TY - JOUR

T1 - Life in an unstable house: community dynamics in changing mussel beds

AU - Khaitov, Vadim

AU - Ленцман, Наталия Валерьевна

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - Mussels are ecosystem engineers, and fluctuations in their abundance and population structure could be important to the associated community. There is, however, little understanding of this connection. In the present study, based on quantitative monitoring (1997–2011) of three mussel beds in a fjord-like White Sea bay, two hypotheses were tested: (1) mussel assemblages are temporally unstable and local population fluctuates cyclically as a result of negative adult–juvenile interactions; and (2) oscillations inmussel sizestructure are correlated with changes in the associated community structure. A negative correlation found between the abundance of small (length\21 mm) and large (length[20 mm) mussels suggests that adult mussels indeed suppress recruitment. Such interaction implies an auto-oscillatory pattern of population dynamics, with Large- and Small-dominated stages temporally replacing each other. This cyclic pattern was clearly revealed for one mussel bed only, but long-term replacement of the Large-d

AB - Mussels are ecosystem engineers, and fluctuations in their abundance and population structure could be important to the associated community. There is, however, little understanding of this connection. In the present study, based on quantitative monitoring (1997–2011) of three mussel beds in a fjord-like White Sea bay, two hypotheses were tested: (1) mussel assemblages are temporally unstable and local population fluctuates cyclically as a result of negative adult–juvenile interactions; and (2) oscillations inmussel sizestructure are correlated with changes in the associated community structure. A negative correlation found between the abundance of small (length\21 mm) and large (length[20 mm) mussels suggests that adult mussels indeed suppress recruitment. Such interaction implies an auto-oscillatory pattern of population dynamics, with Large- and Small-dominated stages temporally replacing each other. This cyclic pattern was clearly revealed for one mussel bed only, but long-term replacement of the Large-d

KW - Mytilus edulis Mussel beds Long-term changes Population dynamics Community dynamics Monitoring White Sea

U2 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1283-x

DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1283-x

M3 - Article

VL - 706

SP - 139

EP - 158

JO - Hydrobiologia

JF - Hydrobiologia

SN - 0018-8158

IS - 1

ER -