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Berlino M, Mangano MC, Di Bona G, Lucchese M, Terzo SMC, De Vittor C, D'Alessandro M, Esposito V, Gambi MC, Del Negro P, Sarà G. Functional diversity and metabolic response in benthic communities along an ocean acidification gradient. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 198:106520. [PMID: 38685145 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 04/14/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Altered ocean chemistry caused by ocean acidification (OA) is expected to have negative repercussions at different levels of the ecological hierarchy, starting from the individual and scaling up to the community and ultimately to the ecosystem level. Understanding the effects of OA on benthic organisms is of primary importance given their relevant ecological role in maintaining marine ecosystem functioning. The use of functional traits represents an effective technique to investigate how species adapt to altered environmental conditions and can be used to predict changes in the resilience of communities faced with stresses associated with climate change. Artificial supports were deployed for 1-y along a natural pH gradient in the shallow hydrothermal systems of the Bottaro crater near Panarea (Aeolian Archipelago, southern Tyrrhenian Sea), to explore changes in functional traits and metabolic rates of benthic communities and the repercussions in terms of functional diversity. Changes in community composition due to OA were accompanied by modifications in functional diversity. Altered conditions led to higher oxygen consumption in the acidified site and the selection of species with the functional traits needed to withstand OA. Calcification rate and reproduction were found to be the traits most affected by pH variations. A reduction in a community's functional evenness could potentially reduce its resilience to further environmental or anthropogenic stressors. These findings highlight the ability of the ecosystem to respond to climate change and provide insights into the modifications that can be expected given the predicted future pCO2 scenarios. Understanding the impact of climate change on functional diversity and thus on community functioning and stability is crucial if we are to predict changes in ecosystem vulnerability, especially in a context where OA occurs in combination with other environmental changes and anthropogenic stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Berlino
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Department of Integrative Marine Ecology (EMI), Sicily Marine Centre, Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo (complesso Roosevelt), 90149, Palermo, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, DiSTeM, Università degli Studi di Palermo Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy.
| | - M C Mangano
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Department of Integrative Marine Ecology (EMI), Sicily Marine Centre, Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo (complesso Roosevelt), 90149, Palermo, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - G Di Bona
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, DiSTeM, Università degli Studi di Palermo Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - M Lucchese
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, DiSTeM, Università degli Studi di Palermo Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy; National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, Trieste, Italy
| | - S M C Terzo
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, DiSTeM, Università degli Studi di Palermo Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy; Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, Viale Fernando Stagno d'Alcontres 3, University of Messina, Messina, Italy; Department of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via A.F. Acton, Molosiglio, Napoli, 80133, Italy
| | - C De Vittor
- National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, Trieste, Italy
| | - M D'Alessandro
- National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, Trieste, Italy
| | - V Esposito
- National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, Trieste, Italy; Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Research Infrastructures for Marine Biological Resources Department, Via Po 25, 00198, Roma, Italy
| | - M C Gambi
- National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, Trieste, Italy; Previous at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Department of Marine Integrative Ecology (EMI), Ischia Marine Center, Ischia Napoli, Italy
| | - P Del Negro
- National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, Trieste, Italy
| | - G Sarà
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, DiSTeM, Università degli Studi di Palermo Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy
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2
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de Groot VA, Trueman C, Bates AE. Incorporating otolith-isotope inferred field metabolic rate into conservation strategies. CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY 2024; 12:coae013. [PMID: 38666227 PMCID: PMC11044438 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coae013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Fluctuating ocean conditions are rearranging whole networks of marine communities-from individual-level physiological thresholds to ecosystem function. Physiological studies support predictions from individual-level responses (biochemical, cellular, tissue, respiratory potential) based on laboratory experiments. The otolith-isotope method of recovering field metabolic rate has recently filled a gap for the bony fishes, linking otolith stable isotope composition to in situ oxygen consumption and experienced temperature estimates. Here, we review the otolith-isotope method focusing on the biochemical and physiological processes that yield estimates of field metabolic rate. We identify a multidisciplinary pathway in the application of this method, providing concrete research goals (field, modeling) aimed at linking individual-level physiological data to higher levels of biological organization. We hope that this review will provide researchers with a transdisciplinary 'roadmap', guiding the use of the otolith-isotope method to bridge the gap between individual-level physiology, observational field studies, and modeling efforts, while ensuring that in situ data is central in marine policy-making aimed at mitigating climatic and anthropogenic threats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valesca A de Groot
- Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5S7, Canada
- University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Rd, Victoria, BCV8 P5C2, Canada
| | - Clive Trueman
- School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO1 43ZH, UK
| | - Amanda E Bates
- Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5S7, Canada
- University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Rd, Victoria, BCV8 P5C2, Canada
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3
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van Moorsel SJ, Thébault E, Radchuk V, Narwani A, Montoya JM, Dakos V, Holmes M, De Laender F, Pennekamp F. Predicting effects of multiple interacting global change drivers across trophic levels. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2023; 29:1223-1238. [PMID: 36461630 PMCID: PMC7614140 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Global change encompasses many co-occurring anthropogenic drivers, which can act synergistically or antagonistically on ecological systems. Predicting how different global change drivers simultaneously contribute to observed biodiversity change is a key challenge for ecology and conservation. However, we lack the mechanistic understanding of how multiple global change drivers influence the vital rates of multiple interacting species. We propose that reaction norms, the relationships between a driver and vital rates like growth, mortality, and consumption, provide insights to the underlying mechanisms of community responses to multiple drivers. Understanding how multiple drivers interact to affect demographic rates using a reaction-norm perspective can improve our ability to make predictions of interactions at higher levels of organization-that is, community and food web. Building on the framework of consumer-resource interactions and widely studied thermal performance curves, we illustrate how joint driver impacts can be scaled up from the population to the community level. A simple proof-of-concept model demonstrates how reaction norms of vital rates predict the prevalence of driver interactions at the community level. A literature search suggests that our proposed approach is not yet used in multiple driver research. We outline how realistic response surfaces (i.e., multidimensional reaction norms) can be inferred by parametric and nonparametric approaches. Response surfaces have the potential to strengthen our understanding of how multiple drivers affect communities as well as improve our ability to predict when interactive effects emerge, two of the major challenges of ecology today.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia J. van Moorsel
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Department of GeographyUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Elisa Thébault
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Université Paris Est Créteil, Université Paris Cité, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES‐Paris)ParisFrance
| | - Viktoriia Radchuk
- Department of Ecological DynamicsLeibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife ResearchBerlinGermany
| | - Anita Narwani
- Department of Aquatic EcologyEawagDübendorfSwitzerland
| | - José M. Montoya
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology StationCNRSMoulisFrance
| | - Vasilis Dakos
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM)Université de Montpellier, IRD, EPHEMontpellierFrance
| | - Mark Holmes
- Namur Institute for Complex Systems (naXys), Institute of Life, Earth, and Environment (ILEE), Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of NamurNamurBelgium
| | - Frederik De Laender
- Namur Institute for Complex Systems (naXys), Institute of Life, Earth, and Environment (ILEE), Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of NamurNamurBelgium
| | - Frank Pennekamp
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
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4
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Mack L, de la Hoz CF, Penk M, Piggott J, Crowe T, Hering D, Kaijser W, Aroviita J, Baer J, Borja A, Clark DE, Fernández-Torquemada Y, Kotta J, Matthaei CD, O'Beirn F, Paerl HW, Sokolowski A, Vilmi A, Birk S. Perceived multiple stressor effects depend on sample size and stressor gradient length. WATER RESEARCH 2022; 226:119260. [PMID: 36279611 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.119260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Multiple stressors are continuously deteriorating surface waters worldwide, posing many challenges for their conservation and restoration. Combined effect types of multiple stressors range from single-stressor dominance to complex interactions. Identifying prevalent combined effect types is critical for environmental management, as it helps to prioritise key stressors for mitigation. However, it remains unclear whether observed single and combined stressor effects reflect true ecological processes unbiased by sample size and length of stressor gradients. Therefore, we examined the role of sample size and stressor gradient lengths in 158 paired-stressor response cases with over 120,000 samples from rivers, lakes, transitional and marine ecosystems around the world. For each case, we split the overall stressor gradient into two partial gradients (lower and upper) and investigated associated changes in single and combined stressor effects. Sample size influenced the identified combined effect types, and stressor interactions were less likely for cases with fewer samples. After splitting gradients, 40 % of cases showed a change in combined effect type, 30 % no change, and 31 % showed a loss in stressor effects. These findings suggest that identified combined effect types may often be statistical artefacts rather than representing ecological processes. In 58 % of cases, we observed changes in stressor effect directions after the gradient split, suggesting unimodal stressor effects. In general, such non-linear responses were more pronounced for organisms at higher trophic levels. We conclude that observed multiple stressor effects are not solely determined by ecological processes, but also strongly depend on sampling design. Observed effects are likely to change when sample size and/or gradient length are modified. Our study highlights the need for improved monitoring programmes with sufficient sample size and stressor gradient coverage. Our findings emphasize the importance of adaptive management, as stress reduction measures or further ecosystem degradation may change multiple stressor-effect relationships, which will then require associated changes in management strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leoni Mack
- Faculty of Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 5, Essen D-45141, Germany.
| | - Camino Fernández de la Hoz
- Environmental Hydraulics Institute, Universidad de Cantabria, Spain; Earth Institute and School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Ireland
| | - Marcin Penk
- Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Tasman Crowe
- Earth Institute and School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Ireland
| | - Daniel Hering
- Faculty of Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 5, Essen D-45141, Germany; Centre of Water and Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Willem Kaijser
- Faculty of Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 5, Essen D-45141, Germany
| | - Jukka Aroviita
- Freshwater Centre, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Oulu, Finland
| | - Jan Baer
- Fisheries Research Station Baden-Württemberg, Langenargen, Germany
| | - Angel Borja
- AZTI, Marine Research, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Pasaia, Spain; Faculty of Marine Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | | | | | - Jonne Kotta
- Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu, Tallinn, Estonia
| | | | | | - Hans W Paerl
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, USA
| | - Adam Sokolowski
- Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdańsk, Gdynia, Poland
| | - Annika Vilmi
- Freshwater Centre, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Oulu, Finland
| | - Sebastian Birk
- Faculty of Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 5, Essen D-45141, Germany
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5
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Seebacher F. Interactive effects of anthropogenic environmental drivers on endocrine responses in wildlife. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2022; 556:111737. [PMID: 35931299 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2022.111737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Abstract
Anthropogenic activity has created unique environmental drivers, which may interact to produce unexpected effects. My aim was to conduct a systematic review of the interactive effects of anthropogenic drivers on endocrine responses in non-human animals. The interaction between temperature and light can disrupt reproduction and growth by impacting gonadotropins, thyroid hormones, melatonin, and growth hormone. Temperature and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) interact to modify reproduction with differential effects across generations. The combined effects of light and EDCs can be anxiogenic, so that light-at-night could increase anxiety in wildlife. Light and noise increase glucocorticoid release by themselves, and together can modify interactions between individuals and their environment. The literature detailing interactions between drivers is relatively sparse and there is a need to extend research to a broader range of taxa and interactions. I suggest that incorporating endocrine responses into Adverse Outcome Pathways would be beneficial to improve predictions of environmental effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank Seebacher
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences A08, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
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6
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Influence of ocean warming and acidification on habitat-forming coralline algae and their associated molluscan assemblages. Glob Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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Emergent effects of global change on consumption depend on consumers and their resources in marine systems. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2108878119. [PMID: 35446691 PMCID: PMC9173678 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2108878119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the effects of global change on species interactions is important for predicting emergent ecosystem changes. Although environmental change can have direct effects on consumers, it is unclear if consumption will change in any generalizable way when both the consumer and resource(s) are exposed to future conditions. Using meta-analysis, we show high variability in consumption rates in response to ocean acidification and warming, indicating conclusions that suggest consumption will generally increase or decrease in a future ocean are premature. We also demonstrate how the interpretation is dependent on whether only the consumer or both the consumer and its resource(s) are exposed to future conditions. Based on these findings, we provide a road map for future research in this area. A better understanding of how environmental change will affect species interactions would significantly aid efforts to scale up predictions of near-future responses to global change from individuals to ecosystems. To address this need, we used meta-analysis to quantify the individual and combined effects of ocean acidification (OA) and warming on consumption rates of predators and herbivores in marine ecosystems. Although the primary studies demonstrated that these environmental variables can have direct effects on consumers, our analyses highlight high variability in consumption rates in response to OA and warming. This variability likely reflects differences in local adaptation among species, as well as important methodological differences. For example, our results suggest that exposure of consumers to OA reduces consumption rates on average, yet consumption rates actually increase when both consumers and their resource(s) are concurrently exposed to the same conditions. We hypothesize that this disparity is due to increased vulnerability of prey or resource(s) in conditions of OA that offset declines in consumption. This hypothesis is supported by an analysis demonstrating clear declines in prey survival in studies that exposed only prey to future OA conditions. Our results illustrate how simultaneous OA and warming produce complex outcomes when species interact. Researchers should further explore other potential sources of variation in response, as well as the prey-driven component of any changes in consumption and the potential for interactive effects of OA and warming.
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8
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Donham EM, Strope LT, Hamilton SL, Kroeker KJ. Coupled changes in pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen impact the physiology and ecology of herbivorous kelp forest grazers. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:3023-3039. [PMID: 35133693 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Revised: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Understanding species' responses to upwelling may be especially important in light of ongoing environmental change. Upwelling frequency and intensity are expected to increase in the future, while ocean acidification and deoxygenation are expected to decrease the pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) of upwelled waters. However, the acute effects of a single upwelling event and the integrated effects of multiple upwelling events on marine organisms are poorly understood. Here, we use in situ measurements of pH, temperature, and DO to characterize the covariance of environmental conditions within upwelling-dominated kelp forest ecosystems. We then test the effects of acute (0-3 days) and chronic (1-3 months) upwelling on the performance of two species of kelp forest grazers, the echinoderm, Mesocentrotus franciscanus, and the gastropod, Promartynia pulligo. We exposed organisms to static conditions in a regression design to determine the shape of the relationship between upwelling and performance and provide insights into the potential effects in a variable environment. We found that respiration, grazing, growth, and net calcification decline linearly with increasing upwelling intensity for M. francicanus over both acute and chronic timescales. Promartynia pulligo exhibited decreased respiration, grazing, and net calcification with increased upwelling intensity after chronic exposure, but we did not detect an effect over acute timescales or on growth after chronic exposure. Given the highly correlated nature of pH, temperature, and DO in the California Current, our results suggest the relationship between upwelling intensity and growth in the 3-month trial could potentially be used to estimate growth integrated over long-term dynamic oceanographic conditions for M. franciscanus. Together, these results indicate current exposure to upwelling may reduce species performance and predicted future increases in upwelling frequency and intensity could affect ecosystem function by modifying the ecological roles of key species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily M Donham
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA
| | - Lauren T Strope
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Scott L Hamilton
- Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Jose State University, San Jose, California, USA
| | - Kristy J Kroeker
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA
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9
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Marín-Guirao L, Bernardeau-Esteller J, Belando MD, García-Muñoz R, Ramos-Segura A, Alcoverro T, Minguito-Frutos M, Ruiz JM. Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 177:105636. [PMID: 35569182 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2022.105636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Revised: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Seagrass ecosystems usually respond in a nonlinear fashion to increasing pressures and environmental changes. Feedback mechanisms operating at the ecosystem level and involving multiple interactions among the seagrass meadow, its associated community and the physical environment are known to play a major role in such nonlinear responses. Phenotypic plasticity may also be important for buffering these ecological thresholds (i.e., regime shifts) as many physiological processes show nonlinear responses to gradual environmental changes, conferring the appearance of resistance before the effects at the organism and population levels are visible. However, the potential involvement of plant plasticity in driving catastrophic shifts in seagrass ecosystems has not yet been assessed. In this study, we conducted a manipulative 6-month light-gradient experiment in the field to capture nonlinearities of the physiological and population responses of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa to gradual light reduction. The aim was to explore if and how the photo-acclimatory responses of shaded plants are translated to the population level and, hence, to the ecosystem level. Results showed that the seagrass population was rather stable under increasing shading levels through the activation of multilevel photo-acclimative responses, which are initiated with light reduction and modulated in proportion to shading intensity. The activation of photo-physiological and metabolic compensatory responses allowed shaded plants to sustain nearly constant plant productivity (metabolic carbon balance) along a range of shading levels before losing linearity and starting to decline. The species then activated plant- and meadow-scale photo-acclimative responses and drew on its energy reserves (rhizome carbohydrates) to confer additional population resilience. However, when the integration of all these buffering mechanisms failed to counterbalance the effects of extreme light limitation, the population collapsed, giving place to a phase shift from vegetated to bare sediments with catastrophic ecosystem outcomes. Our findings evidence that ecological thresholds in seagrass ecosystems under light limitation can be explained by the role of species' compensatory responses in modulating population-level responses. The thresholds of these plastic responses anticipate the sudden loss of seagrass meadows with the potential to be used as early warning indicators signalling the imminent collapse of the ecosystem, which is of great value for the real-world management of seagrass ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Marín-Guirao
- Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), C/Varadero, 30740, San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain.
| | - J Bernardeau-Esteller
- Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), C/Varadero, 30740, San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain
| | - M D Belando
- Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), C/Varadero, 30740, San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain
| | - R García-Muñoz
- Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), C/Varadero, 30740, San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain
| | - A Ramos-Segura
- Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), C/Varadero, 30740, San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain
| | - T Alcoverro
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Acces Cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain
| | - M Minguito-Frutos
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Acces Cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain
| | - J M Ruiz
- Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), C/Varadero, 30740, San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain
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10
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Kroeker KJ, Sanford E. Ecological Leverage Points: Species Interactions Amplify the Physiological Effects of Global Environmental Change in the Ocean. ANNUAL REVIEW OF MARINE SCIENCE 2022; 14:75-103. [PMID: 34416127 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-marine-042021-051211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Marine ecosystems are increasingly impacted by global environmental changes, including warming temperatures, deoxygenation, and ocean acidification. Marine scientists recognize intuitively that these environmental changes are translated into community changes via organismal physiology. However, physiology remains a black box in many ecological studies, and coexisting species in a community are often assumed to respond similarly to environmental stressors. Here, we emphasize how greater attention to physiology can improve our ability to predict the emergent effects of ocean change. In particular, understanding shifts in the intensity and outcome of species interactions such as competition and predation requires a sharpened focus on physiological variation among community members and the energetic demands and trophic mismatches generated by environmental changes. Our review also highlights how key species interactions that are sensitive to environmental change can operate as ecological leverage points through which small changes in abiotic conditions are amplified into large changes in marine ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristy J Kroeker
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA;
| | - Eric Sanford
- Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Davis, Bodega Bay, California 94923, USA;
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
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11
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Forbes VCB, Dickinson KJM, Hulbe CL. Applying a social-ecological systems lens to patterns of policy, operational change, and gender participation in a large Aotearoa New Zealand organisation. J R Soc N Z 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/03036758.2021.2012489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Verity C. B. Forbes
- Department of Botany/Ecology Programme, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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12
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Berlino M, Mangano MC, De Vittor C, Sarà G. Effects of microplastics on the functional traits of aquatic benthic organisms: A global-scale meta-analysis. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2021; 285:117174. [PMID: 33957511 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Revised: 04/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Microplastics are widespread in the aquatic environment and thus available for many organisms at different trophic levels. Many scientific papers focus their attention on the study of the effects of microplastics on different species at individual level. Here we performed a global scale meta-analysis focusing our work on the study of the effect of microplastics on the functional traits of aquatic benthic organisms. Overall, microplastics showed a moderate negative effect on the examined functional traits of benthic organisms. Our results show that some crucial functional traits, such as those linked to behaviour and feeding, appear to be unaffected by microplastics. In contrast, traits related to the capacity of organisms to assimilate energy are affected. Moreover, traits with possible effects at population level appear to be negatively affected by microplastics. We discuss how the direct impact of organismal performance may have indirect repercussions at higher levels in the ecological hierarchy and represent a risk for the stability and functioning of the ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Berlino
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, DiSTeM, Università degli Studi di Palermo Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy; National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, via A. Piccard 54, 34151, Trieste, Italy
| | - M C Mangano
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Department of Integrative Marine Ecology (EMI), Sicily Marine Centre, Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo (complesso Roosevelt), 90149, Palermo, Italy.
| | - C De Vittor
- National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, via A. Piccard 54, 34151, Trieste, Italy
| | - G Sarà
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, DiSTeM, Università degli Studi di Palermo Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy
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13
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Parisi MG, Giacoletti A, Mandaglio C, Cammarata M, Sarà G. The entangled multi-level responses of Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819) to environmental stressors as detected by an integrated approach. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 168:105292. [PMID: 33756251 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2020] [Revised: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic pressure adds up and interacts with the effects of climate change with a varying magnitude and potential changes depend on species' Life History (LH) traits, local environmental conditions and co-occurrence of several stressors. Stressors exert negative effects on marine biota when acting as a single factor, but the effects may be amplified when more than one stressor work in combination, producing interacting effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The impairment of individual functional traits (FT) leads to strong rebounds on LH traits and this may have ecological consequences. No studies actually relate FT and antioxidant enzymes to multiple environmental stressors. In this paper we investigate the effects of food concentration, temperature and hypoxia on metabolic traits as expressed by a proxy such as respiration rate and feeding behaviour and on antioxidant enzymes (Catalase, Superoxide dismutase, Glutathione S-Transferase, Glutathione peroxidase) for the bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis. Mussels were exposed to three temperatures (12, 20 and 28 °C) under normoxic (8 mg O2 l-1) and hypoxic (~2 mg O2 l-1) conditions, with varying food concentrations ranging from 0.9 to 3.5 μg of chlorophyll l-1. The results show that FTs and antioxidant enzymes were affected by temperature, hypoxia and food availability, and outcome allowed us to emphasise that a multi-scalar integrated approach is suitable to detect and monitor effects of anthropogenic disturbance on ecosystem functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- M G Parisi
- Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - A Giacoletti
- Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - C Mandaglio
- Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - M Cammarata
- Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - G Sarà
- Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 16, 90128, Palermo, Italy.
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14
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Hemraj DA, Posnett NC, Minuti JJ, Firth LB, Russell BD. Survived but not safe: Marine heatwave hinders metabolism in two gastropod survivors. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2020; 162:105117. [PMID: 32866819 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Revised: 08/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are an emerging threat to marine organisms that have increased in frequency and magnitude in the past decade. These extreme heating events can have differential impacts on organisms with some experiencing mortality while others survive. Here, we experimentally exposed two species of subtidal gastropod (Trochus sacellum and Astralium haematragum) to two realistic intensities of MHW to test the ability of different species to physiologically cope with extreme heating events. Extreme MHW conditions caused 100% mortality in both species within five days. While both species survived under moderate MHW conditions they showed evidence of nonadaptive metabolic depression. Both species demonstrated an inability to upregulate their metabolic rates at the higher temperatures following exposure to a MHW (i.e. reduced temperature of maximum metabolic rate; TMMR), suggesting a lack of molecular protective responses and ongoing physiological damage. Therefore, the physiological damage endured by heatwave survivors may lessen their ability to cope with subsequent stress until fully recovered. Repairing this damage may have serious repercussions for the rate of recovery of these normally resilient species and their ability to maintain their ecological functions post MHW, especially under the predicted increasing frequency, duration and magnitude of MHWs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deevesh A Hemraj
- The Swire Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Natasha C Posnett
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Jay J Minuti
- The Swire Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Louise B Firth
- School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Bayden D Russell
- The Swire Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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15
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Nagelkerken I, Goldenberg SU, Ferreira CM, Ullah H, Connell SD. Trophic pyramids reorganize when food web architecture fails to adjust to ocean change. Science 2020; 369:829-832. [PMID: 32792395 DOI: 10.1126/science.aax0621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2019] [Revised: 03/31/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
As human activities intensify, the structures of ecosystems and their food webs often reorganize. Through the study of mesocosms harboring a diverse benthic coastal community, we reveal that food web architecture can be inflexible under ocean warming and acidification and unable to compensate for the decline or proliferation of taxa. Key stabilizing processes, including functional redundancy, trophic compensation, and species substitution, were largely absent under future climate conditions. A trophic pyramid emerged in which biomass expanded at the base and top but contracted in the center. This structure may characterize a transitionary state before collapse into shortened, bottom-heavy food webs that characterize ecosystems subject to persistent abiotic stress. We show that where food web architecture lacks adjustability, the adaptive capacity of ecosystems to global change is weak and ecosystem degradation likely.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Nagelkerken
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
| | - Silvan U Goldenberg
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.,GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, Kiel 24105, Germany
| | - Camilo M Ferreira
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Hadayet Ullah
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Sean D Connell
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
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16
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Siegel P, Baker KG, Low‐Décarie E, Geider RJ. High predictability of direct competition between marine diatoms under different temperatures and nutrient states. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:7276-7290. [PMID: 32760528 PMCID: PMC7391539 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Revised: 04/27/2020] [Accepted: 05/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The distribution of marine phytoplankton will shift alongside changes in marine environments, leading to altered species frequencies and community composition. An understanding of the response of mixed populations to abiotic changes is required to adequately predict how environmental change may affect the future composition of phytoplankton communities. This study investigated the growth and competitive ability of two marine diatoms, Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira pseudonana, along a temperature gradient (9-35°C) spanning the thermal niches of both species under both high-nitrogen nutrient-replete and low-nitrogen nutrient-limited conditions. Across this temperature gradient, the competitive outcome under both nutrient conditions at any assay temperature, and the critical temperature at which competitive advantage shifted from one species to the other, was well predicted by the temperature dependencies of the growth rates of the two species measured in monocultures. The temperature at which the competitive advantage switched from P. tricornutum to T. pseudonana increased from 18.8°C under replete conditions to 25.3°C under nutrient-limited conditions. Thus, P. tricornutum was a better competitor over a wider temperature range in a low N environment. Being able to determine the competitive outcomes from physiological responses of single species to environmental changes has the potential to significantly improve the predictive power of phytoplankton spatial distribution and community composition models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Siegel
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of Essex Colchester CampusColchesterUK
| | - Kirralee G. Baker
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of Essex Colchester CampusColchesterUK
| | | | - Richard J. Geider
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of Essex Colchester CampusColchesterUK
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17
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Beaumelle L, De Laender F, Eisenhauer N. Biodiversity mediates the effects of stressors but not nutrients on litter decomposition. eLife 2020; 9:55659. [PMID: 32589139 PMCID: PMC7402682 DOI: 10.7554/elife.55659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the consequences of ongoing biodiversity changes for ecosystems is a pressing challenge. Controlled biodiversity-ecosystem function experiments with random biodiversity loss scenarios have demonstrated that more diverse communities usually provide higher levels of ecosystem functioning. However, it is not clear if these results predict the ecosystem consequences of environmental changes that cause non-random alterations in biodiversity and community composition. We synthesized 69 independent studies reporting 660 observations of the impacts of two pervasive drivers of global change (chemical stressors and nutrient enrichment) on animal and microbial decomposer diversity and litter decomposition. Using meta-analysis and structural equation modeling, we show that declines in decomposer diversity and abundance explain reduced litter decomposition in response to stressors but not to nutrients. While chemical stressors generally reduced biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, detrimental effects of nutrients occurred only at high levels of nutrient inputs. Thus, more intense environmental change does not always result in stronger responses, illustrating the complexity of ecosystem consequences of biodiversity change. Overall, these findings provide strong evidence that the consequences of observed biodiversity change for ecosystems depend on the kind of environmental change, and are especially significant when human activities decrease biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Léa Beaumelle
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Frederik De Laender
- Research Unit of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Namur Institute of Complex Systems, and Institute of Life, Earth, and the Environment, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium
| | - Nico Eisenhauer
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
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18
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Scanes E, Scanes PR, Ross PM. Climate change rapidly warms and acidifies Australian estuaries. Nat Commun 2020; 11:1803. [PMID: 32286277 PMCID: PMC7156424 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15550-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 03/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate change is impacting ecosystems worldwide. Estuaries are diverse and important aquatic ecosystems; and yet until now we have lacked information on the response of estuaries to climate change. Here we present data from a twelve-year monitoring program, involving 6200 observations of 166 estuaries along >1100 kilometres of the Australian coastline encompassing all estuary morphologies. Estuary temperatures increased by 2.16 °C on average over 12 years, at a rate of 0.2 °C year-1, with waters acidifying at a rate of 0.09 pH units and freshening at 0.086 PSU year-1. The response of estuaries to climate change is dependent on their morphology. Lagoons and rivers are warming and acidifying at the fastest rate because of shallow average depths and limited oceanic exchange. The changes measured are an order of magnitude faster than predicted by global ocean and atmospheric models, indicating that existing global models may not be useful to predict change in estuaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elliot Scanes
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, the University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
| | - Peter R Scanes
- Estuaries and Catchments Science, New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Pauline M Ross
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, the University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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19
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Kroeker KJ, Bell LE, Donham EM, Hoshijima U, Lummis S, Toy JA, Willis-Norton E. Ecological change in dynamic environments: Accounting for temporal environmental variability in studies of ocean change biology. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:54-67. [PMID: 31743515 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/03/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The environmental conditions in the ocean have long been considered relatively more stable through time compared to the conditions on land. Advances in sensing technologies, however, are increasingly revealing substantial fluctuations in abiotic factors over ecologically and evolutionarily relevant timescales in the ocean, leading to a growing recognition of the dynamism of the marine environment as well as new questions about how this dynamism may influence species' vulnerability to global environmental change. In some instances, the diurnal or seasonal variability in major environmental change drivers, such as temperature, pH and seawater carbonate chemistry, and dissolved oxygen, can exceed the changes expected with continued anthropogenic global change. While ocean global change biologists have begun to experimentally test how variability in environmental conditions mediates species' responses to changes in the mean, the extensive literature on species' adaptations to temporal variability in their environment and the implications of this variability for their evolutionary responses has not been well integrated into the field. Here, we review the physiological mechanisms underlying species' responses to changes in temperature, pCO2 /pH (and other carbonate parameters), and dissolved oxygen, and discuss what is known about behavioral, plastic, and evolutionary strategies for dealing with variable environments. In addition, we discuss how exposure to variability may influence species' responses to changes in the mean conditions and highlight key research needs for ocean global change biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristy J Kroeker
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Lauren E Bell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Emily M Donham
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Umihiko Hoshijima
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Sarah Lummis
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Jason A Toy
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Ellen Willis-Norton
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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20
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Ferreira CM, Nagelkerken I, Goldenberg SU, Walden G, Leung JYS, Connell SD. Functional loss in herbivores drives runaway expansion of weedy algae in a near-future ocean. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 695:133829. [PMID: 31421342 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2019] [Revised: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The ability of a community to absorb environmental change without undergoing structural modification is a hallmark of ecological resistance. The recognition that species interactions can stabilize community processes has led to the idea that the effects of climate change may be less than what most considerations currently allow. We tested whether herbivory can compensate for the expansion of weedy algae triggered by CO2 enrichment and warming. Using a six-month mesocosm experiment, we show that increasing per capita herbivory by gastropods absorbs the boosted effects of CO2 enrichment on algal production in temperate systems of weak to moderate herbivory. However, under the combined effects of acidification and warming this compensatory effect was eroded by reducing the diversity, density and biomass of herbivores. This loss of functionality combined with boosted primary productivity drove a fourfold expansion of weedy algal species. Our results demonstrate capacity to buffer ecosystems against CO2 enrichment, but loss of this capacity through ocean warming either in isolation or combined with CO2, driving significant algal turf expansion. Identifying compensatory processes and the circumstances under which they prevail could potentially help manage the impacts of ocean warming and acidification, which are further amplified by local disturbances such as habitat loss and herbivore over-exploitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilo M Ferreira
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Ivan Nagelkerken
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
| | - Silvan U Goldenberg
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Georgia Walden
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Jonathan Y S Leung
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Sean D Connell
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, DX 650 418, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
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21
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Climate warming reduces the reproductive advantage of a globally invasive intertidal mussel. Biol Invasions 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-019-01990-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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22
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Croake DJ, Andreatta RD, Stemple JC. Descriptive Analysis of the Interactive Patterning of the Vocalization Subsystems in Healthy Participants: A Dynamic Systems Perspective. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2019; 62:215-228. [PMID: 30950696 DOI: 10.1044/2018_jslhr-s-17-0466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Normative data for many objective voice measures are routinely used in clinical voice assessment; however, normative data reflect vocal output, but not vocalization process. The underlying physiologic processes of healthy phonation have been shown to be nonlinear and thus are likely different across individuals. Dynamic systems theory postulates that performance behaviors emerge from the nonlinear interplay of multiple physiologic components and that certain patterns are preferred and loosely governed by the interactions of physiology, task, and environment. The purpose of this study was to descriptively characterize the interactive nature of the vocalization subsystem triad in subjects with healthy voices and to determine if differing subgroups could be delineated to better understand how healthy voicing is physiologically generated. Method Respiratory kinematic, aerodynamic, and acoustic formant data were obtained from 29 individuals with healthy voices (21 female and eight male). Multivariate analyses were used to descriptively characterize the interactions among the subsystems that contributed to healthy voicing. Results Group data revealed representative measures of the 3 subsystems to be generally within the boundaries of established normative data. Despite this, 3 distinct clusters were delineated that represented 3 subgroups of individuals with differing subsystem patterning. Seven of the 9 measured variables in this study were found to be significantly different across at least 1 of the 3 subgroups indicating differing physiologic processes across individuals. Conclusion Vocal output in healthy individuals appears to be generated by distinct and preferred physiologic processes that were represented by 3 subgroups indicating that the process of vocalization is different among individuals, but not entirely idiosyncratic. Possibilities for these differences are explored using the framework of dynamic systems theory and the dynamics of emergent behaviors. A revised physiologic model of phonation that accounts for differences within and among the vocalization subsystems is described. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.7616462.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Croake
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Kentucky, Lexington
| | - Richard D Andreatta
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Kentucky, Lexington
| | - Joseph C Stemple
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Kentucky, Lexington
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23
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Adaptive marine conservation planning in the face of climate change: What can we learn from physiological, ecological and genetic studies? Glob Ecol Conserv 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
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24
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White L, Donohue I, Emmerson MC, O'Connor NE. Combined effects of warming and nutrients on marine communities are moderated by predators and vary across functional groups. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2018; 24:5853-5866. [PMID: 30246490 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2018] [Revised: 08/08/2018] [Accepted: 09/07/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Warming, nutrient enrichment and biodiversity modification are among the most pervasive components of human-induced global environmental change. We know little about their cumulative effects on ecosystems; however, even though this knowledge is fundamental to predicting and managing their consequences in a changing world. Here, we show that shifts in predator species composition can moderate both the individual and combined effects of warming and nutrient enrichment in marine systems. However, all three aspects of global change also acted independently to alter different functional groups in our flow-through marine rock-pool mesocosms. Specifically, warming reduced macroalgal biomass and assemblage productivity, whereas enrichment led to increased abundance of meso-invertebrate consumers, and loss of predator species led to increased gastropod grazer biomass. This disparity in responses, both across trophic levels (macroalgae and intermediate consumers), and between detecting additive effects on aggregate measures of ecosystem functioning, yet interactive effects on community composition, illustrates that our forecasting ability depends strongly on the level of ecological complexity incorporated within global change experiments. We conclude that biodiversity change-and loss of predator species in particular-plays a critical and overarching role in determining how ecological communities respond to stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia White
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Ian Donohue
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Mark C Emmerson
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Nessa E O'Connor
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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25
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Monaco CJ, McQuaid CD. Applicability of Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) models across steep environmental gradients. Sci Rep 2018; 8:16384. [PMID: 30401809 PMCID: PMC6219521 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-34786-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2018] [Accepted: 10/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Robust ecological forecasting requires accurate predictions of physiological responses to environmental drivers. Energy budget models facilitate this by mechanistically linking biology to abiotic drivers, but are usually ground-truthed under relatively stable physical conditions, omitting temporal/spatial environmental variability. Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory is a powerful framework capable of linking individual fitness to environmental drivers and we tested its ability to accommodate variability by examining model predictions across the rocky shore, a steep ecotone characterized by wide fluctuations in temperature and food availability. We parameterized DEB models for co-existing mid/high-shore (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and mid/low-shore (Perna perna) mussels on the south coast of South Africa. First, we assumed permanently submerged conditions, and then incorporated metabolic depression under low tide conditions, using detailed data of tidal cycles, body temperature and variability in food over 12 months at three sites. Models provided good estimates of shell length for both species across the shore, but predictions of gonadosomatic index were consistently lower than observed. Model disagreement could reflect the effects of details of biology and/or difficulties in capturing environmental variability, emphasising the need to incorporate both. Our approach provides guidelines for incorporating environmental variability and long-term change into mechanistic models to improve ecological predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristián J Monaco
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. .,Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia.
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26
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Connell SD, Doubleday ZA, Foster NR, Hamlyn SB, Harley CDG, Helmuth B, Kelaher BP, Nagelkerken I, Rodgers KL, Sarà G, Russell BD. The duality of ocean acidification as a resource and a stressor. Ecology 2018; 99:1005-1010. [PMID: 29714829 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2017] [Revised: 02/02/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Ecologically dominant species often define ecosystem states, but as human disturbances intensify, their subordinate counterparts increasingly displace them. We consider the duality of disturbance by examining how environmental drivers can simultaneously act as a stressor to dominant species and as a resource to subordinates. Using a model ecosystem, we demonstrate that CO2 -driven interactions between species can account for such reversals in dominance; i.e., the displacement of dominants (kelp forests) by subordinates (turf algae). We established that CO2 enrichment had a direct positive effect on productivity of turfs, but a negligible effect on kelp. CO2 enrichment further suppressed the abundance and feeding rate of the primary grazer of turfs (sea urchins), but had an opposite effect on the minor grazer (gastropods). Thus, boosted production of subordinate producers, exacerbated by a net reduction in its consumption by primary grazers, accounts for community change (i.e., turf displacing kelp). Ecosystem collapse, therefore, is more likely when resource enrichment alters competitive dominance of producers, and consumers fail to compensate. By recognizing such duality in the responses of interacting species to disturbance, which may stabilize or exacerbate change, we can begin to understand how intensifying human disturbances determine whether or not ecosystems undergo phase shifts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean D Connell
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences & Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Zoë A Doubleday
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences & Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Nicole R Foster
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences & Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Sarah B Hamlyn
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences & Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Christopher D G Harley
- Department of Zoology and Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Brian Helmuth
- Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, Nahant, Massachusetts, 01908, USA
| | - Brendan P Kelaher
- National Marine Science Centre & Marine Ecology Research Centre, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ivan Nagelkerken
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences & Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Kirsten L Rodgers
- Leigh Marine Laboratory, Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Gianluca Sarà
- Ecology Lab, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Bayden D Russell
- The Swire Institute of Marine Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Harley CDG, Connell SD, Doubleday ZA, Kelaher B, Russell BD, Sarà G, Helmuth B. Conceptualizing ecosystem tipping points within a physiological framework. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:6035-6045. [PMID: 28808563 PMCID: PMC5551099 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2017] [Revised: 05/08/2017] [Accepted: 05/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Connecting the nonlinear and often counterintuitive physiological effects of multiple environmental drivers to the emergent impacts on ecosystems is a fundamental challenge. Unfortunately, the disconnect between the way "stressors" (e.g., warming) is considered in organismal (physiological) and ecological (community) contexts continues to hamper progress. Environmental drivers typically elicit biphasic physiological responses, where performance declines at levels above and below some optimum. It is also well understood that species exhibit highly variable response surfaces to these changes so that the optimum level of any environmental driver can vary among interacting species. Thus, species interactions are unlikely to go unaltered under environmental change. However, while these nonlinear, species-specific physiological relationships between environment and performance appear to be general, rarely are they incorporated into predictions of ecological tipping points. Instead, most ecosystem-level studies focus on varying levels of "stress" and frequently assume that any deviation from "normal" environmental conditions has similar effects, albeit with different magnitudes, on all of the species within a community. We consider a framework that realigns the positive and negative physiological effects of changes in climatic and nonclimatic drivers with indirect ecological responses. Using a series of simple models based on direct physiological responses to temperature and ocean pCO 2, we explore how variation in environment-performance relationships among primary producers and consumers translates into community-level effects via trophic interactions. These models show that even in the absence of direct mortality, mismatched responses resulting from often subtle changes in the physical environment can lead to substantial ecosystem-level change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher D. G. Harley
- Department of Zoology and Institute for the Oceans and FisheriesUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Sean D. Connell
- Southern Seas Ecology LaboratoriesSchool of Biological Sciences & Environment InstituteUniversity of AdelaideAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
| | - Zoë A. Doubleday
- Southern Seas Ecology LaboratoriesSchool of Biological Sciences & Environment InstituteUniversity of AdelaideAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
| | - Brendan Kelaher
- National Marine Science Centre & Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry ResearchSchool of Environment, Science and EngineeringSouthern Cross UniversityCoffs HarbourNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Bayden D. Russell
- The Swire Institute of Marine ScienceSchool of Biological SciencesThe University of Hong KongHong KongHong Kong
| | - Gianluca Sarà
- Laboratorio di Ecologia SperimentaleDipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del MareUniversità degli Studi di PalermoPalermoItaly
| | - Brian Helmuth
- Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences and School of Public Policy and Urban AffairsNortheastern UniversityBostonMAUSA
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