Interaction between the effects of Substratun, Velocity and location on Stream Benthos: and experiment

1990 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 557 ◽  
Author(s):  
LA Barmuta

Patches of large and small pebbles were created in three riffles (fast current velocities) and three pools (slow velocities). It was expected that patches with different sizes of pebbles in the two velocity regimes would vary in the entrapment of fine sediments and organic matter, which in turn would result in differences in benthic community structure. This was not the case, for although deposition of fine material was greater in pools, there were appreciable location-specific differences in the fauna unrelated to the variables monitored in the experiment. Functional feeding groups did not respond predictably to the distribution of detritus. Generally, the community was least influenced by substratum size, with any differences being inconsistent across locations. Most other substratum effects were attributable to the presence of epilithon on undisturbed control patches. Velocity was the most influential factor, with riffles having higher total abundances and higher species richness. Some taxa showed strong location- specific differences. At the level of a small patch of pebbles, the colonization dynamics of the fauna are probably a mixture of species- and location-specific dispersal and selection mechanisms. At larger spatial scales, however, community structure is more predictable, with pools differing substantially from riffles.

1989 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Hatcher

The perception of community structure is strongly related to the spatial resolution of data collection. To quantify variation in community structure at several spatial scales, the benthos was examined on the limestone substratum in a nearshore coastal lagoon. Community structure was described using a form of pattern analysis called correspondence analysis. Variance at three spatial scales was measured. These scales were described as: (I) between offshore and nearshore reefs (kilometres); (2) among areas on the nearshore reef-line (< 1 km); and (3) between community types on the nearshore reef-line (tens of metres and less). Organisms were classified according to higher taxa/functional classes. Parameters which varied between reef-lines included: (i) community composition determined using multivariate ordination, (ii) cover by calcareous and filamentous algae and (iii) abundance of seagrass and juvenile kelp (Ecklonia radiata). Among the areas on the nearshore reef-line, variance in community composition was due to the distribution of animals. There was a south to north gradient of increasing cover by encrusting animals and abundance of ascidians. Within the areas on the nearshore reef-line, there were two distinct community types characterized by macrophytic plants or sessile invertebrates. The major potential controls of the variation in benthic community structure were different at each of the spatial scales examined. The strong relationships between extrinsic factors and components of the communities suggested that the major potential controls were: (a) exposure to swell at the large scale (between reef-lines), (b) availability of food at the medium scale (within areas on the nearshore reef-line) and (c) biological interactions or responses to microtopography and light climate at the small scale (between and within communities on the nearshore reef-line).


2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 84 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Sanderson ◽  
S. D. Ling ◽  
J. G. Dominguez ◽  
C. R. Johnson

Climate-driven incursion of the long-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) in eastern Tasmania has prompted calls for strong management intervention given the urchins’ capacity to overgraze kelp beds and cause local collapse of valuable reef fisheries. We examined the effectiveness of commercial divers culling C. rodgersii while undertaking otherwise normal fishing for black-lip abalone (Haliotis rubra). Diver effort appears to be driven by fishing yield and not the opportunity to maximise numbers of urchins culled; the greatest culls occurred on shorter dives when abalone fishing was poor. Despite culling thousands of urchins, divers culled urchins only from within a small proportion of the total barrens patches on particular reefs. Thus, urchin density, size-frequency of barrens patches, and benthic community structure showed no detectable change relative to ‘no-cull’ control reefs. Nonetheless, divers were effective in culling urchins in the few patches they targeted, and these patches were quickly recolonised by canopy-forming kelps. Ongoing urchin culling by abalone divers will increase resilience of the kelp habitats on which the valuable abalone fishery depends, but only at highly localised spatial scales (10m). The effectiveness of this control strategy is dependent on sustainable local harvest of abalone warranting recurrent diver visitation to affected sites. However, abalone divers culling urchins while fishing are unlikely to control urchin densities at scales ≥102 m.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Bae ◽  
In-Young Ahn ◽  
Jinsoon Park ◽  
Sung Joon Song ◽  
Junsung Noh ◽  
...  

AbstractGlacier retreat is a major long-standing global issue; however, the ecological impacts of such retreats on marine organisms remain unanswered. Here, we examined changes to the polar benthic community structure of “diatoms” under current global warming in a recently retreated glacial area of Marian Cove, Antarctica. The environments and spatiotemporal assemblages of benthic diatoms surveyed in 2018–2019 significantly varied between the intertidal (tidal height of 2.5 m) and subtidal zone (10 and 30 m). A distinct floral distribution along the cove (~ 4.5 km) was characterized by the adaptive strategy of species present, with chain-forming species predominating near the glacier. The predominant chain-forming diatoms, such as Fragilaria striatula and Paralia sp., are widely distributed in the innermost cove over years, indicating sensitive responses of benthic species to the fast-evolving polar environment. The site-specific and substrate-dependent distributions of certain indicator species (e.g., F. striatula, Navicula glaciei, Cocconeis cf. pinnata) generally reflected such shifts in the benthic community. Our review revealed that the inner glacier region reflected trophic association, featured with higher diversity, abundance, and biomass of benthic diatoms and macrofauna. Overall, the polar benthic community shift observed along the cove generally represented changing environmental conditions, (in)directly linked to ice-melting due to the recent glacier retreat.


Limnologica ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 68-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd Wellnitz ◽  
Se Yeon Kim ◽  
Eric Merten

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. S. Barrio Froján ◽  
Kevin G. MacIsaac ◽  
Andrew K. McMillan ◽  
María del Mar Sacau Cuadrado ◽  
Philip A. Large ◽  
...  

Abstract Barrio Froján, C. R. S., MacIsaac, K. G., McMillan, A. K., del Mar Sacau Cuadrado, M., Large, P. A., Kenny, A. J., Kenchington, E., and de Cárdenas González,  E. 2012. An evaluation of benthic community structure in and around the Sackville Spur closed area (Northwest Atlantic) in relation to the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 213–222. The benthic macrofaunal community structure is investigated within and around a closed area at Sackville Spur in the Northwest Atlantic to ascertain whether continued exclusion of bottom fishing can be justified. This and other similar closed areas have been introduced by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) to protect areas of likely occurrence of taxa that are indicative of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) from the damaging effects of bottom-contact fishing gear. Results reveal subtle yet significant differences in macrofaunal assemblage composition and community structure between inside and outside the closed area, between above and below the 1200-m depth contour (i.e. the historical depth limit of fishing), and between areas where dense sponge spicule mats are either present or absent. Differences were observed in many assemblage metrics; however, the most revealing was the greater abundance, biomass, diversity, and number of VME indicative taxa inside the closed area than outside. Overall community composition is also significantly different between treatments. Depth, sediment temperature, and the proportion of clay within sediments are important in shaping the faunal assemblage. The importance of the effects of fishing is discussed, although it is not possible to ascertain if fishing is the direct cause behind observed differences in the macrofaunal assemblage. A continued closure of the area is recommended, as well as options for streamlining the evaluation process of other closed areas.


2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 485-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samiran Banerjee ◽  
Nabla Kennedy ◽  
Alan E. Richardson ◽  
Keith N. Egger ◽  
Steven D. Siciliano

Archaea are ubiquitous and highly abundant in Arctic soils. Because of their oligotrophic nature, archaea play an important role in biogeochemical processes in nutrient-limited Arctic soils. With the existing knowledge of high archaeal abundance and functional potential in Arctic soils, this study employed terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (t-RFLP) profiling and geostatistical analysis to explore spatial dependency and edaphic determinants of the overall archaeal (ARC) and ammonia-oxidizing archaeal (AOA) communities in a high Arctic polar oasis soil. ARC communities were spatially dependent at the 2–5 m scale (P < 0.05), whereas AOA communities were dependent at the ∼1 m scale (P < 0.0001). Soil moisture, pH, and total carbon content were key edaphic factors driving both the ARC and AOA community structure. However, AOA evenness had simultaneous correlations with dissolved organic nitrogen and mineral nitrogen, indicating a possible niche differentiation for AOA in which dry mineral and wet organic soil microsites support different AOA genotypes. Richness, evenness, and diversity indices of both ARC and AOA communities showed high spatial dependency along the landscape and resembled scaling of edaphic factors. The spatial link between archaeal community structure and soil resources found in this study has implications for predictive understanding of archaea-driven processes in polar oases.


1995 ◽  
Vol 29 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 449-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Smith ◽  
G. E. Millward ◽  
N. H. Babbedge ◽  
M. J. Attrill ◽  
M. B. Jones

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Catalán ◽  
Nelson Valdivia ◽  
Ricardo Scrosati

In rocky intertidal environments, the vertical gradient of abiotic stress generates, directly or indirectly, significant spatial variation in community structure. Along shorelines within biogeographic regions, abiotic changes also generate horizontal biological variation, which when measured at large sampling intervals may surpass vertical biological variation. Little is known, however, on how vertical variation compares with horizontal variation measured at multiple spatial scales in habitats with similar environmental conditions. Here, we compare spatial variability in rocky-intertidal communities between vertical stress gradients and three horizontal spatial scales (sampling interval) across habitats experiencing the same wave exposure on the Northwest Atlantic (NWA) and Southeast Pacific (SEP) coasts. For both regions, the vertical variation in species richness and composition (Raup-Crick and Bray-Curtis indices) was higher than the variation measured at all horizontal scales, from a few cm to hundreds of km. The patterns of variation in community structure matched those of abundance for the dominant sessile organisms, the foundation species Ascophyllum nodosum (seaweed) in NWA and Perumytilus purpuratus (mussel) in SEP. This interhemispheric comparison reveals the tight link between environmental and biological variation, indicating that studies comparing spatial scales of biological variation must consider the underlying environmental variation in addition to simply scale alone.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document