Resistance of seagrass habitats to ocean acidification via altered interactions in a tri-trophic chain
Autor: | Alexia Massa-Gallucci, Rui Santos, Begoña Martínez-Crego, Cristina Andolina, Maria Cristina Gambi, Salvatrice Vizzini, Gianmaria Califano |
---|---|
Přispěvatelé: | Martínez-Crego B, Vizzini S, Califano G, Massa-Gallucci A, Andolina C, Gambi MC, Santos R |
Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2020 |
Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Settore BIO/07 - Ecologia Stable isotope analysis 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Ecosystem ecology Oceans and Seas lcsh:Medicine ocean acidification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Article Predation Environmental impact Hydrothermal Vents stable isotope Animals Ecosystem Seawater 14. Life underwater Herbivory lcsh:Science 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Trophic level CO2 vent Marine biology Herbivore Multidisciplinary Alismatales biology food web Ecology Climate-change ecology fungi lcsh:R Fishes Ocean acidification 15. Life on land Hydrogen-Ion Concentration biology.organism_classification Seagrass Habitat destruction Habitat 13. Climate action Sea Urchins Environmental science lcsh:Q |
Zdroj: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP) instacron:RCAAP Scientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2020) Scientific Reports |
Popis: | Despite the wide knowledge about prevalent effects of ocean acidification on single species, the consequences on species interactions that may promote or prevent habitat shifts are still poorly understood. Using natural CO2 vents, we investigated changes in a key tri-trophic chain embedded within all its natural complexity in seagrass systems. We found that seagrass habitats remain stable at vents despite the changes in their tri-trophic components. Under high pCO2, the feeding of a key herbivore (sea urchin) on a less palatable seagrass and its associated epiphytes decreased, whereas the feeding on higher-palatable green algae increased. We also observed a doubled density of a predatory wrasse under acidified conditions. Bottom-up CO2 effects interact with top-down control by predators to maintain the abundance of sea urchin populations under ambient and acidified conditions. The weakened urchin herbivory on a seagrass that was subjected to an intense fish herbivory at vents compensates the overall herbivory pressure on the habitat-forming seagrass. Overall plasticity of the studied system components may contribute to prevent habitat loss and to stabilize the system under acidified conditions. Thus, preserving the network of species interactions in seagrass ecosystems may help to minimize the impacts of ocean acidification in near-future oceans. The research was funded by an ASSEMBLE access project within the EU FP7/2007–2013 program (grant agreement n° 227799) hosted by MCG at the SZN. The Portuguese FCT– Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia funded BMC in the ambit of the contract program DL57/2016/CP1361/CT0004 and CCMAR through the project UID/Multi/04326/2019. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
Externí odkaz: |