In healing the ills of fragmented populations: meaningful level of connectivity that affects community composition within intertidal mussel beds
The effect of habitat connectivity on ecological communities within open marine ecosystems in subarctic regions has received little empirical support, partly due to a preconceived idea that connectivity cannot be assessed in such a system. This connectivity is largely under investigated due to exper...
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ftcanadathes:oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.66801 2023-05-15T18:28:40+02:00 In healing the ills of fragmented populations: meaningful level of connectivity that affects community composition within intertidal mussel beds Brazeau, Christian Frederic Guichard (Supervisor) Master of Science (Department of Biology) 2009 application/pdf http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=66801 en eng McGill University Electronically-submitted theses. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=66801 All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. Biology - Ecology Electronic Thesis or Dissertation 2009 ftcanadathes 2014-02-16T00:58:37Z The effect of habitat connectivity on ecological communities within open marine ecosystems in subarctic regions has received little empirical support, partly due to a preconceived idea that connectivity cannot be assessed in such a system. This connectivity is largely under investigated due to experimental difficulties principally driven by seasonal disturbances, local and regional hydrological processes, and regional enrichment in species. Here, the interactive effect of isolation and habitat type on associated communities was investigated. We manipulated the isolation between intertidal patches of Mytilid mussels in the St. Lawrence estuary (Quebec), as well as sampling time, while controlling local cover of natural mussel beds to observe how the associated communities responded. Results revealed that short term (seasonal) and local (<1m) heterogeneity in open mussel bed communities are influenced by the local properties of the habitat and by spatiotemporal patterns of connectivity among mussel beds. Given the dynamic nature of mussel beds in intertidal systems, our results also suggest that mussel beds and their associated fauna may be understood as metacommunities where habitat parameters and connectivity have dynamic rather than static properties. L'effet de la connectivité entre les communautés écologiques marines en régions subarctiques n'a jusqu'à maintenant reçu que très peu de support empirique. En fait, dans de tels systèmes, plusieurs difficultés expérimentales peuvent être engendrées par les nombreuses perturbations saisonnières, les processus hydrologiques locaux et régionaux ainsi que l'apport régional constant en espèces. Dans cette étude, nous avons manipulé des bancs de moules artificiels en milieu intertidal, sur la côte de l'estuaire du St-Laurent (Québec), ainsi que la distance entre les bancs, la période d'échantillonnage et le couvert local de bancs de moules naturels dans le but d'élucider l'effet que nous croyons possible de la connectivité sur les communautés associées. Les résultats nous ont révélés de façon convaincante que l'hétérogénéité saisonnière et locale (<1m) des communautés ouvertes associées aux bancs de moules sont contrôlées par les propriétés locales de l'habitat ainsi que par la connectivité spatiotemporelle entre les bancs de moules. De plus, nos résultats suggèrent que ces bancs et les communautés qui y sont associées peuvent ainsi former une métacommunauté dans laquelle l'habitat et la connectivité ont des propriétés plutôt dynamiques que statiques. Thesis Subarctic subarctique* Theses Canada/Thèses Canada (Library and Archives Canada) |
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Open Polar |
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Theses Canada/Thèses Canada (Library and Archives Canada) |
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ftcanadathes |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology - Ecology |
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Biology - Ecology Brazeau, Christian In healing the ills of fragmented populations: meaningful level of connectivity that affects community composition within intertidal mussel beds |
topic_facet |
Biology - Ecology |
description |
The effect of habitat connectivity on ecological communities within open marine ecosystems in subarctic regions has received little empirical support, partly due to a preconceived idea that connectivity cannot be assessed in such a system. This connectivity is largely under investigated due to experimental difficulties principally driven by seasonal disturbances, local and regional hydrological processes, and regional enrichment in species. Here, the interactive effect of isolation and habitat type on associated communities was investigated. We manipulated the isolation between intertidal patches of Mytilid mussels in the St. Lawrence estuary (Quebec), as well as sampling time, while controlling local cover of natural mussel beds to observe how the associated communities responded. Results revealed that short term (seasonal) and local (<1m) heterogeneity in open mussel bed communities are influenced by the local properties of the habitat and by spatiotemporal patterns of connectivity among mussel beds. Given the dynamic nature of mussel beds in intertidal systems, our results also suggest that mussel beds and their associated fauna may be understood as metacommunities where habitat parameters and connectivity have dynamic rather than static properties. L'effet de la connectivité entre les communautés écologiques marines en régions subarctiques n'a jusqu'à maintenant reçu que très peu de support empirique. En fait, dans de tels systèmes, plusieurs difficultés expérimentales peuvent être engendrées par les nombreuses perturbations saisonnières, les processus hydrologiques locaux et régionaux ainsi que l'apport régional constant en espèces. Dans cette étude, nous avons manipulé des bancs de moules artificiels en milieu intertidal, sur la côte de l'estuaire du St-Laurent (Québec), ainsi que la distance entre les bancs, la période d'échantillonnage et le couvert local de bancs de moules naturels dans le but d'élucider l'effet que nous croyons possible de la connectivité sur les communautés associées. Les résultats nous ont révélés de façon convaincante que l'hétérogénéité saisonnière et locale (<1m) des communautés ouvertes associées aux bancs de moules sont contrôlées par les propriétés locales de l'habitat ainsi que par la connectivité spatiotemporelle entre les bancs de moules. De plus, nos résultats suggèrent que ces bancs et les communautés qui y sont associées peuvent ainsi former une métacommunauté dans laquelle l'habitat et la connectivité ont des propriétés plutôt dynamiques que statiques. |
author2 |
Frederic Guichard (Supervisor) |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Brazeau, Christian |
author_facet |
Brazeau, Christian |
author_sort |
Brazeau, Christian |
title |
In healing the ills of fragmented populations: meaningful level of connectivity that affects community composition within intertidal mussel beds |
title_short |
In healing the ills of fragmented populations: meaningful level of connectivity that affects community composition within intertidal mussel beds |
title_full |
In healing the ills of fragmented populations: meaningful level of connectivity that affects community composition within intertidal mussel beds |
title_fullStr |
In healing the ills of fragmented populations: meaningful level of connectivity that affects community composition within intertidal mussel beds |
title_full_unstemmed |
In healing the ills of fragmented populations: meaningful level of connectivity that affects community composition within intertidal mussel beds |
title_sort |
in healing the ills of fragmented populations: meaningful level of connectivity that affects community composition within intertidal mussel beds |
publisher |
McGill University |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=66801 |
op_coverage |
Master of Science (Department of Biology) |
genre |
Subarctic subarctique* |
genre_facet |
Subarctic subarctique* |
op_relation |
Electronically-submitted theses. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=66801 |
op_rights |
All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
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1766211232885374976 |