Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Epibenthic predators control mobile macrofauna associated with a foundation species in a subarctic subtidal community. / Yakovis, Eugeniy ; Artemieva, Anna .
In: Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 9, No. 18, 2019, p. 10499-10512.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Epibenthic predators control mobile macrofauna associated with a foundation species in a subarctic subtidal community
AU - Yakovis, Eugeniy
AU - Artemieva, Anna
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Foundation species (FS) are strong facilitators providing habitat for numerous dependent organisms. The communities shaped by FS are commonly structured by interplay of facilitation and consumer control. Predators or grazers often indirectly determine community structure eliminating either FS or their principal competitors. Alternatively, they can prey on the dependent taxa directly, which is generally buffered by FS via forming complex habitats with numerous refuges. The latter case has been never investigated at high latitudes, where consumer control is widely considered weak. We manipulated the presence of common epibenthic crustacean predators to assess their effect on mobile macrofauna of the clusters developed by a FS (barnacle Balanus crenatus and its empty tests) in the White Sea shallow subtidal (65° N). While predation pressure on the FS itself here is low, the direct effects of a spider crab Hyas araneus and a shrimp Spirontocaris phippsii on the associated assemblages were unexpectedly strong. Removing the predators did not change species diversity, but tripled total abundance and altered multivariate community structure specifically increasing the numbers of amphipods, isopods (only affected by shrimp), and bivalves. Consumer control in the communities shaped by FS may not strictly follow the latitudinal predation gradient rule.
AB - Foundation species (FS) are strong facilitators providing habitat for numerous dependent organisms. The communities shaped by FS are commonly structured by interplay of facilitation and consumer control. Predators or grazers often indirectly determine community structure eliminating either FS or their principal competitors. Alternatively, they can prey on the dependent taxa directly, which is generally buffered by FS via forming complex habitats with numerous refuges. The latter case has been never investigated at high latitudes, where consumer control is widely considered weak. We manipulated the presence of common epibenthic crustacean predators to assess their effect on mobile macrofauna of the clusters developed by a FS (barnacle Balanus crenatus and its empty tests) in the White Sea shallow subtidal (65° N). While predation pressure on the FS itself here is low, the direct effects of a spider crab Hyas araneus and a shrimp Spirontocaris phippsii on the associated assemblages were unexpectedly strong. Removing the predators did not change species diversity, but tripled total abundance and altered multivariate community structure specifically increasing the numbers of amphipods, isopods (only affected by shrimp), and bivalves. Consumer control in the communities shaped by FS may not strictly follow the latitudinal predation gradient rule.
KW - barnacles
KW - community structure
KW - crabs
KW - crustacea
KW - facilitation
KW - foundation species
KW - high-latitude systems
KW - mobile invertebrates
KW - predation
KW - shrimp
KW - BARNACLES
KW - RECRUITMENT
KW - CLYDE SEA AREA
KW - CORAL-REEF FISH
KW - SCAVENGING INVERTEBRATES
KW - BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
KW - TROPHIC CASCADES
KW - SEAGRASS
KW - ABUNDANCE
KW - ASCIDIANS
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85070761366&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ece3.5570
DO - 10.1002/ece3.5570
M3 - Article
C2 - 31624563
VL - 9
SP - 10499
EP - 10512
JO - Ecology and Evolution
JF - Ecology and Evolution
SN - 2045-7758
IS - 18
ER -
ID: 45306900