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Sepúlveda F, Quijón PA, Quintanilla-Ahumada D, Vargas J, Aldana M, Fernández M, Varas O, Zapata J, Pulgar J, Duarte C. Cross-examining the influence of upwelling and seaweed quality on herbivores' feeding behavior and growth. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 193:106288. [PMID: 38043169 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106288] [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: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
At the regional scale, upwelling conditions are known to influence ecosystems and communities and their primary and secondary productivity. However, the influence of upwelling on local herbivore-algae interactions is less well understood. We address this question by cross-examining herbivores and seaweeds from sites associated with upwelling and downwelling conditions along the Humboldt Current System. Specifically, we quantified the feeding and benefits attained by the black sea urchin (Tetrapygus niger) and the black sea snail (Tegula atra) while consuming a widespread kelp species (Lessonia spicata). We hypothesized that food quality drives herbivores' preference, consumption, and growth rates, regardless of the origin or "prior" conditions of the consumers. Laboratory trials measured algal consumption rates with (preference) and without a choice, and consumer's growth rates, to assess the influence of food quality (algae from upwelling vs downwelling sites) and the site of origin of the consumers. Our results showed that algal quality was a prevailing factor for both herbivores: they chose, consumed more, and grew faster on high quality (upwelling) algae. By comparison, the origin of the consumer was only significant for sea snails: those coming from an upwelling site, consumed significantly more and grew faster than those from downwelling. The bulk of our results provided strong support to our hypothesis and suggest that the high nutritional quality of algae associated with upwelling centers has a strong influence on consumers' preferences, consumption, and performance (growth). The fact that origin was found to be relevant for one of the herbivores suggests that the conditions in which species grow may dictate some of their efficiency as consumers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felipe Sepúlveda
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
| | - Pedro A Quijón
- Department of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE, Canada
| | - Diego Quintanilla-Ahumada
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile; Programa de Doctorado en Medicina de la Conservación, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
| | - Juan Vargas
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile; Programa de Doctorado en Medicina de la Conservación, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
| | - Marcela Aldana
- Centro de Investigación e Innovación para el Cambio Climático (CiiCC), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Santo Tomás, Ejército 146, Santiago, Chile; Doctorado en Conservación y Gestión de la Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Santo Tomás, Ejército 146, Santiago, Chile
| | - Melissa Fernández
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile; Programa de Doctorado en Medicina de la Conservación, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile; Centro de Investigaciones Marinas de Quintay, CIMARQ, Chile
| | - Oscar Varas
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile; Programa de Doctorado en Medicina de la Conservación, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
| | - Javier Zapata
- Centro de Investigación e Innovación para el Cambio Climático (CiiCC), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Santo Tomás, Ejército 146, Santiago, Chile; Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas (ECIM), Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile
| | - José Pulgar
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile; Centro de Investigaciones Marinas de Quintay, CIMARQ, Chile.
| | - Cristian Duarte
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile; Centro de Investigaciones Marinas de Quintay, CIMARQ, Chile.
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Seo J, Koo BJ. Temperature-Dependent Food Consumption Rates of the Sea Urchin Mesocentrotus nudus and Top Shell Turbo sazae: Potential Impacts on Seaweed Beds. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:3436. [PMID: 38003054 PMCID: PMC10668760 DOI: 10.3390/ani13223436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 11/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
In Korea, the expansion of barren ground and a shift in macrograzer habitats due to increasing water temperatures associated with climate change are becoming increasingly problematic. This study assessed the potential effects of the sea urchin Mesocentrotus nudus and top shell Turbo sazae on seaweed beds by examining changes in their food consumption rates in response to changes in temperature. The food consumption rates of kelp (Saccharina japonica) for both species were estimated at 5 °C, 10 °C, 15 °C, 20 °C, and 25 °C in laboratory experiments. The rate for M. nudus increased with increasing water temperature, with the highest rate of 0.001 g g-1 d-1 at 15 °C and 20 °C, and the lowest at 25 °C, which killed some individual sea urchins. The rate for T. sazae also increased with increasing water temperature, with the highest being 0.087 g g-1 d-1 at 25 °C and the lowest being at 5 °C. T. sazae had a higher food consumption rate than M. nudus at all temperatures; as water temperature increased, the difference between species increased, with the largest difference occurring at 25 °C. These findings indicate that as water temperature increases, T. sazae places greater feeding pressure on macroalgae than M. nudus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaehwan Seo
- East Sea Environment Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST), Uljin 36315, Republic of Korea;
| | - Bon Joo Koo
- East Sea Environment Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST), Uljin 36315, Republic of Korea;
- School of Ocean Science, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea
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García-Huidobro MR, Aldana M, Varela P, García-Herrera C, Monteiro JN, Leitão F, Teodósio MA, Quijón PA, Varas O, Fernandéz M, Duarte C, Pulgar J. The influence of upwelling on key bivalves from the Humboldt and Iberian current systems. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 189:106031. [PMID: 37271060 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2023] [Revised: 05/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (EBUS) deliver cold, nutrient-rich waters, influencing coastal biota from the molecular to the ecosystem level. Although local upwelling (U) and downwelling (DU) conditions are often known, their influence on body attributes of relevant species has not been systematically compared within and between EBUS (i.e., below and above regional scales). Hence, we compared the physical-chemical characteristics of U and DU sites in the Humboldt Current system (Chile) and the Iberian Current system (Portugal). We then assessed the influence of U and DU upon eight body attributes in purple mussels (Perumytilus purpuratus) and Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), from the Humboldt and Iberian systems, respectively. We hypothesized that bivalves from U sites display better fitness, as measured by body attributes, regardless of their origin (EBUS). As expected, waters from U sites in both systems showed lower temperatures and pH, and higher nitrite concentrations. We also found that mussels from U sites showed better fitness than those in DU sites in 12 out of 16 direct U vs DU comparisons. Shell length, shell volume, organic content of soft-tissues, and mechanical properties of the shell averaged consistently higher in mussels from U sites in both Current systems. In addition, total weight, soft-tissue weight, shell weight and shell thickness were all higher in the U site at the Humboldt system but had less consistent differences at the Iberian system. Altogether, most results supported our working hypothesis and indicate that U conditions support better fitted mussels. The few attributes that did not exhibit the expected U vs DU differences in the Iberian system suggest that local and species-specific differences also play a role on the attributes of these species. These results may also serve as a reference point for further studies addressing the influence of upwelling in these productive, critically important systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Roberto García-Huidobro
- Centro de Investigación e Innovación para el Cambio Climático (CiiCC), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Santo Tomás, Ejército 146, Santiago, Chile
| | - Marcela Aldana
- Centro de Investigación e Innovación para el Cambio Climático (CiiCC), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Santo Tomás, Ejército 146, Santiago, Chile.
| | - Pablo Varela
- Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - João N Monteiro
- CCMAR, Centre of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal
| | - Francisco Leitão
- CCMAR, Centre of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal
| | - Maria Alexandra Teodósio
- CCMAR, Centre of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal
| | - Pedro A Quijón
- Department of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE, C1A 4P3, Canada
| | - Oscar Varas
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, República 440, Santiago, Chile
| | - Melissa Fernandéz
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, República 440, Santiago, Chile
| | - Cristian Duarte
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, República 440, Santiago, Chile; Centro de Investigaciones Marinas de Quintay, CIMARQ, Chile
| | - José Pulgar
- Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, República 440, Santiago, Chile; Centro de Investigaciones Marinas de Quintay, CIMARQ, Chile.
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