Patterns and drivers of asteroid abundances and assemblages on the continental margin of Atlantic Canada
Abstract Although continental shelf and slope environments typically exhibit high epifaunal biomass and have been subjected to increasing fishing pressure, ecological information on assemblages of non‐commercial invertebrate species from subtidal and bathyal areas remains limited. Sea stars (Echinod...
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crwiley:10.1111/maec.12180 2024-05-19T07:46:14+00:00 Patterns and drivers of asteroid abundances and assemblages on the continental margin of Atlantic Canada Gale, Katie S. P. Gilkinson, Kent Hamel, Jean‐François Mercier, Annie NSERC Discovery NSERC shiptime Canada Foundation NSERC postgraduate scholarship 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/maec.12180 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fmaec.12180 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/maec.12180 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Marine Ecology volume 36, issue 3, page 734-752 ISSN 0173-9565 1439-0485 Ecology Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2014 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12180 2024-04-22T07:33:26Z Abstract Although continental shelf and slope environments typically exhibit high epifaunal biomass and have been subjected to increasing fishing pressure, ecological information on assemblages of non‐commercial invertebrate species from subtidal and bathyal areas remains limited. Sea stars (Echinodermata: Asteroidea), which are known to influence communities through their feeding habits, have received less attention than structural taxa such as corals and sponges. To better understand the ecological roles of asteroids on continental shelves, we investigated ~30 species and assessed their distributions and co‐occurrence with other benthic invertebrates on the shelf and slope of Eastern Canada. Using fisheries data and in situ video footage, we compiled a large dataset covering ~600,000 km 2 that included over 350,000 individual asteroid records (37–2243 m depth). Multivariate analyses revealed geographically distinct asteroid assemblages, with a maximal overall density at 400–500 m and the highest diversity at 500–700 m. The most abundant and densely occurring species was Ctenodiscus crispatus . We found that asteroids associate with corals, sponges, bivalves, and other echinoderms, and that depth and substrate influence these assemblages. We identified species likely to affect coexisting organisms by their burrowing behavior that can disrupt epi‐ and infauna ( C. crispatus ) and through predation on ecologically important corals ( Hippasteria phrygiana ). In addition to providing baseline distribution and ecological information for many bathyal asteroid species in the Northwest Atlantic, this work highlights the abundance and diversified roles of asteroids within continental shelf and slope ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Atlantic Wiley Online Library Marine Ecology 36 3 734 752 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Gale, Katie S. P. Gilkinson, Kent Hamel, Jean‐François Mercier, Annie Patterns and drivers of asteroid abundances and assemblages on the continental margin of Atlantic Canada |
topic_facet |
Ecology Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Abstract Although continental shelf and slope environments typically exhibit high epifaunal biomass and have been subjected to increasing fishing pressure, ecological information on assemblages of non‐commercial invertebrate species from subtidal and bathyal areas remains limited. Sea stars (Echinodermata: Asteroidea), which are known to influence communities through their feeding habits, have received less attention than structural taxa such as corals and sponges. To better understand the ecological roles of asteroids on continental shelves, we investigated ~30 species and assessed their distributions and co‐occurrence with other benthic invertebrates on the shelf and slope of Eastern Canada. Using fisheries data and in situ video footage, we compiled a large dataset covering ~600,000 km 2 that included over 350,000 individual asteroid records (37–2243 m depth). Multivariate analyses revealed geographically distinct asteroid assemblages, with a maximal overall density at 400–500 m and the highest diversity at 500–700 m. The most abundant and densely occurring species was Ctenodiscus crispatus . We found that asteroids associate with corals, sponges, bivalves, and other echinoderms, and that depth and substrate influence these assemblages. We identified species likely to affect coexisting organisms by their burrowing behavior that can disrupt epi‐ and infauna ( C. crispatus ) and through predation on ecologically important corals ( Hippasteria phrygiana ). In addition to providing baseline distribution and ecological information for many bathyal asteroid species in the Northwest Atlantic, this work highlights the abundance and diversified roles of asteroids within continental shelf and slope ecosystems. |
author2 |
NSERC Discovery NSERC shiptime Canada Foundation NSERC postgraduate scholarship |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gale, Katie S. P. Gilkinson, Kent Hamel, Jean‐François Mercier, Annie |
author_facet |
Gale, Katie S. P. Gilkinson, Kent Hamel, Jean‐François Mercier, Annie |
author_sort |
Gale, Katie S. P. |
title |
Patterns and drivers of asteroid abundances and assemblages on the continental margin of Atlantic Canada |
title_short |
Patterns and drivers of asteroid abundances and assemblages on the continental margin of Atlantic Canada |
title_full |
Patterns and drivers of asteroid abundances and assemblages on the continental margin of Atlantic Canada |
title_fullStr |
Patterns and drivers of asteroid abundances and assemblages on the continental margin of Atlantic Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Patterns and drivers of asteroid abundances and assemblages on the continental margin of Atlantic Canada |
title_sort |
patterns and drivers of asteroid abundances and assemblages on the continental margin of atlantic canada |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/maec.12180 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fmaec.12180 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/maec.12180 |
genre |
Northwest Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northwest Atlantic |
op_source |
Marine Ecology volume 36, issue 3, page 734-752 ISSN 0173-9565 1439-0485 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12180 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology |
container_volume |
36 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
734 |
op_container_end_page |
752 |
_version_ |
1799486377576890368 |