (Mytilus trossulus, suspension feeder). However, most of the epifaunal 39 taxa were found in all algal species studied. We conclude that the loss or decline of specific 40 macroalgal species will affect the ecosystem functions and energy flows to the higher trophic levels, 41 but that none of the studied algal species seems to be crucial for the existence of single taxa or 42 functional group of epifauna. 43 44 Key words: epifaunal taxa, abundance; functional groups, eutrophication, rocky shores, Baltic Sea, 45 N 60 ̊ E 19 ̊ 46 3 47 1. Introduction 48 Macroalgae are important primary producers along rocky shores worldwide (Ryther, 1963; Mann, 49 1973; Littler and Murray, 1974) and offer habitats for a variety of marine organisms (Seed and 50 O’Connor, 1981; Norderhaug et al., 2005; Christie et al., 2009). They also contribute to several 51 ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, CO2 capture and storage as well as in maintaining the 52 fish stocks by providing nursery and foraging grounds (Costanza et al., 1997; Rönnbäck et al., 53 2007). The invertebrates living on the algae, epifauna, form an important linkage to higher trophic 54 levels, as they serve as food for fish (Norderhaug et al., 2005; Eriksson et al., 2009) and birds 55 (MacNeil et al. 1999), as well as affect the host algae by consuming it fresh (Himmelman and 56 Steele, 1971; Jormalainen et al., 2001) or as particulate organic matter (Norderhaug et al., 2003). 57 Grazing may even help to distribute algal spores (Buschmann and Bravo, 1990) and the 58 consumption of diatoms and epiphytic algae from the surface of the host algae enhances the host 59 algae’s photosynthesis and growth (Brönmark, 1985; Karez et at., 2000). 60 61 A variety of abiotic and biotic factors determine the composition of epifauna associated with 62 macroalgae. Of the macroalgal characteristics, morphological complexity and the available surface 63 area of an alga are often seen as primarily structuring the epifaunal community (Lippert et al., 2001; 64 Parker et al., 2001; Christie et al., 2009; Nordenhaug et al., 2014). Nevertheless, macroalgal species 65 also differ in longevity and chemical composition and the associated epifauna differ in their 66 functional characteristics (e.g. Jansson et al., 1982; Steneck and Watling, 1982) such as in size, life 67 cycle and feeding traits. Therefore, it is not surprising that for some epifauna, a specific macroalgal 68 species may offer a better shelter from predation (Hacker and Madin, 1991; Svensson et al., 2004; 69 Wernberg et al., 2013) and wave action (Fenwick, 1976; Prathep et al., 2003), better food sources 70 (Orav-Kotta and Kotta, 2003; Poore, 2004; Orav-Kotta et al., 2009), places for larval settlement 71 (Seed et al., 1981) or material for nest building (Brennan and Mclachan, 1979; Råberg and Kautsky, 4 72 2007). Indeed, studies worldwide have shown that epifaunal community composition varies 73 between different macroalgal species, but the epifauna are rarely dependent on any single algal 74 species (Taylor and Cole, 1994; Lippert et al 2001; Parker et al., 2001; Kraufvelin and Salovius, 75 2004; Bates and DeWreede 2007). 76 77 Information on the relationship between different algal species and associated epifaunal 78 assemblages is needed to predict future changes in the food webs as the macroalgal communities 79 change due to eutrophication (Kangas et al., 1982; Rönnberg et al., 1985; Schramm and Nienhuis, 80 1996), overfishing of predatory fish (Eriksson et al., 2009; Jackson et al., 2001), changing climate 81 (Harley et al., 2012; Jueterbock et al., 2013; Svensson, 2015) and several other human-induced 82 disturbances such as introduced species (Jormalainen et al., 2016), and trampling and harvesting 83 (Crowe et al., 2000). Furthermore, EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive requires the member 84 states to address the lack of knowledge of different components of the marine ecosystems such as 85 the macroalgae and benthic invertebrates to be able to develop indicators for measuring potential 86 changes and to protect, preserve and restore the marine environment (European commission, 2008). 87 88 In addition to climate change, eutrophication is considered as one of the biggest threats to the 89 macroalgal communities in the Baltic Sea, since it results in shifts in the macroalgal composition 90 from perennial species, such as bladder wrack Fucus vesiculosus (L., 1753), to ephemeral fast 91 growing filamentous species such as Pylaiella littoralis (L., Kjellman 1872) (Kangas et al., 1982; 92 Kautsky et al., 1986; Eriksson et al., 1998). Predicted elevated sea water temperatures (Jueterbock 93 et al., 2013) and decreasing salinity (Philippart et al., 2011) due to climate change, will likely 94 decrease the distribution of marine algal species such as fucoids (Jueterbock et al., 2013) and 95 increase the primary production and distribution of filamentous green algae such as Cladophora 96 glomerata (L., Kützing 1843) (Svensson, 2015). The decline of predatory fish in the Baltic Sea has 5 97 also been shown to promote bloom forming macroalgae as a result of decreased invertebrate grazer 98 control (Eriksson et al., 2009). These human-induced changes in the macroalgal communities are 99 likely to affect the associated epifauna as well as higher trophic levels (Pihl et al., 1995; Råberg and 100 Kautsky, 2007; Wikström and Kautsky, 2007). Consequently, we need to predict what happens to 101 epifaunal communities if some macroalgal species decline or are even lost from the ecosystem. The 102 decline of F. vesiculosus and changes in its epifaunal community are of high concern as F. 103 vesiculosus is considered as a key species in the ecosystem hosting a diverse assemblage of 104 epifauna and epiphytes and functioning as a spawning, breeding and foraging ground for fish 105 (Jansson et al., 1982; Kautsky et al., 1992). However, only few studies have compared F. 106 vesiculosus associated epifauna to epifauna associated with other macroalgal species (Kraufvelin 107 and Salovius, 2004; Zander et al., 2015). Furthermore, these studies have compared the epifauna of 108 belt forming algal species from different depths and consequently affected by varying exposure to 109 waves, that is known to affect the epifaunal diversity (Norderhaug et al., 2012) as well as secondary 110 production of mobile epifauna (Norderhaug and Christie, 2011).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • REU Mentors and Projects 2018 (Updated January 11, 2018) UMBS
    REU Mentors and Projects 2018 (updated January 11, 2018) UMBS forest ecosystem study Chris Gough, Virginia Commonwealth University Luke Nave, University of Michigan Chris Vogel, University of Michigan Forests of northern Michigan provide ecosystem services including the capture and sequestration of carbon, retention of nutrients, maintenance of organismal and ecosystem diversity, and protection of surface and ground water quality. Our collaborative team conducts research on the scientific underpinnings of these ecosystem services, with particular emphasis on plant and ecosystem ecology, disturbance ecology, ecological succession, carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry, botany and mycology. We conduct this research in a variety of settings, including a 20-year experimental forest with a long-running carbon "flux" tower, a landscape- scale experimental disturbance in which >6700 trees were stem girdled, a pair of long-term chronosequences with stands from 20 to >200 years old, and, beginning in 2018, a new experimental manipulation of disturbance severity in which tree mortality will range from 45 to 85 %. REU student collaborators on the UMBS Forest Ecosystem Study team have numerous research options. Some examples include: 1) disturbance, climate, and forest age effects on carbon cycling; 2) mechanisms sustaining high rates of carbon storage in old forests; 3) remotely sensed ecosystem structure-carbon cycling relationships; and 4) fungal processes controlling decomposition and tree nutrient supply. Effects of climate change on wetland biodiversity Amy Schrank, University of Minnesota Climate change is predicted to result in significant losses in both the amount of and the biodiversity within Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Coastal wetlands provide important ecosystem services including nursery areas for the majority of Great Lakes fish species, important habitat for wildlife including rare and endangered species, a filter for pollutants and sediment, shoreline protection against wind and waves, and many others.
    [Show full text]
  • Tree Species Associations of Pinus Echinata Mill. Over a Large-Scale Sampling Regime on the Interior Highlands of Arkansas
    TREE SPECIES ASSOCIATIONS OF PINUS ECHINATA MILL. OVER A LARGE-SCALE SAMPLING REGIME ON THE INTERIOR HIGHLANDS OF ARKANSAS James F. Rosson, Jr.1 ABSTRACT.—The Interior Highlands physiographic province of Arkansas is considered the ecological center of the geographic distribution of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.). I used data from the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program to identify the major tree species associates of P. echinata across this 66,700-km2 landscape. Across the region, 41,207 km2 were covered by timberland. The study population was represented by 434 relatively undisturbed upland sample plots from the 1995 forest survey of Arkansas. P. echinata ≥12.7 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH) occurred on 211 of these sample plots. Additionally, it ranked fi rst in basal area on 119 plots, second on 39 plots, and third on 19 plots. Where P. echinata was dominant, stand basal area averaged 23.1 m2 ha-1 (± 0.57 SEM). I used chi-square to test for degree of association between the stand dominants and to test for positive and negative associations. There was a positive association between P. echinata and Quercus alba L. (χ2 = 0.490; 1df). In contrast, there was a negative association between P. echinata and Q. velutina Lam. (χ2 = 15.571; 1df). These results demonstrate that the chi- square test of association is effective even on the larger scales of sampling where lack of sample homogeneity may sometimes complicate analysis. Such quantitative tests for species associations offer meaningful insights into P. echinata communities at the landscape scale of sampling.
    [Show full text]
  • Mercury Bioaccumulation in Some Commercially Valuable Marine Organisms from Mosa Bay, Persian Gulf
    Int. J. Environ. Res., 5(3):757-762, Summer 2011 ISSN: 1735-6865 Mercury Bioaccumulation in Some Commercially Valuable Marine Organisms from Mosa Bay, Persian Gulf * Mortazavi, M. S. and Sharifian, S. Persian Gulf and Oman Sea Ecological Research Institute, P. O. Box 79145-1597 Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan, Iran Received 23 Sep. 2010; Revised 11 March 2011; Accepted 17 March 2011 ABSTRACT: This study was undertaken to determine the concentration of mercury in edible muscle of five commercially valuable marine organisms from Mosa Bay, Persian Gulf, Iran. The total mercury concentrations were determined by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrophotometry and expressed in µg/g dry weight. Certified reference materials were used for each batch of analysis. Mercury concentration was 0.373 µg/g for Liza abu, 1.172 µg/g Sparidentex hasta, 0.445µg/g for Acanthopagrus latus, 0.390 µg/g for Thunnus tonggol, and 0.360 µg/g for Fenneropenaeus indicus. Carnivorous fish had higher level of mercury than non-carnivorous. Statistical analysis revealed weak correlation between fish mercury concentration and length for all studied organisms. The observed concentrations were comparable to those found in other areas of the Persian Gulf and were lower than the WHO guideline of 0.5 mg/kg wet weight. Our result demonstrated that estimated daily and weekly intakes of mercury via consumption of fish flesh were far below the PTDI and PTWI values recommended by FAO/WHO. Key words: Mercury,Marine Organisms, Food Safety, Persian Gulf, Mosa Bay INTRODUCTION Fish is widely consumed in many parts of the world Bay disaster in Japan, which has resulted in the deaths by humans because it has high protein content, low of over 1,000 people and left over 2,000 seriously ill saturated fat and also contains omega fatty acids from contaminated seafood (Harada 1995).
    [Show full text]
  • Do Arthropod Assemblages Fit the Grassland and Savanna Biomes Of
    Research Article Arthropod assemblages of grassland and savanna in South Africa Page 1 of 10 Do arthropod assemblages fit the grassland and AUTHORS: savanna biomes of South Africa? Monique Botha1 Stefan J. Siebert1 Johnnie van den Berg1 The long-standing tradition of classifying South Africa’s biogeographical area into biomes is commonly linked to vegetation structure and climate. Because arthropod communities are often governed by both AFFILIATION: these factors, it can be expected that arthropod communities would fit the biomes. To test this hypothesis, 1Unit for Environmental Sciences we considered how well arthropod species assemblages fit South Africa’s grassy biomes. Arthropod and Management, North-West assemblages were sampled from six localities across the grassland and savanna biomes by means University, Potchefstroom, South Africa of suction sampling, to determine whether the two biomes have distinctive arthropod assemblages. Arthropod samples of these biomes clustered separately in multidimensional scaling analyses. Within CORRESPONDENCE TO: biomes, arthropod assemblages were more distinctive for savanna localities than grassland. Arthropod Monique Botha samples of the two biomes clustered together when trophic groups were considered separately, suggesting some similarity in functional assemblages. Dissimilarity was greatest between biomes for EMAIL: phytophagous and predacious trophic groups, with most pronounced differentiation between biomes [email protected] at sub-escarpment localities. Our results indicate that different arthropod assemblages do fit the grassy DATES: biomes to some extent, but the pattern is not as clear as it is for plant species. Received: 12 Nov. 2015 Significance: Revised: 26 Mar. 2016 • Provides the first comparison of arthropod composition between grassland and savanna biomes of Accepted: 06 Apr.
    [Show full text]
  • An Introduction to Evolutionary Ecology
    An Introduction to Evolutionary Ecology ANDREW COCKBURN Professor of Botany and Zoology School of Life Sciences Australian National University Canberra, Australia ILLUSTRATED BY KARINA HANSEN OXFORD BLACKWELL SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS LONDON EDINBURGH BOSTON MELBOURNE PARIS BERLIN VIENNA Contents PREFACE, xi THE SCOPE OF EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY, 1 Patterns in the living world, 2 Why was 1983 so bad for giant pandas?, 2 Different ways of growing up, 3 Why have sex in the sea?, 6 Why does each fig have its own fig wasp?, 7 Interactions between species: a periodic table?, 11 Why are there so many species of beetles?, 12 Darwin's solution to asking why?, 13 Evolution is not a synonym of natural selection, 14 What is natural selection?, 14 Types of selection, 15 Directional, stabilising and disruptive selection, 16 Frequency-dependent selection, 16 Density-dependent and density-independent selection, 18 Hard and soft selection, 19 Natural and artificial selection, 19 Natural and sexual selection, 19 What are fitness and adaptation?, 20 The theory of natural selection is not tautologous, 20 Absolute versus relative prowess, 21 How'do we detect selection and adaptation?, 22 Summary, 23 Further reading, 23 Topics for discussion, 24 THE GENETIC BASIS OF EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE, 25 Genotype and phenotype, 26 Alleles of genes, and dominance, 28 Gene interactions, 28 Nature versus nurture and heritability, 29 How does genetic variation arise?, 32 How do allele frequencies change?, 33 The Hardy—Weinberg Law, 33 Random causes, 34 The Neutral Theory of Molecular
    [Show full text]
  • REU Mentors and Projects 2018 (Updated January 11, 2018) UMBS
    REU Mentors and Projects 2018 (updated January 11, 2018) UMBS forest ecosystem study Chris Gough, Virginia Commonwealth University Luke Nave, University of Michigan Chris Vogel, University of Michigan Forests of northern Michigan provide ecosystem services including the capture and sequestration of carbon, retention of nutrients, maintenance of organismal and ecosystem diversity, and protection of surface and ground water quality. Our collaborative team conducts research on the scientific underpinnings of these ecosystem services, with particular emphasis on plant and ecosystem ecology, disturbance ecology, ecological succession, carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry, botany and mycology. We conduct this research in a variety of settings, including a 20-year experimental forest with a long-running carbon "flux" tower, a landscape- scale experimental disturbance in which >6700 trees were stem girdled, a pair of long-term chronosequences with stands from 20 to >200 years old, and, beginning in 2018, a new experimental manipulation of disturbance severity in which tree mortality will range from 45 to 85 %. REU student collaborators on the UMBS Forest Ecosystem Study team have numerous research options. Some examples include: 1) disturbance, climate, and forest age effects on carbon cycling; 2) mechanisms sustaining high rates of carbon storage in old forests; 3) remotely sensed ecosystem structure-carbon cycling relationships; and 4) fungal processes controlling decomposition and tree nutrient supply. Effects of climate change on wetland biodiversity Amy Schrank, University of Minnesota Climate change is predicted to result in significant losses in both the amount of and the biodiversity within Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Coastal wetlands provide important ecosystem services including nursery areas for the majority of Great Lakes fish species, important habitat for wildlife including rare and endangered species, a filter for pollutants and sediment, shoreline protection against wind and waves, and many others.
    [Show full text]
  • Read Book Habitat Pdf Free Download
    HABITAT PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Roy Simon | 96 pages | 01 Nov 2016 | Image Comics | 9781632158857 | English | Fullerton, United States Habitat PDF Book Take the quiz Citation Do you know the person or title these quotes desc For example, in Britain it has been estimated that various types of rotting wood are home to over species of invertebrate. The chief environmental factors affecting the distribution of living organisms are temperature, humidity, climate, soil and light intensity, and the presence or absence of all the requirements that the organism needs to sustain it. Bibcode : Natur. Loss of habitat is the single greatest threat to any species. In areas where it has become established, it has altered the local fire regimen to such an extant that native plants cannot survive the frequent fires, allowing it to become even more dominant. Whether from natural processes or the activities of man, landscapes and their associated habitats change over time. Biology Botanical terms Ecological terms Plant morphology terms. Dictionary Entries near habitat habitally habitancy habitant habitat habitat form habitat group habitation See More Nearby Entries. We're gonna stop you right there Literally How to use a word that literally drives some pe Retrieved 16 May Simply put, habitat destruction has reduced the majority of species everywhere on Earth to smaller ranges than they enjoyed historically. History at your fingertips. Another cause of disturbance is when an area may be overwhelmed by an invasive introduced species which is not kept under control by natural enemies in its new habitat. National Wildlife Federation. The laws may be designed to protect a particular species or group of species, or the legislation may prohibit such activities as the collecting of bird eggs, the hunting of animals or the removal of plants.
    [Show full text]
  • Observations on Non-Additive Predation: Birds and Grasshoppers
    Evolutionary Ecology Research, 2010, 12: 739–749 Observations on non-additive predation: birds and grasshoppers Gary E. Belovsky and J.B. Slade Environmental Research Center and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA ABSTRACT Background: Classic predator–prey theory assumes that predatory mortality is additive with other sources of mortality, but predatory mortality can be non-additive. If predators preferentially kill individuals already ‘doomed’ from other mortality causes, then predation can be less than additive. If predators preferentially kill individuals more likely to survive, then predation can be greater than additive. In either case, to be non-additive, predation must modify other causes of mortality such as intraspecific competition, decreasing it in the former case and increasing it in the latter. Non-additive predation also can modify selective pressures of predation and is seldom considered except when prey are much larger than their predators. Question: Can non-additive predation be observed in the most common type of predator–prey system (prey much smaller than their predators) where this is considered very unlikely? Organisms: Two sympatric grasshoppers and their avian predators. Field site: National Bison Range, Montana, USA. Methods: Field experiments to determine: (1) whether better foraging individuals survive longer in the absence of predators or if they die from non-predatory causes in the presence of predators; (2) whether predators preferentially kill better or poorer foragers; and (3) how predators affect prey populations. Conclusions: Both grasshoppers exhibit intraspecific competition with better foragers surviving longer. Both experience high predation rates, but their populations respond differently to predation.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Lands Handbook June 2003
    King County Water and Land Resources Division Ecological Lands Handbook June 2003 King County Water and Land Resources Division Ecological Lands Handbook June 2003 Alternate formats available 296-6519 or TTY Relay: 711 Ecological Lands Handbook_Final_June 2003.doc Acknowledgments Project Team (*=principal author): Ingrid Lundin*, Natural Resource Planner, Natural Resource Lands Management, Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD) Jennifer Vanderhoof*, Ecologist, Watershed and Ecological Assessment, WLRD Deb Snyder, Natural Resource Planner, Natural Resource Lands Management, WLRD Jennifer Thomas, Senior Ecologist, Watershed and Ecological Assessment, WLRD Advisory Group: Natural Resource Lands Management Program, WLRD Connie Blumen, Program Coordinator Tina Miller, Volunteer Coordinator Jenna Tilt, Natural Resource Planner Michael Beevers, Natural Resource Planner Park Resource Section, Parks and Recreation Division (PRD) Bobbi Wallace, Manager David Kimmett, Resource Coordinator Scott Snyder, Resource Coordinator Steve Williams, Resource Coordinator Interpretive Program Office, PRD Chuck Lennox, Interpretive Program Coordinator Chris Mayo, Interpretive Program Coordinator Program Development and Land Management Division, DNRP Sharon Claussen, Project Manager Land and Water Stewardship Services, WLRD Clint Loper, Watershed Stewardship Unit Manager Anne Bikle, Cedar River Basin Steward Kirk Anderson, Snoqualmie River Basin Steward Flood Hazard Reduction Services, WLRD Jennifer Knauer, Program Analyst John Koon, Engineer Priscilla Kaufmann,
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Effects of Size, Distance and History on Urban Forest Patches
    The Effects of Size, Distance and History on Urban Forest Patches Mark Sahm SPEA B.S.E.S. [email protected] Keywords: urban forest, biodiversity, site history, distance, site area Abstract The urban forest is composed of varying sizes of patches of trees across the landscape with different histories. The literature in urban ecology has found a correlation between size of these patches of forest and species homogeneity (Hobbs 1988, Godefroid and Koedam 2003). The purpose of this study is to find the effects of three variables on the urban forest: distance from a continuous forest, area of the patch, and site history. The study investigates how these variables can affect the species diversity, composition, and growth. Several sites within the City of Bloomington and on Indiana University campus have been selected. The study expected to find a relationship between higher species diversity, greater number of invasive species and larger edge habitats. However, the study found no correlations between species diversity, site history, site area and distance from the rural forest. 1 Introduction Biodiversity is an important subject when exploring and observing the urban forest. This can be used to evaluate the health of the ecosystem as well as help the resilience of the same. In recent history, humans have altered the forests compositions through changing the regime of disturbances in which these trees have evolved to live, allowing some species to decline and allowing other species to thrive (Redmend et al. 2012). Species of oak (Quercus) and hickory (Carya) dominate the forests of southern Indiana and the suppression of natural processes is causing the forest to change, having more shade tolerant species of maple (Acer) and beech (Fagus) (Pierce et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Is the Macrophyte Diversification Along the Trophic Gradient Distinct Enough for River Monitoring?
    Environ Monit Assess (2017) 189:4 DOI 10.1007/s10661-016-5710-8 Is the macrophyte diversification along the trophic gradient distinct enough for river monitoring? Krzysztof Szoszkiewicz & Anna Budka & Karol Pietruczuk & Dariusz Kayzer & Daniel Gebler Received: 9 May 2016 /Accepted: 18 November 2016 # The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract The variation of a number of parameters char- gradient. We confirmed that vegetation diversification acterizing aquatic plant assemblages in rivers across a along a trophic gradient is evident enough to detect wide trophic gradient was investigated to evaluate their degradation in a five quality class system. usefulness for a Polish national river monitoring system. Analyses were conducted at 100 sites included in the Keywords Rivers . Macrophytes . Trophy . Freshwater national river monitoring system, representing a uni- assessment . Ecological status form river type, i.e., small- and medium-sized lowland rivers with a sandy substrate. Results of botanical sur- veys, which were supplemented with comprehensive Introduction monthly quality records, were obtained from the nation- al monitoring database. By analyzing the Jaccard dis- Macrophytes are aquatic plants growing in water which tances of the botanical metrics using the adonis function, are large enough to be visible with the naked eye and are the variation in species composition between rivers of almost always identifiable in the field. They include different trophic status was determined. The group higher aquatic plants, vascular cryptograms, and bryo- consisting of the most degraded rivers was the most phytes, as well as structural macroalgae (Westlake 1975; homogeneous in terms of botanical composition.
    [Show full text]
  • Full Text in Pdf Format
    MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES Vol. 189: 171-179,1999 Published November 26 Mar Ecol Prog Ser Influence of shade and number of boulder layers on mobile organisms on a warm temperate boulder shore Yoshitake Takada* Ishigaki Tropical Station, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Ishigaki, Okinawa 907-0451, Japan ABSTRACT: The environment of the habitat is important in the organization of the intertidal commu- nity. In a boulder shore habitat, accumulation of boulder layers increases shade and the number of interstices. This study examined whether expenmental shade increased the density of mobile animals and modified the community structure at 2 intertidal zones on a moderately sheltered boulder shore in Amakusa, Japan. Artificial shade reduced light intensity and surface temperature of boulders, and sub- sequently increased microalgal abundance. Mobile animals were sampled quantitatively at 2 zones (high and mid) for 4 treatments: single layer boulders without a roof as a control, double layer boulders without a roof, single layer boulders shaded by a roof for 6 wk and for 2 wk. Statistical analyses (MANOVA and ANOVA) showed strong effects of treatments on community diversity and the density of 15 abundant species in both tidal zones. Generally, the diversity was lower in the single layer boul- ders than the double layer boulders and increased with the experimental shade. Two carnivorous spe- cies (Hemigrapsus sanguineus and Japeuthria cingulata) and some herbivorous species (e.g. Nerita japonica and Nipponacmea nigrans) increased in density with the shade, while other herbivores (e.g. Monodonta labio and Littorina brevicula) were unaffected. In conclusion, a reduction of environmental stress produced by the shade increased community diversity on the boulder shore, but the responses of mobile animals were species specific.
    [Show full text]