| Autor: |
Gerald G Singh, Russell W Markel, Rebecca G Martone, Anne K Salomon, Christopher D G Harley, Kai M A Chan |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2013 |
| Předmět: |
|
| Zdroj: |
PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 5, p e65435 (2013) |
| Druh dokumentu: |
article |
| ISSN: |
1932-6203 |
| DOI: |
10.1371/journal.pone.0065435 |
| Popis: |
Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are keystone predators that consume a variety of benthic invertebrates, including the intertidal mussel, Mytilus californianus. By virtue of their competitive dominance, large size, and longevity, M. californianus are ecosystem engineers that form structurally complex beds that provide habitat for diverse invertebrate communities. We investigated whether otters affect mussel bed characteristics (i.e. mussel length distributions, mussel bed depth, and biomass) and associated community structure (i.e. biomass, alpha and beta diversity) by comparing four regions that varied in their histories of sea otter occupancy on the west coast of British Columbia and northern Washington. Mussel bed depth and average mussel lengths were 1.5 times lower in regions occupied by otters for >20 years than those occupied for |
| Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
| Externí odkaz: |
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