Canopy-forming seaweeds in urchin-dominated systems in eastern Canada: structuring forces or simple prey for keystone grazers?
Models of benthic community dynamics for the extensively studied, shallow rocky ecosystems in eastern Canada emphasize kelp-urchin interactions. These models may bias the perception of factors and processes that structure communities, for they largely overlook the possible contribution of other seaw...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3534aeb32cf64097a127be707eb57985 2023-05-15T17:22:52+02:00 Canopy-forming seaweeds in urchin-dominated systems in eastern Canada: structuring forces or simple prey for keystone grazers? Caitlin Blain Patrick Gagnon 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098204 https://doaj.org/article/3534aeb32cf64097a127be707eb57985 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4032334?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0098204 https://doaj.org/article/3534aeb32cf64097a127be707eb57985 PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 5, p e98204 (2014) Medicine R Science Q article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098204 2022-12-31T14:56:25Z Models of benthic community dynamics for the extensively studied, shallow rocky ecosystems in eastern Canada emphasize kelp-urchin interactions. These models may bias the perception of factors and processes that structure communities, for they largely overlook the possible contribution of other seaweeds to ecosystem resilience. We examined the persistence of the annual, acidic (H2SO4), brown seaweed Desmarestia viridis in urchin barrens at two sites in Newfoundland (Canada) throughout an entire growth season (February to October). We also compared changes in epifaunal assemblages in D. viridis and other conspicuous canopy-forming seaweeds, the non-acidic conspecific Desmarestia aculeata and kelp Agarum clathratum. We show that D. viridis can form large canopies within the 2-to-8 m depth range that represent a transient community state termed "Desmarestia bed". The annual resurgence of Desmarestia beds and continuous occurrence of D. aculeata and A. clathratum, create biological structure for major recruitment pulses in invertebrate and fish assemblages (e.g. from quasi-absent gastropods to >150,000 recruits kg(-1) D. viridis). Many of these pulses phase with temperature-driven mass release of acid to the environment and die-off in D. viridis. We demonstrate experimentally that the chemical makeup of D. viridis and A. clathratum helps retard urchin grazing compared to D. aculeata and the highly consumed kelp Alaria esculenta. In light of our findings and related studies, we propose fundamental changes to the study of community shifts in shallow, rocky ecosystems in eastern Canada. In particular, we advocate the need to regard certain canopy-forming seaweeds as structuring forces interfering with top-down processes, rather than simple prey for keystone grazers. We also propose a novel, empirical model of ecological interactions for D. viridis. Overall, our study underscores the importance of studying organisms together with cross-scale environmental variability to better understand the factors and processes ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada PLoS ONE 9 5 e98204 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Caitlin Blain Patrick Gagnon Canopy-forming seaweeds in urchin-dominated systems in eastern Canada: structuring forces or simple prey for keystone grazers? |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Models of benthic community dynamics for the extensively studied, shallow rocky ecosystems in eastern Canada emphasize kelp-urchin interactions. These models may bias the perception of factors and processes that structure communities, for they largely overlook the possible contribution of other seaweeds to ecosystem resilience. We examined the persistence of the annual, acidic (H2SO4), brown seaweed Desmarestia viridis in urchin barrens at two sites in Newfoundland (Canada) throughout an entire growth season (February to October). We also compared changes in epifaunal assemblages in D. viridis and other conspicuous canopy-forming seaweeds, the non-acidic conspecific Desmarestia aculeata and kelp Agarum clathratum. We show that D. viridis can form large canopies within the 2-to-8 m depth range that represent a transient community state termed "Desmarestia bed". The annual resurgence of Desmarestia beds and continuous occurrence of D. aculeata and A. clathratum, create biological structure for major recruitment pulses in invertebrate and fish assemblages (e.g. from quasi-absent gastropods to >150,000 recruits kg(-1) D. viridis). Many of these pulses phase with temperature-driven mass release of acid to the environment and die-off in D. viridis. We demonstrate experimentally that the chemical makeup of D. viridis and A. clathratum helps retard urchin grazing compared to D. aculeata and the highly consumed kelp Alaria esculenta. In light of our findings and related studies, we propose fundamental changes to the study of community shifts in shallow, rocky ecosystems in eastern Canada. In particular, we advocate the need to regard certain canopy-forming seaweeds as structuring forces interfering with top-down processes, rather than simple prey for keystone grazers. We also propose a novel, empirical model of ecological interactions for D. viridis. Overall, our study underscores the importance of studying organisms together with cross-scale environmental variability to better understand the factors and processes ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Caitlin Blain Patrick Gagnon |
author_facet |
Caitlin Blain Patrick Gagnon |
author_sort |
Caitlin Blain |
title |
Canopy-forming seaweeds in urchin-dominated systems in eastern Canada: structuring forces or simple prey for keystone grazers? |
title_short |
Canopy-forming seaweeds in urchin-dominated systems in eastern Canada: structuring forces or simple prey for keystone grazers? |
title_full |
Canopy-forming seaweeds in urchin-dominated systems in eastern Canada: structuring forces or simple prey for keystone grazers? |
title_fullStr |
Canopy-forming seaweeds in urchin-dominated systems in eastern Canada: structuring forces or simple prey for keystone grazers? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Canopy-forming seaweeds in urchin-dominated systems in eastern Canada: structuring forces or simple prey for keystone grazers? |
title_sort |
canopy-forming seaweeds in urchin-dominated systems in eastern canada: structuring forces or simple prey for keystone grazers? |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098204 https://doaj.org/article/3534aeb32cf64097a127be707eb57985 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 5, p e98204 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4032334?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0098204 https://doaj.org/article/3534aeb32cf64097a127be707eb57985 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098204 |
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PLoS ONE |
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9 |
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5 |
container_start_page |
e98204 |
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1766109771200462848 |