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Zardi GI, Monsinjon JR, Seuront L, Spilmont N, McQuaid CD, Nicastro KR. Symbiotic endolithic microbes reduce host vulnerability to an unprecedented heatwave. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 199:106622. [PMID: 38936261 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106622] [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: 03/18/2024] [Revised: 06/19/2024] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024]
Abstract
Heatwaves are increasingly severe and frequent, posing significant threats to ecosystems and human well-being. Characterised by high thermal variability, intertidal communities are particularly vulnerable to heat stress. Microbial endolithic communities that are found in marine calcifying organisms have been shown to induce shell erosion that alters shell surface colour, lowering body temperatures and increasing survival rates. Here, we investigate how the symbiotic relationship between endolithic microbes and the blue intertidal mussel Mytilus edulis mitigates thermal stress during the unprecedented 2022 atmospheric heatwave in the English Channel. Microbial infestation of the shell significantly enhanced mussel survival, particularly higher on the shore where thermal stress was greater. Using data from biomimetic temperature loggers, we predicted the expected thermal buffer and observed differences up to 3.2 °C between individuals with and without symbionts under the known conditions of the heat wave-induced mortality event. The ecological implications extend beyond individual mussels, affecting the reef-building capacity of mussels, with potential cascading effects for local biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and coastal defence. These findings emphasize the importance of understanding small-scale biotic interactions during extreme climate events and provide insights into the dynamic nature of the endolith-mussel symbiosis along a parasitic-mutualistic continuum influenced by abiotic factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerardo I Zardi
- Normandie Université, UNICAEN, Laboratoire Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, UMR, 8067 BOREA, (CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, UCBN, IRD-207), CS 14032 14000, Caen, France; Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa; CCMAR-CIMAR - Associated Laboratory, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro, 8005-139, Portugal
| | - Jonathan R Monsinjon
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa
| | - Laurent Seuront
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa; Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte D'Opale, IRD, UMR, 8187 - LOG - Laboratoire D'Océanologie et de Géosciences, F-59000, Lille, France; Department of Marine Resources and Energy, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108- 8477, Japan
| | - Nicolas Spilmont
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte D'Opale, IRD, UMR, 8187 - LOG - Laboratoire D'Océanologie et de Géosciences, F-59000, Lille, France
| | - Christopher D McQuaid
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa
| | - Katy R Nicastro
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa; Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte D'Opale, IRD, UMR, 8187 - LOG - Laboratoire D'Océanologie et de Géosciences, F-59000, Lille, France; CCMAR-CIMAR - Associated Laboratory, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro, 8005-139, Portugal.
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Downes S, Firth LB, Knights AM. Epibionts provide their basibionts with associational resistance to predation but at a cost. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 186:105941. [PMID: 36921402 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.105941] [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: 11/06/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Epibiosis is increasingly considered a survival strategy in space-limited environments. However, epibionts can create a new interface between its host, environment and potential predators which may alter predator-prey relationships and biological functioning. Ex-situ experiments investigated the potential costs and benefits of epibiont barnacles on mortality and feeding rate of the mussel, Mytilus edulis, and its predator, the whelk Nucella lapillus. Mussels with living epibiont barnacles suffered no mortality from whelk predation, but when barnacles were absent, mortality was ∼21% over 48 days. Further comparisons revealed the structural complexity of barnacles provided mussels with protection from whelk predation, while the presence of living barnacles increased predator-prey encounters but led to predators targeting barnacles over mussels. Feeding trials revealed feeding rate increased by ∼24% in mussels with living epibionts over mussels with dead or without epibionts, indicating potential costs of hosting epibionts. Our results show that epibionts provide important associational resistance for mussels against whelk predation but a potential cost to the mussel of hosting epibionts requiring increased energy acquisition. These findings advance our understanding of associational resistance derived from epibionts and serve to highlight the potential trade-offs affecting basibiont functioning while showing the importance of positive ecological interactions in ecosystem structure and functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam Downes
- School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Louise B Firth
- School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Antony M Knights
- School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK.
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Symbiont-induced phenotypic variation in an ecosystem engineer mediates thermal stress for the associated community. J Therm Biol 2023; 112:103428. [PMID: 36796885 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2022.103428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Microbial symbionts have strong potential to mediate responses to climate change. Such modulation may be particularly important in the case of hosts that modify the physical habitat structure. By transforming the habitats, ecosystem engineers alter resource availability and modulate environmental conditions which, in turn, indirectly shape the community associated with that habitat. Endolithic cyanobacteria are known to reduce the body temperatures of infested mussels and here, we assessed whether the thermal benefits of endoliths on the intertidal reef-building mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis extends to the invertebrate community utilising mussel beds as habitat. Artificial reefs of biomimetic mussels either colonised or not colonised by microbial endoliths were used to test whether infauna species (the limpet Patella vulgata, the snail Littorina littorea and mussel recruits) in a mussel bed with symbionts experience lower body temperatures than those within a bed composed of mussels without symbionts. We found that infaunal individuals benefitted from being surrounded by mussels with symbionts, an effect that may be particularly critical during intense heat stress. Indirect effects of biotic interactions, complicate our understanding of community and ecosystem responses to climate change, especially in cases involving ecosystem engineers, and accounting for them will improve our predictions.
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Cozzolino L, Nicastro KR, Seuront L, McQuaid CD, Zardi GI. The relative effects of interspecific and intraspecific diversity on microplastic trapping in coastal biogenic habitats. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 848:157771. [PMID: 35926622 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157771] [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: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Our understanding of how anthropogenic stressors such as climate change and plastic pollution interact with biodiversity is being widened to include diversity below the species level, i.e., intraspecific variation. The emerging appreciation of the key ecological importance of intraspecific diversity and its potential loss in the Anthropocene, further highlights the need to assess the relative importance of intraspecific versus interspecific diversity. One such issue is whether a species responds as a homogenous whole to plastic pollution. Using manipulative field transplant experiments and laboratory-controlled hydrodynamic simulations, we assessed the relative effects of intraspecific and interspecific diversity on microplastic trapping in coastal biogenic habitats dominated by two key bioengineers, the brown intertidal macroalgae Fucus vesiculosus and F. guiryi. At the individual level, northern morphotypes of F. guiryi trapped more microplastics than southern individuals, and F. vesiculosus trapped more microplastics than F. guiryi. Canopy density varied among species, however, leading to reversed patterns of microplastic accumulation, with F. guiryi canopies accumulating more microplastics than those of F. vesiculosus, while no differences were observed between the canopies of F. guiryi morphotypes. We emphasize the importance of assessing the effects of intraspecific variation which, along with other crucial factors such as canopy density, flow velocity and polymer composition, modulates the extent of microplastic accumulation in coastal biogenic habitats. Our findings indicate that a realistic estimation of plastic accumulation in biogenic habitats requires an understanding of within- and between-species traits at both the individual and population levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Cozzolino
- CCMAR-Centro de Ciencias do Mar, CIMAR Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro 8005-139, Portugal.
| | - Katy R Nicastro
- CCMAR-Centro de Ciencias do Mar, CIMAR Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro 8005-139, Portugal; Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, UMR 8187 - LOG - Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, F-59000 Lille, France; Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa
| | - Laurent Seuront
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, UMR 8187 - LOG - Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, F-59000 Lille, France; Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa; Department of Marine Resources and Energy, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan
| | - Christopher D McQuaid
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa
| | - Gerardo I Zardi
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa; Normandie Université, UNICAEN, Laboratoire Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, UMR 8067 BOREA (CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, UCBN, IRD-207), CS 14032, 14000 Caen, France
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Nicastro KR, Seuront L, McQuaid CD, Zardi GI. Symbiont-induced intraspecific phenotypic variation enhances plastic trapping and ingestion in biogenic habitats. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 826:153922. [PMID: 35183637 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153922] [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: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Plastic contamination has major effects on biodiversity, enhancing the consequences of other forms of global anthropogenic disturbance such as climate change and habitat fragmentation. Despite this and the recognised importance of intraspecific diversity, we still know relatively little about how plastic pollution affects diversity below the species level. Here, we assessed the effects of intraspecific variation in a habitat forming species (the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis) on the trapping and ingestion of microplastics. We focused on symbiont-induced phenotypic variation in mussel beds. Using fractal analysis, we measured an increase in the complexity of mussel bed surfaces by ca. 15% caused by phototropic shell-degrading endoliths. By simulating high tide flow conditions and incoming waves, we found that symbionts significantly increased microplastic accumulation in mussel beds. This likely reflects deceleration of near-bed flow velocities, creation of turbulence in the bottom boundary layer and consequently increased particle retention. This effect was not constant at high tide, with no effect of infestation on retention at the base of the mussel bed under mid and high flow conditions and reduced microplastic trapping on the surface of mussel shells. Nevertheless, under natural conditions, the ingestion and trapping of microplastic were higher by the mussels comprising beds with symbionts than those in beds without symbionts. Given the dependency of many species on mussel biogenic habitats, there is an increased risk of plastics moving up the food chain in mussel beds infested by symbiotic endoliths. Our results highlight how the effects of within-species phenotypic diversity may influence the consequences of rising levels of plastic pollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katy R Nicastro
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, UMR 8187 - LOG - Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, F-59000 Lille, France; CCMAR-Centro de Ciencias do Mar, CIMAR Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro 8005-139, Portugal; Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa
| | - Laurent Seuront
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, UMR 8187 - LOG - Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, F-59000 Lille, France; Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa; Department of Marine Resources and Energy, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan
| | - Christopher D McQuaid
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa
| | - Gerardo I Zardi
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa.
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Monsinjon JR, McQuaid CD, Nicastro KR, Seuront L, Oróstica MH, Zardi GI. Weather and topography regulate the benefit of a conditionally helpful parasite. Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Katy R. Nicastro
- Department of Zoology and Entomology Rhodes University Grahamstown South Africa
- CCMAR, CIMAR Associated Laboratory University of Algarve Faro Portugal
- Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences Univ. LilleCNRSUniv. Littoral Côte d'OpaleUMR 8187 LOG Lille France
| | - Laurent Seuront
- Department of Zoology and Entomology Rhodes University Grahamstown South Africa
- CCMAR, CIMAR Associated Laboratory University of Algarve Faro Portugal
- Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences Univ. LilleCNRSUniv. Littoral Côte d'OpaleUMR 8187 LOG Lille France
- Department of Marine Resources and Energy Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology Tokyo Japan
| | | | - Gerardo I. Zardi
- Department of Zoology and Entomology Rhodes University Grahamstown South Africa
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