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Betancourtt C, Catalán AM, Morales-Torres DF, Lopez DN, Escares-Aguilera V, Salas-Yanquin LP, Büchner-Miranda JA, Chaparro OR, Nimptsch J, Broitman BR, Valdivia N. Transient species driving ecosystem multifunctionality: Insights from competitive interactions between rocky intertidal mussels. Mar Environ Res 2024; 196:106422. [PMID: 38437777 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
Anthropogenic biodiversity loss poses a significant threat to ecosystem functioning worldwide. Numerically dominant and locally rare (i.e., transient) species are key components of biodiversity, but their contribution to multiple ecosystem functions (i.e., multifunctionality) has been seldomly assessed in marine ecosystems. To fill this gap, here we analyze the effects of a dominant and a transient species on ecosystem multifunctionality. In an observational study conducted along ca. 200 km of the southeastern Pacific coast, the purple mussel Perumytilus purpuratus numerically dominated the mid-intertidal and the dwarf mussel Semimytilus patagonicus exhibited low abundances but higher recruitment rates. In laboratory experiments, the relative abundances of both species were manipulated to simulate the replacement of P. purpuratus by S. patagonicus and five proxies for ecosystem functions-rates of clearance, oxygen consumption, total biodeposit, organic biodeposit, and excretion-were analyzed. This replacement had a positive, linear, and significant effect on the combined ecosystem functions, particularly oxygen consumption and excretion rates. Accordingly, S. patagonicus could well drive ecosystem functioning given favorable environmental conditions for its recovery from rarity. Our study highlights therefore the key role of transient species for ecosystem performance. Improving our understanding of these dynamics is crucial for effective ecosystem conservation, especially in the current scenario of biological extinctions and invasions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Betancourtt
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile; Programa de Doctorado en Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.
| | - Alexis M Catalán
- Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia, CIEP, Coyhaique, Chile
| | - Diego F Morales-Torres
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Daniela N Lopez
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile; Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Valentina Escares-Aguilera
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Luis P Salas-Yanquin
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Facultad de Ciencias, Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación, Sisal, Mexico
| | - Joseline A Büchner-Miranda
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Oscar R Chaparro
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Jorge Nimptsch
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Bernardo R Broitman
- Instituto Milenio en Socio-Ecología Costera (SECOS), Chile; Núcleo Milenio UPWELL, Chile; Facultad de Artes Liberales, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Viña Del Mar, Chile
| | - Nelson Valdivia
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile; Centro FONDAP de Investigación de Dinámicas de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL), Chile
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Catalán AM, López DN, Fica-Rojas E, Broitman BR, Valdivia N, Scrosati RA. Foundation species canopies affect understory beta diversity differently depending on species mobility. Ecology 2023; 104:e3999. [PMID: 36799413 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023]
Abstract
Beta diversity measures the spatial variation in species composition. Because it influences several community attributes, studies are increasingly investigating its drivers. Spatial environmental heterogeneity is a major determinant of beta diversity, but canopy-forming foundation species can locally modify environmental properties. We used intertidal communities dominated by the canopy-forming alga Mazzaella laminarioides as a model system to examine how a foundation species affects spatial environmental heterogeneity and the resulting beta diversity. Since canopies were found to reduce the spatial variation of temperature and desiccation during low tides, we hypothesized that canopies would decrease understory beta diversity, which we tested through a field experiment that contrasted canopy removal with presence treatments over 32 months. The beta diversity of sessile species was always lower under canopies, but canopies never affected the beta diversity of mobile species. The observed responses for sessile species may result from their abundance being more dependent on spatial abiotic variation than for mobile species, which can occur in stressful areas while temporarily foraging or in transit to other areas. These responses may likely apply to other systems exhibiting canopy-forming foundation species hosting sessile and mobile species assemblages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis M Catalán
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Daniela N López
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.,Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Eliseo Fica-Rojas
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | | | - Nelson Valdivia
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.,Centro FONDAP de Investigación de Dinámicas de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL), Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Ricardo A Scrosati
- Department of Biology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Fica-Rojas E, Catalán AM, Broitman BR, Pérez-Matus A, Valdivia N. Independent Effects of Species Removal and Asynchrony on Invariability of an Intertidal Rocky Shore Community. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.866950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Ecological stability depends on interactions between different levels of biological organization. The insurance effects occur when increasing species diversity leads to more temporally invariable (i.e., more stable) community-level properties, due in part to asynchronous population-level fluctuations. While the study of insurance effects has received considerable attention, the role of dominant species that contribute with particular functional traits across different level of organizations is less understood. Using a field-based manipulative experiment, we investigated how species richness and different types of parameters at the population level, such as the invariability of dominants, population invariability, and population asynchrony, influence the community invariability. The experiment involved the repetitive removal of the canopy forming alga Mazzaella laminarioides (hereafter “Mazzaella”) during 32 months in two rocky intertidal sites of northern-central Chile. We predicted that the invariability of dominants enhances community invariability, that the effect of multispecies population-level parameters on community invariability are dependent on species richness, and that subdominant algae are unable to fully compensate the loss of canopies of the dominant species. Biomass of algae and mobile invertebrates was quantified over time. We observed independent effects of Mazzaella removal and community-wide asynchrony on community invariability. While canopy removal reduced community invariability, population asynchrony boosted community invariability regardless of the presence of canopies. In addition, filamentous and foliose algae were unable to compensate the loss of biomass triggered by the experimental removal of Mazzaella. Canopy removal led to a severe decrement in the biomass of macrograzers, while, at the same time, increased the biomass of mesograzers. Asynchrony stemmed from compensatory trophic responses of mesograzers to increased abundances of opportunistic algae. Thus, further work on consumer-resource interactions will improve our understanding of the links between population- and community-level aspects of stability.
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Riedemann-Saldivia B, Büchner-Miranda JA, Salas-Yanquin LP, Valdivia N, Catalán AM, Scrosati RA, Chaparro OR. Non-consumptive effects of a predatory snail (Acanthina monodon) on a dominant habitat-forming mussel species (Perumytilus purpuratus). Mar Environ Res 2022; 175:105573. [PMID: 35134640 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2022.105573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2021] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Predators can influence prey through direct consumption as well as through non-consumptive effects (NCEs). NCEs usually occur mediated by behavioral changes in the prey upon detection of predator cues. Such changes may involve reduction of feeding with a variety of physiological consequences. We evaluated NCEs from an intertidal predatory snail (Acanthina monodon) on a dominant habitat-forming mussel species (Perumytilus purpuratus) from the southeastern Pacific coast. We tested whether A. monodon exerts negative NCEs on clearance rate, oxygen consumption rate, biodeposit production, and between-valve gap size in P. purpuratus. We found that waterborne predator cues triggered a decrease in these variables except biodeposit production. However, the organic content of the biodeposits increased in the presence of predator cues. The snail's physical contact with the mussels strengthened the negative NCEs on between-valve gap size. Since P. purpuratus is a dominant filter-feeder and foundation species in rocky intertidal habitats, predator NCEs on this species might indirectly influence ecosystem-level processes and community structure.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Luis P Salas-Yanquin
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, 5090000, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Nelson Valdivia
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, 5090000, Valdivia, Chile; Centro FONDAP de Investigación de Dinámicas de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL), 5090000, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Alexis M Catalán
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, 5090000, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Ricardo A Scrosati
- Department of Biology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, B2G 2W5, Canada
| | - Oscar R Chaparro
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, 5090000, Valdivia, Chile.
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Valdivia N, López DN, Fica‐Rojas E, Catalán AM, Aguilera MA, Araya M, Betancourtt C, Burgos‐Andrade K, Carvajal‐Baldeon T, Escares V, Gartenstein S, Grossmann M, Gutiérrez B, Kotta J, Morales‐Torres DF, Riedemann‐Saldivia B, Rodríguez SM, Velasco‐Charpentier C, Villalobos VI, Broitman BR. Stability of rocky intertidal communities, in response to species removal, varies across spatial scales. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nelson Valdivia
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
- Centro FONDAP de Investigación de Dinámicas de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL) Santiago Chile
| | - Daniela N. López
- Inst. de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Univ. Austral de Chile Valdivia Chile
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Univ. Católica de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Eliseo Fica‐Rojas
- Inst. de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Univ. Austral de Chile Valdivia Chile
- Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias mención Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile Valdivia Chile
| | - Alexis M. Catalán
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
- Programa de Doctorado en Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile Valdivia Chile
| | - Moisés A. Aguilera
- Depto de Ciencias, Facultad de Artes Liberales, Univ. Adolfo Ibáñez, Diagonal Las Torres Santiago Chile
| | - Marjorie Araya
- Centro FONDAP de Investigación de Dinámicas de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL) Santiago Chile
| | - Claudia Betancourtt
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
- Programa de Doctorado en Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile Valdivia Chile
| | - Katherine Burgos‐Andrade
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
| | - Thais Carvajal‐Baldeon
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
| | - Valentina Escares
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
| | - Simon Gartenstein
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
- Programa de Doctorado en Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile Valdivia Chile
| | - Mariana Grossmann
- Inst. de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Univ. Austral de Chile Valdivia Chile
- Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias mención Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile Valdivia Chile
| | - Bárbara Gutiérrez
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
| | - Jonne Kotta
- Estonian Marine Inst., Univ. of Tartu Tallinn Estonia
| | - Diego F. Morales‐Torres
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
| | - Bárbara Riedemann‐Saldivia
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
| | - Sara M. Rodríguez
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
| | | | - Vicente I. Villalobos
- Inst. de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile
| | - Bernardo R. Broitman
- Depto de Ciencias, Facultad de Artes Liberales, Univ. Adolfo Ibáñez Viña del Mar Chile
- Instituto Milenio en Socio‐Ecologia Costera (SECOS) & Núcleo Milenio UPWELL
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Catalán AM, Büchner-Miranda J, Riedemann B, Chaparro OR, Valdivia N, Scrosati RA. Community-wide consequences of nonconsumptive predator effects on a foundation species. J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:1307-1316. [PMID: 33630333 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Predators can exert nonconsumptive effects (NCEs) on prey, which often take place through prey behavioural adjustments to minimise predation risk. As NCEs are widespread in nature, interest is growing to determine whether NCEs on a prey species can indirectly influence several other species simultaneously, thus leading to changes in community structure. In this study, we investigate whether a predator can exert NCEs on a foundation species and indirectly affect community structure. Through laboratory experiments, we first tested whether the predatory marine snail Acanthina monodon exerts negative NCEs on larviphagy (consumption of pelagic larvae) and phytoplankton filtration rates of the mussel Perumytilus purpuratus, an intertidal foundation species. These hypotheses stem from the notion that mussels may decrease feeding activities in the presence of predator cues to limit detection by predators. Afterwards, a field experiment tested whether the presence of A. monodon near mussel beds leads to higher colonisation rates of invertebrates that reproduce through pelagic larvae (expected under a lower larviphagy in P. purpuratus) and to a lower algal biomass on P. purpuratus shells (expected under a lower metabolite excretion in the mussels), thereby changing the community structure of the species typically found in P. purpuratus beds. The laboratory experiments revealed that waterborne cues from A. monodon limit the larviphagy and filtration rates of P. purpuratus. In turn, the field experiment showed that A. monodon cues led to greater abundances of barnacles and bivalves and a lower algal biomass in P. purpuratus beds, thus altering community structure. Overall, this study shows that a predator can indirectly affect community structure through NCEs on an invertebrate foundation species. As invertebrate foundation species are ubiquitous worldwide, understanding predator NCEs on these organisms could help to better understand community regulation in systems structured by such species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis M Catalán
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.,Programa de Doctorado en Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | | | - Bárbara Riedemann
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Oscar R Chaparro
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Nelson Valdivia
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.,Centro FONDAP de Investigación de Dinámica de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL), Valdivia, Chile
| | - Ricardo A Scrosati
- Department of Biology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Catalán AM, Valdivia N, Scrosati RA. Interhemispheric comparison of scale‐dependent spatial variation in the structure of intertidal rocky‐shore communities. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Alexis M. Catalán
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas Universidad Austral de Chile 5090000 Valdivia Chile
- Programa de Doctorado en Biología Marina Facultad de Ciencias Universidad Austral de Chile 5090000 Valdivia Chile
| | - Nelson Valdivia
- Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas Universidad Austral de Chile 5090000 Valdivia Chile
- Centro FONDAP de Investigación de Dinámicas de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL) 5090000 Valdivia Chile
| | - Ricardo A. Scrosati
- Department of Biology St. Francis Xavier University Antigonish Nova Scotia B2G 2W5 Canada
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