Connecting organic to mineral: How the physiological state of an ecosystem-engineer is linked to its habitat structure

• Published in: Ecological Indicators
• Main Authors: Curd, Amelia, Pernet, Fabrice, Corporeau, Charlotte, Delisle, Lizenn, Firth, Louise B., Nunes, Flavia L. D., Dubois, Stanislas F.
• Other Authors: Unité Dynamiques des Écosystèmes Côtiers (DYNECO), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Plymouth University
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: Health; Engineer species; reefs; metabolism; Biogenic reef; Ecological status; Biochemical indicators; ACL; bivalve; marine-invertebrates; fatty-acid-composition; crassostrea-gigas; reproductive-cycle; adaptation; honeycomb worm; Sabellaria alveolata; [SDV.BA.ZI]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Invertebrate Zoology; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Crassostrea gigas
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02868578; https://hal.science/hal-02868578/document; https://hal.science/hal-02868578/file/Curd_etal_EI_2019.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.10.044

WOS:000464891100006 International audience The honeycomb worm Sabellaria alveolata is capable of building extensive bioconstructions, including what are currently considered Europe's largest biogenic reefs. The size and volume of these bioconstructions, however, vary greatly, such that not all habitats engineered by S. alveolata may be easily identified as reefs. Given that European environmental legislation protects marine habitats that are classified as "reefs", it is important to identity a clear set of definition criteria. Furthermore, quantifiable and unequivocal criteria are also needed to evaluate the ecological (health) state of these reefs, in order to best monitor and protect them. Here we propose new terminology to describe the physical appearance of these bioconstructions and attempt to link these physical criteria to the physiological state of the tube-building polychaete. We tested whether a bioconstruction displaying outward signs of growth is built by "healthy" worms devoid of physiological stress by analysing three macromolecules (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids), four polar lipid fatty acids, six neutral lipid fatty acid markers and three metabolic enzymes (citrate synthase, catalase and superoxide dismutase). The worms were sampled in bioconstructions of different "Type" (veneer vs. hummock), "Phase" (progradation vs. retrogradation), and "Shore Level" (high shore vs. low shore) at Champeaux in Mont-Saint-Michel Bay, France. Our results show that worms sampled in retrograding reefs (i.e. displaying signs of erosion and colonisation by epibionts such as oysters or mussels), were less physiologically stressed than worms sampled in prograding bioconstructions, possibly due to lower intraspecific competition and hence greater food availability. We therefore suggest management measures should encompass the whole mosaic of biogenic construction Types and Phases. We propose the inclusion of the polar lipid fatty acid arachidonic acid, in combination with the activity of two metabolic enzymes, ...