1
|
Zhu Y, Yang X, Tu Y, Wang B, Wang D, Shi Z, Indree T. Rodent disturbance reduces ecosystem stability through regulating plant and soil functions in Hulun Buir steppe. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 927:172206. [PMID: 38580124 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2023] [Revised: 04/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/07/2024]
Abstract
Brandt's vole (Lasiopodomys brandtii), a typical rodent in the eastern Eurasian Steppe, has unclear impacts on ecosystem stability. In our field study in the Hulun Buir steppe, a multifunctional grazing ecosystem in this region, we used burrow entrance area and burrow density as alternative disturbance indices to derive a Disturbance Index (DI) for quantifying disturbance levels from rodents, and employed generalized linear mixed-effects model and the N-dimensional hypervolume framework to assess the influence of Brandt's vole disturbance on plant and soil functions, and then on the ecosystem functional stability. Our findings unequivocally illustrate that various plant functions including vegetation cover (Cover), aboveground biomass (ABG) and shoot carbon (ShootC) significantly declined with increasing disturbance, while shoot nitrogen (ShootN) and root nitrogen (RootN) show significantly positive responses. Soil functions such as soil nitrogen (SoilN), soil phosphorus (SoilP) and soil organic carbon (SoilC) showed significantly negative responses. Notably, the burrow entrance area exerts a more pronounced impact on both plant and soil functions in comparison to burrow density. Additionally, both disturbance indicators have a more significant influence on plant functions than on soil functions. Overall, the ecosystem functional stability progressively decreases with intensified disturbance, with varying response patterns for plant and soil functions, the former exhibited heightened stability as disturbance intensified, while the latter proved more stable at moderate disturbance levels. Our findings suggest that plant functions were more susceptible to disturbance by Brandt's vole compared to soils. Additionally, an ecosystem destabilization was synchronized with increasing Brandt's vole disturbance, although alterations in the functional stability of plants and soil show a different pattern.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yuanjun Zhu
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Xiaohui Yang
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Ya Tu
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
| | - Baizhu Wang
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Danyu Wang
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Zhongjie Shi
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Tuvshintogtokh Indree
- Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 13330, Mongolia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Teichert N, Tabouret H, Lizé A, Daverat F, Acou A, Trancart T, Virag LS, Pécheyran C, Feunteun E, Carpentier A. Quantifying larval dispersal portfolio in seabass nurseries using otolith chemical signatures. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 196:106426. [PMID: 38442591 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
The temporal asynchronies in larvae production from different spawning areas are fundamental components for ensuring stability and resilience of marine metapopulations. Such a concept, named portfolio effect, supposes that diversifying larval dispersal histories should minimize the risk of recruitment failure by increasing the probability that at least some larvae successfully settle in nursery. Here, we used a reconstructive approach based on otolith chemistry to quantify the larval dispersal portfolio of the European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, across six estuarine nursery areas of the northeast Atlantic Ocean. The analysis of natal and trajectory signatures indicated that larvae hatch in distinct environments and then dispersed in water masses featured by contrasting chemical signatures. While some trace elements appeared affected by temporal changes (Mn and Sr), others varied spatially during the larval stage but remained poorly affected by temporal fluctuation and fish physiology (Ba, Cu, Rb and Zn). We then proposed two diversity metrics based on richness and variations of chemical signatures among populations to reflect spatio-temporal diversity in natal origins and larval trajectories (i.e., estimates of dispersal portfolio). Along the French coast, the diversity estimates were maximum in nurseries located at proximity of offshore spawning sites and featured by complex offshore hydrodynamic contexts, such as the Mont St-Michel bay. Finally, our findings indicate that the dispersal portfolio was positively related with the local abundance of seabass juveniles, supporting the assumption that heterogeneity in dispersal history contributes to promote recruitment success in nurseries.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nils Teichert
- UMR 8067 BOREA (MNHN, CNRS, IRD, SU, UCN, UA), Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Paris, France; MNHN, Station Marine de Dinard, CRESCO, 35800, Dinard, France.
| | - Hélène Tabouret
- Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, E2S UPPA, CNRS, IPREM, Pau, France
| | - Anne Lizé
- UMR 8067 BOREA (MNHN, CNRS, IRD, SU, UCN, UA), Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Paris, France; MNHN, Station Marine de Dinard, CRESCO, 35800, Dinard, France; School of Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, L697ZB, Liverpool, UK
| | | | - Anthony Acou
- Centre d'expertise et de données PatriNat (OFB-MNHN-CNRS-IRD), Station marine de Dinard, CRESCO, 35800, Dinard, France; Pôle R&D OFB, INRAE, Institut Agro -UPPA MIAME (MIgrateurs AMphihalins dans leur Environnement), 35000, Rennes, France
| | - Thomas Trancart
- UMR 8067 BOREA (MNHN, CNRS, IRD, SU, UCN, UA), Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Paris, France; MNHN, Station Marine de Dinard, CRESCO, 35800, Dinard, France
| | | | | | - Eric Feunteun
- UMR 8067 BOREA (MNHN, CNRS, IRD, SU, UCN, UA), Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Paris, France; MNHN, Station Marine de Dinard, CRESCO, 35800, Dinard, France; CGEL, EPHE-PSL, 35800, Dinard, France
| | - Alexandre Carpentier
- Université de Rennes, UMR 8067 BOREA (MNHN, CNRS, IRD, SU, UCN, UA) Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Rennes, France
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Benedetti-Cecchi L, Bates AE, Strona G, Bulleri F, Horta E Costa B, Edgar GJ, Hereu B, Reed DC, Stuart-Smith RD, Barrett NS, Kushner DJ, Emslie MJ, García-Charton JA, Gonçalves EJ, Aspillaga E. Marine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warming. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1822. [PMID: 38418445 PMCID: PMC10902350 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44976-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Protection from direct human impacts can safeguard marine life, yet ocean warming crosses marine protected area boundaries. Here, we test whether protection offers resilience to marine heatwaves from local to network scales. We examine 71,269 timeseries of population abundances for 2269 reef fish species surveyed in 357 protected versus 747 open sites worldwide. We quantify the stability of reef fish abundance from populations to metacommunities, considering responses of species and functional diversity including thermal affinity of different trophic groups. Overall, protection mitigates adverse effects of marine heatwaves on fish abundance, community stability, asynchronous fluctuations and functional richness. We find that local stability is positively related to distance from centers of high human density only in protected areas. We provide evidence that networks of protected areas have persistent reef fish communities in warming oceans by maintaining large populations and promoting stability at different levels of biological organization.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Amanda E Bates
- Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
| | | | - Fabio Bulleri
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, URL CoNISMa, Via Derna 1, Pisa, Italy
| | - Barbara Horta E Costa
- CCMAR, Centre of Marine Sciences, University of Algarve, Building 7, Faro, 8005-139, Portugal
| | - Graham J Edgar
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- Reef Life Survey Foundation, Battery Point, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Bernat Hereu
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBIO), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Dan C Reed
- Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, 93106, CA, USA
| | - Rick D Stuart-Smith
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- Reef Life Survey Foundation, Battery Point, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Neville S Barrett
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | | | - Michael J Emslie
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Emanuel J Gonçalves
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA - Instituto Universitário, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Eneko Aspillaga
- Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), 07190, Esporles, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Siqueira T, Hawkins CP, Olden JD, Tonkin J, Comte L, Saito VS, Anderson TL, Barbosa GP, Bonada N, Bonecker CC, Cañedo-Argüelles M, Datry T, Flinn MB, Fortuño P, Gerrish GA, Haase P, Hill MJ, Hood JM, Huttunen KL, Jeffries MJ, Muotka T, O'Donnell DR, Paavola R, Paril P, Paterson MJ, Patrick CJ, Perbiche-Neves G, Rodrigues LC, Schneider SC, Straka M, Ruhi A. Understanding temporal variability across trophic levels and spatial scales in freshwater ecosystems. Ecology 2024; 105:e4219. [PMID: 38037301 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 09/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
A tenet of ecology is that temporal variability in ecological structure and processes tends to decrease with increasing spatial scales (from locales to regions) and levels of biological organization (from populations to communities). However, patterns in temporal variability across trophic levels and the mechanisms that produce them remain poorly understood. Here we analyzed the abundance time series of spatially structured communities (i.e., metacommunities) spanning basal resources to top predators from 355 freshwater sites across three continents. Specifically, we used a hierarchical partitioning method to disentangle the propagation of temporal variability in abundance across spatial scales and trophic levels. We then used structural equation modeling to determine if the strength and direction of relationships between temporal variability, synchrony, biodiversity, and environmental and spatial settings depended on trophic level and spatial scale. We found that temporal variability in abundance decreased from producers to tertiary consumers but did so mainly at the local scale. Species population synchrony within sites increased with trophic level, whereas synchrony among communities decreased. At the local scale, temporal variability in precipitation and species diversity were associated with population variability (linear partial coefficient, β = 0.23) and population synchrony (β = -0.39) similarly across trophic levels, respectively. At the regional scale, community synchrony was not related to climatic or spatial predictors, but the strength of relationships between metacommunity variability and community synchrony decreased systematically from top predators (β = 0.73) to secondary consumers (β = 0.54), to primary consumers (β = 0.30) to producers (β = 0). Our results suggest that mobile predators may often stabilize metacommunities by buffering variability that originates at the base of food webs. This finding illustrates that the trophic structure of metacommunities, which integrates variation in organismal body size and its correlates, should be considered when investigating ecological stability in natural systems. More broadly, our work advances the notion that temporal stability is an emergent property of ecosystems that may be threatened in complex ways by biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tadeu Siqueira
- Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Charles P Hawkins
- Department of Watershed Sciences, National Aquatic Monitoring Center, and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
| | - Julian D Olden
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Jonathan Tonkin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- Te Pūnaha Matatini, Centre of Research Excellence in Complex Systems, Bioprotection Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Lise Comte
- School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, USA
| | - Victor S Saito
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
| | - Thomas L Anderson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois, USA
| | - Gedimar P Barbosa
- Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - Núria Bonada
- FEHM-Lab (Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles
- FEHM-Lab, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Thibault Datry
- INRAE, UR RiverLy, Centre Lyon-Grenoble Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Villeurbanne Cedex, France
| | - Michael B Flinn
- Hancock Biological Station, Biological Sciences, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, USA
| | - Pau Fortuño
- FEHM-Lab (Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gretchen A Gerrish
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Center for Limnology-Trout Lake Station, Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Peter Haase
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Matthew J Hill
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | - James M Hood
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Translational Data Analytics Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | | | | | - Timo Muotka
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Daniel R O'Donnell
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Riku Paavola
- Oulanka Research Station, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Petr Paril
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Michael J Paterson
- International Institute for Sustainable Development Experimental Lakes Area, Kenora, Ontario, Canada
| | | | | | | | | | - Michal Straka
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- T.G. Masaryk Water Research Institute p.r.i., Brno Branch Office, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Albert Ruhi
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Pregler KC, Lu X, Valentine GP, Kim S, Kanno Y. Temperature variation generates interspecific synchrony but spatial asynchrony in survival for freshwater fish communities. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10700. [PMID: 37964790 PMCID: PMC10641305 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Identifying environmental drivers of demographic variation is key to predicting community-level impacts in response to global change. Climate conditions can synchronize population trends and can occur both spatially for populations of the same species, and across multiple species within the same local community. The aim of this study was to investigate patterns of temporal variation in survival for freshwater fish communities in two geographically close but isolated sites and to understand the amount of variation accounted for by abiotic covariates including metrics of water temperature and stream flow. Using mark-recapture data, we estimated bi-monthly apparent survival in a Bayesian Cormack-Jolly-Seber framework. The model included random effects to quantify temporal variance to understand species synchrony with the rest of the fish community and between sites. Study species included bluehead chub (Nocomis leptocephalus), creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus), and striped jumprock (Moxostoma rupiscartes) in the southeastern USA. Results showed that survival varied over time and periods of low survival were associated with higher mean water temperature. However, temporal patterns of survival differed among species and between sites, where survival was synchronous among species within a site but asynchronous between sites for the same species despite their spatial proximity. Study streams differed in summer thermal regimes, which resulted in contrasting summer survival patterns, suggesting sensitivity of these fishes to warming. We found that interspecific synchrony was greater than spatial synchrony, where regional drivers such as temperature may interact with local habitat leading to differences in survival patterns at fine spatial scales. Finally, these findings show that changes in the timing and magnitude of environmental conditions can be critical in limiting vital rates and that some populations may be more resilient to climate variation than others.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kasey C. Pregler
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation BiologyColorado State UniversityFort CollinsColoradoUSA
- Department of Forestry and Environmental ConservationClemson UniversityClemsonSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Xinyi Lu
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation BiologyColorado State UniversityFort CollinsColoradoUSA
| | - George P. Valentine
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation BiologyColorado State UniversityFort CollinsColoradoUSA
- Graduate Degree Program in EcologyColorado State UniversityFort CollinsColoradoUSA
| | - Seoghyun Kim
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation BiologyColorado State UniversityFort CollinsColoradoUSA
- Department of Forestry and Environmental ConservationClemson UniversityClemsonSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Yoichiro Kanno
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation BiologyColorado State UniversityFort CollinsColoradoUSA
- Department of Forestry and Environmental ConservationClemson UniversityClemsonSouth CarolinaUSA
- Graduate Degree Program in EcologyColorado State UniversityFort CollinsColoradoUSA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
van der Plas F, Hennecke J, Chase JM, van Ruijven J, Barry KE. Universal beta-diversity-functioning relationships are neither observed nor expected. Trends Ecol Evol 2023; 38:532-544. [PMID: 36806396 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023]
Abstract
Widespread evidence shows that local species richness (α-diversity) loss hampers the biomass production and stability of ecosystems. β-Diversity, namely the variation of species compositions among different ecological communities, represents another important biodiversity component, but studies on how it drives ecosystem functioning show mixed results. We argue that to better understand the importance of β-diversity we need to consider it across contexts. We focus on three scenarios that cause gradients in β-diversity: changes in (i) abiotic heterogeneity, (ii) habitat isolation, and (iii) species pool richness. We show that across these scenarios we should not expect universally positive relationships between β-diversity, production, and ecosystem stability. Nevertheless, predictable relationships between β-diversity and ecosystem functioning do exist in specific contexts, and can reconcile seemingly contrasting empirical relationships.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fons van der Plas
- Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700, AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Justus Hennecke
- Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jonathan M Chase
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Computer Science, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Jasper van Ruijven
- Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700, AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Kathryn E Barry
- Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Dept of Biology, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Srednick G, Davis K, Edmunds PJ. Asynchrony in coral community structure contributes to reef-scale community stability. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2314. [PMID: 36759628 PMCID: PMC9911750 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-28482-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Many aspects of global ecosystem degradation are well known, but the ecological implications of variation in these effects over scales of kilometers and years have not been widely considered. On tropical coral reefs, kilometer-scale variation in environmental conditions promotes a spatial mosaic of coral communities in which spatial insurance effects could enhance community stability. To evaluate whether these effects are important on coral reefs, we explored variation over 2006-2019 in coral community structure and environmental conditions in Moorea, French Polynesia. We studied coral community structure at a single site with fringing, back reef, and fore reef habitats, and used this system to explore associations among community asynchrony, asynchrony of environmental conditions, and community stability. Coral community structure varied asynchronously among habitats, and variation among habitats in the daily range in seawater temperature suggested it could be a factor contributing to the variation in coral community structure. Wave forced seawater flow connected the habitats and facilitated larval exchange among them, but this effect differed in strength among years, and accentuated periodic connectivity among habitats at 1-7 year intervals. At this site, connected habitats harboring taxonomically similar coral assemblages and exhibiting asynchronous population dynamics can provide insurance against extirpation, and may promote community stability. If these effects apply at larger spatial scale, then among-habitat community asynchrony is likely to play an important role in determining reef-wide coral community resilience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- G Srednick
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
| | - K Davis
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, USA
| | - P J Edmunds
- Department of Biology, California State University, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA, 91330-8303, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
O'Connor RF, McMeans BC, Rooney N, Guzzo MM, Young JD, McCann KS. Species portfolio effects dominate seasonal zooplankton stabilization within a large temperate lake. Ecology 2023; 104:e3889. [PMID: 36208063 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Portfolio effects (PEs) in ecology refer to the suite of phenomenon where the temporal variation of aggregate ecosystem properties (i.e., abundance) is lower than that of their ecosystem components. An example of this is where differential responses of species to environmental variation generate stability at higher levels of ecological organization (e.g., local community, metapopulation, metacommunity). Most of the research examining such PEs has focused on spatial or interannual variation of ecosystems; however, as global change continues to alter seasonality and ecosystem functioning, understanding the underlying food web structures that help maintain stability at multiple spatial and temporal scales is critical to managing ecological systems. Recent advances investigating diversity-stability relationships has led to the development of frameworks that incorporate a metacommunity perspective which allows for the partitioning of PEs across organizational scales (i.e., local community, metapopulation, cross-community, metacommunity) from local population dynamics (total). This partitioning yields insights into the mechanisms that generate observed PEs in nature. Here, we employed one of these recently developed frameworks on a temporally (1986-1999, 2008-2019) and spatially (five sampling stations, local communities) extensive data set of zooplankton abundance (e.g., density) within a large temperate lake to investigate how temporal (seasonal) and spatial (among site) PEs influence stability within the zooplankton metacommunity. We found that seasonal asynchrony of different zooplankton species within local communities and across communities generated the vast majority of stabilization, while spatial (i.e., metapopulation) dynamics were more synchronous and contributed little to overall system stability. Furthermore, significantly positive diversity-asynchrony relationships at the total, local- and cross-community scales were found as asynchrony was positively correlated with local Shannon diversity. Last, a comparison of PEs over the time periods, during which significant local and global changes (i.e., climate warming, invasive species) have occurred suggests that PEs may be eroding, as increasingly synchronous dynamics and declining diversity in recent years have led to a rise in metacommunity variability. We end by arguing for the critical importance of understanding seasonally driven stabilizing mechanisms as local and global changes threaten to fundamentally alter seasonal signals with potentially strong implications for the structures that lend stability to ecosystems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Reilly F O'Connor
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.,School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Bailey C McMeans
- Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
| | - Neil Rooney
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Matthew M Guzzo
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
| | - Joelle D Young
- Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kevin S McCann
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Srednick G, Cohen A, Diehl O, Tyler K, Swearer SE. Habitat attributes mediate herbivory and influence community development in algal metacommunities. Ecology 2023; 104:e3976. [PMID: 36691779 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the drivers and impacts of spatiotemporal variation in species abundance on community trajectories is key to understanding the factors contributing to ecosystem resilience. Temporal variation in species trajectories across patches can provide compensation for species loss and can influence successional patterns. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms that lead to patterns of species or spatial compensation and how those patterns may be mediated by consumer-resource relationships. Here we describe an experiment testing whether habitat attributes (e.g., structural complexity and spatial heterogeneity) mediate the effects of herbivory on tropical marine macroalgal communities by reducing accessibility and detectability, respectively, leading to variable trajectories among algal species at community (within patch) and metacommunity (i.e., among patch) scales. Reduced accessibility (greater habitat complexity) decreased the effects of herbivory (i.e., depressed consumption rate, increased algal species richness), and both accessibility and detectability (spatial heterogeneity) influenced algal community structure. Moreover, decreased accessibility at the community scale and a mosaic of accessibility at the metacommunity scale led to variation in community assembly. We suggest that habitat attributes can be important influencers of consumer-resource interactions on coral reefs, which in turn can increase species diversity, promote species succession, and enhance stability in algal metacommunities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Griffin Srednick
- National Centre for Coasts and Climate, School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Alyssa Cohen
- Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California, USA
| | - Olivia Diehl
- Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California, USA
| | - Kaela Tyler
- Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California, USA
| | - Stephen E Swearer
- National Centre for Coasts and Climate, School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Giacomini HC. Metabolic responses of predators to prey density. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.980812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The metabolic cost of foraging is the dark energy of ecological systems. It is much harder to observe and to measure than its beneficial counterpart, prey consumption, yet it is not inconsequential for the dynamics of prey and predator populations. Here I define the metabolic response as the change in energy expenditure of predators in response to changes in prey density. It is analogous and intrinsically linked to the functional response, which is the change in consumption rate with prey density, as they are both shaped by adjustments in foraging activity. These adjustments are adaptive, ubiquitous in nature, and are implicitly assumed by models of predator–prey dynamics that impose consumption saturation in functional responses. By ignoring the associated metabolic responses, these models violate the principle of energy conservation and likely underestimate the strength of predator–prey interactions. Using analytical and numerical approaches, I show that missing this component of interaction has broad consequences for dynamical stability and for the robustness of ecosystems to persistent environmental or anthropogenic stressors. Negative metabolic responses – those resulting from decreases in foraging activity when more prey is available, and arguably the most common – lead to lower local stability of food webs and a faster pace of change in population sizes, including higher excitability, higher frequency of oscillations, and quicker return times to equilibrium when stable. They can also buffer the effects of press perturbations, such as harvesting, on target populations and on their prey through top-down trophic cascades, but are expected to magnify bottom-up cascades, including the effects of nutrient enrichment or the effects of altering lower trophic levels that can be caused by environmental forcing and climate change. These results have implications for any resource management approach that relies on models of food web dynamics, which is the case of many applications of ecosystem-based fisheries management. Finally, besides having their own individual effects, metabolic responses have the potential to greatly alter, or even invert, functional response-stability relationships, and therefore can be critical to an integral understanding of predation and its influence on population dynamics and persistence.
Collapse
|
11
|
Werba JA, Kolasa J. The challenge of life history traits: a small cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia rigaudi. COMMUNITY ECOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42974-022-00115-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
12
|
Colombano DD, Carlson SM, Hobbs JA, Ruhi A. Four decades of climatic fluctuations and fish recruitment stability across a marine-freshwater gradient. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:5104-5120. [PMID: 35583053 PMCID: PMC9545339 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2021] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Investigating the effects of climatic variability on biological diversity, productivity, and stability is key to understanding possible futures for ecosystems under accelerating climate change. A critical question for estuarine ecosystems is, how does climatic variability influence juvenile recruitment of different fish species and life histories that use estuaries as nurseries? Here we examined spatiotemporal abundance trends and environmental responses of 18 fish species that frequently spend the juvenile stage rearing in the San Francisco Estuary, CA, USA. First, we constructed multivariate autoregressive state-space models using age-0 fish abundance, freshwater flow (flow), and sea surface temperature data (SST) collected over four decades. Next, we calculated coefficients of variation (CV) to assess portfolio effects (1) within and among species, life histories (anadromous, marine opportunist, or estuarine dependent), and the whole community; and (2) within and among regions of the estuary. We found that species abundances varied over space and time (increasing, decreasing, or dynamically stable); and in 83% of cases, in response to environmental conditions (wet/dry, cool/warm periods). Anadromous species responded strongly to flow in the upper estuary, marine opportunist species responded to flow and/or SST in the lower estuary, and estuarine dependent species had diverse responses across the estuary. Overall, the whole community when considered across the entire estuary had the lowest CV, and life histories and species provided strong biological insurance to the portfolio (2.4- to 3.5-fold increases in stability, respectively). Spatial insurance also increased stability, although to a lesser extent (up to 1.6-fold increases). Our study advances the notion that fish recruitment stability in estuaries is controlled by biocomplexity-life history diversity and spatiotemporal variation in the environment. However, intensified drought and marine heatwaves may increase the risk of multiple consecutive recruitment failures by synchronizing species dynamics and trajectories via Moran effects, potentially diminishing estuarine nursery function.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Denise D. Colombano
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and ManagementUniversity of California BerkeleyBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Stephanie M. Carlson
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and ManagementUniversity of California BerkeleyBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - James A. Hobbs
- Region 3 Bay‐Delta Stockton IEP OfficeCalifornia Department of Fish and WildlifeStocktonCaliforniaUSA
| | - Albert Ruhi
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and ManagementUniversity of California BerkeleyBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Faunal communities mediate the effects of plant richness, drought, and invasion on ecosystem multifunctional stability. Commun Biol 2022; 5:527. [PMID: 35650244 PMCID: PMC9159989 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03471-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the stability of ecosystem multifunctionality is imperative for maintaining ecosystem health and sustainability under augmented global change. However it remains unknown whether and how biological communities mediate multifunctional stability in response to biodiversity loss and disturbances. Here, we conducted a 3-year experiment by exposing 270 plant communities of four plant richness levels, i.e., 1, 2, 4, or 8 species, to drought and exotic plant invasion disturbances. Then, the direct effects of plant richness, drought and invasion, and their indirect effects mediated by the stability of plant, litter-faunal, and soil-faunal communities on multifunctional stability were disentangled. We found that plant richness increased, while drought and invasion decreased ecosystem multifunctional stability, which were mediated by plant or faunal community stability. By incorporating the stability of communities into the complex ecological mechanisms, the completeness and goodness of ecological models for explaining and maintaining the stability of ecosystem multifunctionality will be improved.
Collapse
|
14
|
Peake JA, MacDonald TC, Thompson KA, Stallings CD. Community dynamics of estuarine forage fishes are associated with a latitudinal basal resource regime. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan A. Peake
- University of South Florida College of Marine Science St. Petersburg Florida USA
| | - Timothy C. MacDonald
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute St. Petersburg Florida USA
| | - Kevin A. Thompson
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute St. Petersburg Florida USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
15
|
Firkowski CR, Thompson PL, Gonzalez A, Cadotte MW, Fortin M. Multi‐trophic metacommunity interactions mediate asynchrony and stability in fluctuating environments. ECOL MONOGR 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carina R. Firkowski
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Toronto Ontario M5S 3B2 Canada
| | - Patrick L. Thompson
- Biodiversity Research Centre and Department of Zoology University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z4 Canada
| | - Andrew Gonzalez
- Department of Biology McGill University Montreal Quebec H3A 1B1 Canada
| | - Marc W. Cadotte
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Toronto Ontario M5S 3B2 Canada
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Toronto at Scarborough Scarborough Ontario M1C 1A4 Canada
| | - Marie‐Josée Fortin
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Toronto Ontario M5S 3B2 Canada
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Loreau M, Barbier M, Filotas E, Gravel D, Isbell F, Miller SJ, Montoya JM, Wang S, Aussenac R, Germain R, Thompson PL, Gonzalez A, Dee LE. Biodiversity as insurance: from concept to measurement and application. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:2333-2354. [PMID: 34080283 PMCID: PMC8519139 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2020] [Revised: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Biological insurance theory predicts that, in a variable environment, aggregate ecosystem properties will vary less in more diverse communities because declines in the performance or abundance of some species or phenotypes will be offset, at least partly, by smoother declines or increases in others. During the past two decades, ecology has accumulated strong evidence for the stabilising effect of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning. As biological insurance is reaching the stage of a mature theory, it is critical to revisit and clarify its conceptual foundations to guide future developments, applications and measurements. In this review, we first clarify the connections between the insurance and portfolio concepts that have been used in ecology and the economic concepts that inspired them. Doing so points to gaps and mismatches between ecology and economics that could be filled profitably by new theoretical developments and new management applications. Second, we discuss some fundamental issues in biological insurance theory that have remained unnoticed so far and that emerge from some of its recent applications. In particular, we draw a clear distinction between the two effects embedded in biological insurance theory, i.e. the effects of biodiversity on the mean and variability of ecosystem properties. This distinction allows explicit consideration of trade-offs between the mean and stability of ecosystem processes and services. We also review applications of biological insurance theory in ecosystem management. Finally, we provide a synthetic conceptual framework that unifies the various approaches across disciplines, and we suggest new ways in which biological insurance theory could be extended to address new issues in ecology and ecosystem management. Exciting future challenges include linking the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning and stability, incorporating multiple functions and feedbacks, developing new approaches to partition biodiversity effects across scales, extending biological insurance theory to complex interaction networks, and developing new applications to biodiversity and ecosystem management.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michel Loreau
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS2 route du CNRSMoulis09200France
| | - Matthieu Barbier
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS2 route du CNRSMoulis09200France
| | - Elise Filotas
- Center for Forest ResearchUniversité du Québec (TELUQ)5800 Saint‐DenisMontrealQCH2S 3L5Canada
| | - Dominique Gravel
- Département de BiologieUniversité de Sherbrooke2500 Boulevard de l'UniversitéSherbrookeQCJ1K 2R1Canada
| | - Forest Isbell
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and BehaviorUniversity of Minnesota1479 Gortner AveSt. PaulMN55108U.S.A.
| | - Steve J. Miller
- Environmental Studies ProgramUniversity of Colorado, Boulder4001 Discovery DriveBoulderCO80303U.S.A.
| | - Jose M. Montoya
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS2 route du CNRSMoulis09200France
| | - Shaopeng Wang
- Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of EducationPeking UniversityBeijing100871China
| | - Raphaël Aussenac
- Université Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, LESSEMSt‐Martin‐d'HèresF‐38402France
| | - Rachel Germain
- Biodiversity Research Centre and Department of ZoologyUniversity of British Columbia6270 University Blvd.VancouverBCV6T 1Z4Canada
| | - Patrick L. Thompson
- Biodiversity Research Centre and Department of ZoologyUniversity of British Columbia6270 University Blvd.VancouverBCV6T 1Z4Canada
| | - Andrew Gonzalez
- Department of BiologyMcGill University1205 Dr. Penfield AvenueMontrealQCH3A 1B1Canada
| | - Laura E. Dee
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of Colorado, Boulder1900 Pleasant St.BoulderCO80303U.S.A.
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Sarremejane R, Stubbington R, England J, Sefton CEM, Eastman M, Parry S, Ruhi A. Drought effects on invertebrate metapopulation dynamics and quasi-extinction risk in an intermittent river network. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2021; 27:4024-4039. [PMID: 34032337 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Revised: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 05/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Ecological communities can remain stable in the face of disturbance if their constituent species have different resistance and resilience strategies. In turn, local stability scales up regionally if heterogeneous landscapes maintain spatial asynchrony across discrete populations-but not if large-scale stressors synchronize environmental conditions and biological responses. Here, we hypothesized that droughts could drastically decrease the stability of invertebrate metapopulations both by filtering out poorly adapted species locally, and by synchronizing their dynamics across a river network. We tested this hypothesis via multivariate autoregressive state-space (MARSS) models on spatially replicated, long-term data describing aquatic invertebrate communities and hydrological conditions in a set of temperate, lowland streams subject to seasonal and supraseasonal drying events. This quantitative approach allowed us to assess the influence of local (flow magnitude) and network-scale (hydrological connectivity) drivers on invertebrate long-term trajectories, and to simulate near-future responses to a range of drought scenarios. We found that fluctuations in species abundances were heterogeneous across communities and driven by a combination of hydrological and stochastic drivers. Among metapopulations, increasing extent of dry reaches reduced the abundance of functional groups with low resistance or resilience capacities (i.e. low ability to persist in situ or recolonize from elsewhere, respectively). Our simulations revealed that metapopulation quasi-extinction risk for taxa vulnerable to drought increased exponentially as flowing habitats contracted within the river network, whereas the risk for taxa with resistance and resilience traits remained stable. Our results suggest that drought can be a synchronizing agent in riverscapes, potentially leading to regional quasi-extinction of species with lower resistance and resilience abilities. Better recognition of drought-driven synchronization may increase realism in species extinction forecasts as hydroclimatic extremes continue to intensify worldwide.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Romain Sarremejane
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- INRAE, UR RiverLY, Centre de Lyon-Grenoble Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Rachel Stubbington
- School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
| | | | | | - Michael Eastman
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Simon Parry
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Albert Ruhi
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|