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Zuschin M, Nawrot R, Dengg M, Gallmetzer I, Haselmair A, Kowalewski M, Scarponi D, Wurzer S, Tomašových A. Human-driven breakdown of predator-prey interactions in the northern Adriatic Sea. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20241303. [PMID: 39317324 PMCID: PMC11421925 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.1303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2024] [Revised: 07/13/2024] [Accepted: 08/20/2024] [Indexed: 09/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Long-term baseline data that allow tracking how predator-prey interactions have responded to intensifying human impacts are often lacking. Here, we assess temporal changes in benthic community composition and interactions between drilling predatory gastropods and their molluscan prey using the Holocene fossil record of the shallow northern Adriatic Sea, which is characterized by a long history of human transformation. Molluscan assemblages differ between the Isonzo and Po prodelta, but both show consistent temporal trends in the abundance of dominant species. Samples of mollusc prey collected at high stratigraphic resolution indicate that drilling frequencies have drastically declined in the Po prodelta since the mid-twentieth century, while a weaker trend in the more condensed sediments of the Isonzo prodelta is not statistically significant. The decrease in drilling predation intensity and the community turnover are linked to the loss of predatory gastropods and the increased relative abundance of less-preferred prey during the most recent decades. Our results align with data showing the substantial depletion of marine resources at higher trophic levels in the region and indicate that the strong simplification of the food web initiated in the late nineteenth century accelerated further since the mid-twentieth century.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Zuschin
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2, Vienna1090, Austria
| | - Rafał Nawrot
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2, Vienna1090, Austria
| | - Markus Dengg
- Otago Regional Council, Dunedin9010, New Zealand
| | - Ivo Gallmetzer
- Third Zoological Department, Natural History Museum Vienna, Burgring 7, Vienna1010, Austria
| | - Alexandra Haselmair
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2, Vienna1090, Austria
| | - Michał Kowalewski
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 1659 Museum Road, Gainesville, 32611FL, USA
| | - Daniele Scarponi
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Sandra Wurzer
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2, Vienna1090, Austria
| | - Adam Tomašových
- Earth Science Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravska cesta 9, 84005 Bratislava, Slovakia
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2
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Agiadi K, Nawrot R, Albano PG, Koskeridou E, Zuschin M. Potential and limitations of applying the mean temperature approach to fossil otolith assemblages. ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY OF FISHES 2022; 105:1269-1286. [PMID: 36313612 PMCID: PMC9592634 DOI: 10.1007/s10641-022-01252-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Accepted: 04/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Evaluation of the impact of climatic changes on the composition of fish assemblages requires quantitative measures that can be compared across space and time. In this respect, the mean temperature of the catch (MTC) approach has been proven to be a very useful tool for monitoring the effect of climate change on fisheries catch. Lack of baseline data and deep-time analogues, however, prevent a more comprehensive evaluation. In this study, we explore the applicability of the mean temperature approach to fossil fish faunas by using otolith assemblage data from the eastern Mediterranean and the northern Adriatic coastal environments corresponding to the last 8000 years (Holocene) and the interval 2.58-1.80 Ma B. P. (Early Pleistocene). The calculated mean temperatures of the otolith assemblage (MTO) range from 13.5 to 17.3 °C. This case study shows that the MTO can successfully capture compositional shifts in marine fish faunas based on variations in their climatic affinity driven by regional climate differences. However, the index is sensitive to methodological choices and thus requires standardized sampling. Even though theoretical and methodological issues prevent direct comparisons between MTO and MTC values, the MTO offers a useful quantitative proxy for reconstructing spatial and temporal trends in the biogeographic affinity of fossil otolith assemblages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantina Agiadi
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, UZA II, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Rafał Nawrot
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, UZA II, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Paolo G. Albano
- Department of Animal Conservation and Public Engagement, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy
| | - Efterpi Koskeridou
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, 15784 Athens, Greece
| | - Martin Zuschin
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, UZA II, 1090 Vienna, Austria
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3
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Spalding C, Hull PM. Towards quantifying the mass extinction debt of the Anthropocene. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202332. [PMID: 33906410 PMCID: PMC8080006 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
To make sense of our present biodiversity crises, the modern rate of species extinctions is commonly compared to a benchmark, or 'background,' rate derived from the fossil record. These estimates are critical for bounding the scale of modern diversity loss, but are yet to fully account for the fundamental structure of extinction rates through time. Namely, a substantial fraction of extinctions within the fossil record occurs within relatively short-lived extinction pulses, and not during intervals characterized by background rates of extinction. Accordingly, it is more appropriate to compare the modern event to these pulses than to the long-term average rate. Unfortunately, neither the duration of extinction pulses in the geological record nor the ultimate magnitude of the extinction pulse today is resolved, making assessments of their relative sizes difficult. In addition, the common metric used to compare current and past extinction rates does not correct for large differences in observation duration. Here, we propose a new predictive metric that may be used to ascertain the ultimate extent of the ongoing extinction threat, building on the observation that extinction magnitude in the marine fossil record is correlated to the magnitude of sedimentary turnover. Thus, we propose that the ultimate number of species destined for extinction today can be predicted by way of a quantitative appraisal of humanity's modification of ecosystems as recorded in sediments-that is, by comparing our future rock record with that of the past. The ubiquity of habitat disruption worldwide suggests that a profound mass extinction debt exists today, but one that might yet be averted by preserving and restoring ecosystems and their geological traces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Spalding
- Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Pincelli M. Hull
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
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4
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Huntley JW, Scarponi D. Parasitism and host behavior in the context of a changing environment: The Holocene record of the commercially important bivalve Chamelea gallina, northern Italy. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0247790. [PMID: 33793588 PMCID: PMC8016236 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Rapid warming and sea-level rise are predicted to be major driving forces in shaping coastal ecosystems and their services in the next century. Though forecasts of the multiple and complex effects of temperature and sea-level rise on ecological interactions suggest negative impacts on parasite diversity, the effect of long term climate change on parasite dynamics is complex and unresolved. Digenean trematodes are complex life cycle parasites that can induce characteristic traces on their bivalve hosts and hold potential to infer parasite host-dynamics through time and space. Previous work has demonstrated a consistent association between sea level rise and increasing prevalence of trematode traces, but a number of fundamental questions remain unanswered about this paleoecological proxy. Here we examine the relationships of host size, shape, and functional morphology with parasite prevalence and abundance, how parasites are distributed across hosts, and how all of these relationships vary through time, using the bivalve Chamelea gallina from a Holocene shallow marine succession in the Po coastal plain. Trematode prevalence increased and decreased in association with the transition from a wave-influenced estuarine system to a wave-dominated deltaic setting. Prevalence and abundance of trematode pits are associated with large host body size, reflecting ontogenetic accumulation of parasites, but temporal trends in median host size do not explain prevalence trends. Ongoing work will test the roles of temperature, salinity, and nutrient availability on trematode parasitism. Parasitized bivalves in one sample were shallower burrowers than their non-parasitized counterparts, suggesting that hosts of trematodes can be more susceptible to their predators, though the effect is ephemeral. Like in living parasite-host systems, trematode-induced malformations are strongly aggregated among hosts, wherein most host individuals harbor very few parasites while a few hosts have many. We interpret trace aggregation to support the assumption that traces are a reliable proxy for trematode parasitism in the fossil record.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Warren Huntley
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Daniele Scarponi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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5
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Cheli A, Mancuso A, Azzarone M, Fermani S, Kaandorp J, Marin F, Montroni D, Polishchuk I, Prada F, Stagioni M, Valdré G, Pokroy B, Falini G, Goffredo S, Scarponi D. Climate variation during the Holocene influenced the skeletal properties of Chamelea gallina shells in the North Adriatic Sea (Italy). PLoS One 2021; 16:e0247590. [PMID: 33661962 PMCID: PMC7932108 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding how marine taxa will respond to near-future climate changes is one of the main challenges for management of coastal ecosystem services. Ecological studies that investigate relationships between the environment and shell properties of commercially important marine species are commonly restricted to latitudinal gradients or small-scale laboratory experiments. This paper aimed to explore the variations in shell features and growth of the edible bivalve Chamelea gallina from the Holocene sedimentary succession to present-day thanatocoenosis of the Po Plain-Adriatic Sea system (Italy). Comparing the Holocene sub-fossil record to modern thanatocoenoses allowed obtaining an insight of shell variations dynamics on a millennial temporal scale. Five shoreface-related assemblages rich in C. gallina were considered: two from the Middle Holocene, when regional sea surface temperatures were higher than today, representing a possible analogue for the near-future global warming, one from the Late Holocene and two from the present-day. We investigated shell biometry and skeletal properties in relation to the valve length of C. gallina. Juveniles were found to be more porous than adults in all horizons. This suggested that C. gallina promoted an accelerated shell accretion with a higher porosity and lower density at the expense of mechanically fragile shells. A positive correlation between sea surface temperature and both micro-density and bulk density were found, with modern specimens being less dense, likely due to lower aragonite saturation state at lower temperature, which could ultimately increase the energetic costs of shell formation. Since no variation was observed in shell CaCO3 polymorphism (100% aragonite) or in compositional parameters among the analyzed horizons, the observed dynamics in skeletal parameters are likely not driven by a diagenetic recrystallization of the shell mineral phase. This study contributes to understand the response of C. gallina to climate-driven environmental shifts and offers insights for assessing anthropogenic impacts on this economic relevant species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Cheli
- Marine Science Group, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Fano Marine Center, The Inter-Institute Center for Research on Marine Biodiversity, Resources and Biotechnologies, Fano, Italy
| | - Arianna Mancuso
- Marine Science Group, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Fano Marine Center, The Inter-Institute Center for Research on Marine Biodiversity, Resources and Biotechnologies, Fano, Italy
| | - Michele Azzarone
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Simona Fermani
- Department of Chemistry ‘Giacomo Ciamician’, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Jaap Kaandorp
- Computational Science Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Frederic Marin
- UMR CNRS 6282 Biogéosciences, Université de Bourgogne—Franche-Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Devis Montroni
- Department of Chemistry ‘Giacomo Ciamician’, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Iryna Polishchuk
- Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa, Israel
| | - Fiorella Prada
- Marine Science Group, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Fano Marine Center, The Inter-Institute Center for Research on Marine Biodiversity, Resources and Biotechnologies, Fano, Italy
| | - Marco Stagioni
- Marine Biology and Fisheries Laboratory of Fano, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Giovanni Valdré
- Fano Marine Center, The Inter-Institute Center for Research on Marine Biodiversity, Resources and Biotechnologies, Fano, Italy
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Boaz Pokroy
- Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa, Israel
| | - Giuseppe Falini
- Fano Marine Center, The Inter-Institute Center for Research on Marine Biodiversity, Resources and Biotechnologies, Fano, Italy
- Department of Chemistry ‘Giacomo Ciamician’, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- * E-mail: (GF); (SG); (DS)
| | - Stefano Goffredo
- Marine Science Group, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Fano Marine Center, The Inter-Institute Center for Research on Marine Biodiversity, Resources and Biotechnologies, Fano, Italy
- * E-mail: (GF); (SG); (DS)
| | - Daniele Scarponi
- Fano Marine Center, The Inter-Institute Center for Research on Marine Biodiversity, Resources and Biotechnologies, Fano, Italy
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- * E-mail: (GF); (SG); (DS)
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Conservation Paleobiology as a Tool to Define Reference Conditions in Naturally Stressed Transitional Settings: Micropaleontological Insights from the Holocene of the Po Coastal Plain (Italy). WATER 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/w12123420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The key role of paralic environments as providers of ecosystem services, associated with their increasingly threatened state, led to the definition of international water management policies aimed to improve ecological quality status (EcoQs). Restoration actions rely on the definition of reference conditions, which is a particularly challenging task in naturally stressed transitional environments. In the present work, we apply the diversity index Exp(H’bc) on benthic foraminifer assemblages from two anthropogenically unimpacted transitional to coastal Holocene sediment successions of the Po coastal plain, in order to assess past EcoQs (PaleoEcoQs). Ostracod ecological groups provided detailed insights on naturally stressful paleoenvironmental conditions. We show that “poor” to “moderate” PaleoEcoQs are recorded by biological indicators at reference conditions under fluctuations of chemical-physical parameters and organic matter enrichment. We emphasize the importance of a site-specific paleobiological approach, as significant differences in diversity occur even on a short spatial scale. This study illustrates that early to mid-Holocene sediment successions resulted to be appropriate for conservation paleobiological purposes, providing a high-resolution paleoecological record under the influence of the Holocene sea-level rise in analogy with the present-day global change.
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7
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Tomašových A, Albano PG, Fuksi T, Gallmetzer I, Haselmair A, Kowalewski M, Nawrot R, Nerlović V, Scarponi D, Zuschin M. Ecological regime shift preserved in the Anthropocene stratigraphic record. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200695. [PMID: 32546093 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Palaeoecological data are unique historical archives that extend back far beyond the last several decades of ecological observations. However, the fossil record of continental shelves has been perceived as too coarse (with centennial-millennial resolution) and incomplete to detect processes occurring at yearly or decadal scales relevant to ecology and conservation. Here, we show that the youngest (Anthropocene) fossil record on the northern Adriatic continental shelf provides decadal-scale resolution that accurately documents an abrupt ecological change affecting benthic communities during the twentieth century. The magnitude and the duration of the twentieth century shift in body size of the bivalve Corbula gibba is unprecedented given that regional populations of this species were dominated by small-size classes throughout the Holocene. The shift coincided with compositional changes in benthic assemblages, driven by an increase from approximately 25% to approximately 70% in median per-assemblage abundance of C. gibba. This regime shift increase occurred preferentially at sites that experienced at least one hypoxic event per decade in the twentieth century. Larger size and higher abundance of C. gibba probably reflect ecological release as it coincides with an increase in the frequency of seasonal hypoxia that triggered mass mortality of competitors and predators. Higher frequency of hypoxic events is coupled with a decline in the depth of intense sediment mixing by burrowing benthic organisms from several decimetres to less than 20 cm, significantly improving the stratigraphic resolution of the Anthropocene fossil record and making it possible to detect sub-centennial ecological changes on continental shelves.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Tomašových
- Earth Science Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravska cesta 9, 84005 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Paolo G Albano
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna
| | - Tomáš Fuksi
- Earth Science Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravska cesta 9, 84005 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Ivo Gallmetzer
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna
| | - Alexandra Haselmair
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna
| | - Michał Kowalewski
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 1659 Museum Road, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Rafał Nawrot
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna
| | - Vedrana Nerlović
- Department of Marine Studies, University of Split, Ruđera Boškovića 37, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Daniele Scarponi
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Piazza di Porta San Donato 1, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Martin Zuschin
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna
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