Journal ArticleDOI
Biomass, diversity and production of rocky shore macroalgae at two nutrient enrichment and wave action levels
Patrik Kraufvelin,Patrik Kraufvelin,Ann Lindholm,Morten Foldager Pedersen,Lars Andreas Kirkerud,Erik Bonsdorff +5 more
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TLDR
This study shows that it is the biological components of the communities subjected to external forcing (nutrient addition or decreased wave action) that regulate production and this contradicts the common misperception that resource production in natural systems simply can be fast-forwarded by fertilization.Abstract:
The littoral zone of temperate rocky shores is normally dominated by perennial macroalgae (e.g. Fucus, Ascophyllum, Laminaria), but nutrient enrichment and/or permanently decreased wave action may lead to structural community changes from dominance of perennials to increased amounts of annual opportunistic species (mainly green algae). Macroalgal biomass, diversity and production as well as relationships between the two latter were studied using Solbergstrand’s rocky shore mesocosms in SE Norway in connection with a long-term experimental manipulation of nutrient addition and wave action (high and low levels of both factors applied in a crossed way to eight outdoor basins). After more than 2 years of experimental treatment, the total standing stock of macroalgae was larger in low nutrient than in high nutrient treatments as well as in high wave compared to low wave treatments (in autumn only). For macroalgal functional groups, bushy and filamentous brown and filamentous red algae were generally favoured by low nutrient concentrations, while annual filamentous and sheet-like green algae were stimulated by the nutrient enrichment. There was only one significant interaction between nutrient enrichment and wave action (for brown filamentous algae in autumn) and also only one significant main effect of the wave treatment (for bushy brown algae in autumn). Surprisingly, the high nutrient treatments supported a higher diversity of macroalgae, whereas the low nutrient treatments generally showed higher production rates. Moreover, significantly negative correlations were found between macroalgal diversity and primary productivity in both summer and autumn. This study shows that it is the biological components of the communities subjected to external forcing (nutrient addition or decreased wave action) that regulate production and this contradicts the common misperception that resource production in natural systems simply can be fast-forwarded by fertilization. The negative relationships between diversity and productivity, although a consequence of unexpected results for diversity and production, are also novel and hint towards species identities having more important functional consequences than general species dominance patterns and the amount of species per se. These results also emphasise the context dependency of findings within the field of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.read more
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Intertidal landscapes: disturbance and the dynamics of pattern [Mytilus californianus, mussels]
R.T. Paine,S.A. Levin +1 more
TL;DR: It is suggested that the reproductive season of certain long—lived, patch—dependent species is moulded by the disturbance regime, and the necessary and vital connection between disturbance which generates spatial pattern and species richness in communities open to invasion is discussed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Marine biodiversity and ecosystem function relationships: The potential for practical monitoring applications
James Asa Strong,Eider Andonegi,Kemal Can Bizsel,Roberto Danovaro,Michael Elliott,Anita Franco,Esther Garcés,Sally Little,Krysia Mazik,Snejana Moncheva,Nadia Papadopoulou,Joana Patrício,Ana M. Queirós,Caleb Smith,Kremena Stefanova,Oihana Solaun +15 more
TL;DR: The concept of BEF inclusion within practical monitoring applications, supported by ecological modelling, shows promise for providing surrogate indicators of functioning.
Journal ArticleDOI
Contrasting resource limitations of marine primary producers: implications for competitive interactions under enriched CO2 and nutrient regimes
TL;DR: These functional groups, whose interactions structure entire communities, experience distinct resource limitations, with some potentially limited by a single type of resource, while others may be co-limited (i.e. turf by CO2 and nutrients).
Journal ArticleDOI
Re-Structuring of Marine Communities Exposed to Environmental Change: A Global Study on the Interactive Effects of Species and Functional Richness
Martin Wahl,Heike Link,Nicolaos Alexandridis,Jeremy C. Thomason,Mauricio Cifuentes,Mark J. Costello,Bernardo A.P. da Gama,Kristina Hillock,Alistair J. Hobday,Manfred Kaufmann,Stefanie Keller,Patrik Kraufvelin,Ina Krüger,Lars Lauterbach,Bruno Lopes Antunes,Markus Molis,Masahiro Nakaoka,Julia Nyström,Zulkamal bin Radzi,Bjoern Stockhausen,Martin Thiel,Thomas Vance,A. Weseloh,Mark Whittle,Lisa Wiesmann,Laura Wunderer,Takehisa Yamakita,Mark Lenz +27 more
TL;DR: It is shown that availability of free substratum relates negatively while taxon richness relates positively to structural persistence (i.e., no or slow re-structuring) and, when faced with environmental change, taxon-rich communities retain their original composition longer thanTaxon-poor communities.
Journal ArticleDOI
The effect of nutrient concentrations, nutrient ratios and temperature on photosynthesis and nutrient uptake by Ulva prolifera: implications for the explosion in green tides
TL;DR: The green-tide macroalga, Ulva prolifera, was tested in the laboratory to determine its nutrient uptake and photosynthesis under different conditions and showed a saturated uptake for nitrate but an escalating uptake in the tested range for phosphorus.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems
TL;DR: Human alteration of Earth is substantial and growing as discussed by the authors, between one-third and one-half of the land surface has been transformed by human action; the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; more atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by humanity than by all natural terrestrial sources combined; more than half of all accessible surface fresh water is put to use by humanity; and about one-quarter of the bird species on Earth have been driven to extinction.
Journal ArticleDOI
Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs.
TL;DR: The commonly observed high diversity of trees in tropical rain forests and corals on tropical reefs is a nonequilibrium state which, if not disturbed further, will progress toward a low-diversity equilibrium community as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a consensus of current knowledge
D. U. Hooper,F. S. Chapin,John J. Ewel,Andy Hector,P. Inchausti,Sandra Lavorel,John H. Lawton,David M. Lodge,Michel Loreau,Shahid Naeem,Bernhard Schmid,Heikki Setälä,Amy J. Symstad,John Vandermeer,David A. Wardle,David A. Wardle +15 more
TL;DR: Understanding this complexity, while taking strong steps to minimize current losses of species, is necessary for responsible management of Earth's ecosystems and the diverse biota they contain.
Journal ArticleDOI
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Current Knowledge and Future Challenges
Michel Loreau,Shahid Naeem,Pablo Inchausti,Jan Bengtsson,J. P. Grime,Andy Hector,David U. Hooper,Michael A. Huston,Dave Raffaelli,Bernhard Schmid,David Tilman,David A. Wardle +11 more
TL;DR: Larger numbers of species are probably needed to reduce temporal variability in ecosystem processes in changing environments and to determine how biodiversity dynamics, ecosystem processes, and abiotic factors interact.
Journal ArticleDOI
Consequences of changing biodiversity
F. Stuart Chapin,Erika S. Zavaleta,Valerie T. Eviner,Rosamond L. Naylor,Peter M. Vitousek,Heather L. Reynolds,David U. Hooper,Sandra Lavorel,Osvaldo E. Sala,Sarah E. Hobbie,Michelle C. Mack,Sandra Díaz +11 more
TL;DR: The large ecological and societal consequences of changing biodiversity should be minimized to preserve options for future solutions to global environmental problems.