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Large-scale variation in combined impacts of canopy loss and disturbance on community structure and ecosystem functioning

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Aspden_2013_PLOSone_Large.pdf (849.9Kb)
Date
14/06/2013
Author
Crowe, Tasman P.
Cusson, Mathieu
Bulleri, Fabio
Davoult, Dominique
Arenas, Francisco
Aspden, Rebecca
Benedetti-Cecchi, Lisandro
Bevilacqua, Stanislao
Davidson, Irvine
Defew, Emma
Fraschetti, Simonetta
Gollety, Claire
Griffin, John N.
Herkuel, Kristjan
Kotta, Jonne
Migne, Aline
Molis, Markus
Nicol, Sophie K.
Noel, Laure M-L J.
Pinto, Isabel Sousa
Valdivia, Nelson
Vaselli, Stefano
Jenkins, Stuart R.
Funder
European Commission
Grant ID
GOCE-CT-2003-505446
Keywords
Biodiversity loss
Intertidal community
Primary productivity
Marine biodiversity
Climate change
Rocky shores
Diversity
Assemblages
Stability
Identity
QH301 Biology
SDG 13 - Climate Action
SDG 14 - Life Below Water
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Abstract
Ecosystems are under pressure from multiple human disturbances whose impact may vary depending on environmental context. We experimentally evaluated variation in the separate and combined effects of the loss of a key functional group (canopy algae) and physical disturbance on rocky shore ecosystems at nine locations across Europe. Multivariate community structure was initially affected (during the first three to six months) at six locations but after 18 months, effects were apparent at only three. Loss of canopy caused increases in cover of non-canopy algae in the three locations in southern Europe and decreases in some northern locations. Measures of ecosystem functioning (community respiration, gross primary productivity, net primary productivity) were affected by loss of canopy at five of the six locations for which data were available. Short-term effects on community respiration were widespread, but effects were rare after 18 months. Functional changes corresponded with changes in community structure and/or species richness at most locations and times sampled, but no single aspect of biodiversity was an effective predictor of longer-term functional changes. Most ecosystems studied were able to compensate in functional terms for impacts caused by indiscriminate physical disturbance. The only consistent effect of disturbance was to increase cover of non-canopy species. Loss of canopy algae temporarily reduced community resistance to disturbance at only two locations and at two locations actually increased resistance. Resistance to disturbance-induced changes in gross primary productivity was reduced by loss of canopy algae at four locations. Location-specific variation in the effects of the same stressors argues for flexible frameworks for the management of marine environments. These results also highlight the need to analyse how species loss and other stressors combine and interact in different environmental contexts.
Citation
Crowe , T P , Cusson , M , Bulleri , F , Davoult , D , Arenas , F , Aspden , R , Benedetti-Cecchi , L , Bevilacqua , S , Davidson , I , Defew , E , Fraschetti , S , Gollety , C , Griffin , J N , Herkuel , K , Kotta , J , Migne , A , Molis , M , Nicol , S K , Noel , L M-L J , Pinto , I S , Valdivia , N , Vaselli , S & Jenkins , S R 2013 , ' Large-scale variation in combined impacts of canopy loss and disturbance on community structure and ecosystem functioning ' , PLoS One , vol. 8 , no. 6 , e66238 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0066238
Publication
PLoS One
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0066238
ISSN
1932-6203
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright: © 2013 Crowe et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Description
The project was carried out within the framework of the MarBEF Network of Excellence ‘Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning’ which was funded by the Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems Programme of the European Community’s Sixth Framework Programme (contract no. GOCE-CT-2003-505446). Additional funding was provided by participating institutions and the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5011

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