Wasting Disease and Static Environmental Variables Drive Sea
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 520 (2019) 151209 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jembe Wasting disease and static environmental variables drive sea star T assemblages in the Northern Gulf of Alaska ⁎ Brenda Konara, , Timothy James Mitchella, Katrin Ikena, Heather Colettib, Thomas Deanc, Daniel Eslerd, Mandy Lindeberge, Benjamin Pisterf, Benjamin Weitzmana,d a University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 757220, Fairbanks, AK 99709, USA b US National Park Service, Inventory and Monitoring Program, Southwest Alaska Network, 4175 Geist Road, Fairbanks, AK 99709, USA c Coastal Resource Associates, 5190 El Arbol Dr., Carlsbad, CA 92008, USA d US Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, 4210 University Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA e NOAA Fisheries, AFSC, Auke Bay Laboratories, 17109 Pt Lena Loop Rd, Juneau, AK 99801, USA f US National Park Service, Kenai Fjords National Park, 411 Washington Street, Seward, AK 99664, USA ABSTRACT Sea stars are ecologically important in rocky intertidal habitats where they can play an apex predator role, completely restructuring communities. The recent sea star die-off throughout the eastern Pacific, known as Sea Star Wasting Disease, has prompted a need to understand spatial and temporal patterns of seastarassemblages and the environmental variables that structure these assemblages. We examined spatial and temporal patterns in sea star assemblages (composition and density) across regions in the northern Gulf of Alaska and assessed the role of seven static environmental variables (distance to freshwater inputs, tidewater glacial presence, exposure to wave action, fetch, beach slope, substrate composition, and tidal range) in influencing sea star assemblage structure before and after sea star declines.
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