Back to Search
Start Over
Evidence of season-dependency in vegetation effects on macrofauna in temperate seagrass meadows (Baltic Sea)
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 7, p e100788 (2014)
- Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- Seagrasses and associated macrophytes are important components of coastal systems as ecosystem engineers, habitat formers, and providers of food and shelter for other organisms. The positive impacts of seagrass vegetation on zoobenthic abundance and diversity (as compared to bare sands) are well documented, but only in surveys performed in summer, which is the season of maximum canopy development. Here we present the results of the first study of the relationship between the seasonal variability of seagrass vegetation and persistence and magnitude of contrasts in faunal communities between vegetated and bare sediments. The composition, abundance, biomass, and diversity of macrozoobenthos in both habitats were compared five times throughout the year in temperate eelgrass meadows in the southern Baltic Sea. Significant positive effects of macrophyte cover on invertebrate density and biomass were recorded only in June, July, and October when the seagrass canopy was relatively well developed. The effects of vegetation cover on faunal species richness, diversity, and composition persisted throughout the year, but the magnitude of these effects varied seasonally and followed changes in macrophyte biomass. The strongest effects were observed in July and coincided with maximums in seagrass biomass and the diversity and biomass of other macrophytes. These observations indicate that in temperate, clearly seasonal systems the assessment of macrophyte impact cannot be based solely on observations performed in just one season, especially when that season is the one in which macrophyte growth is at its maximum. The widely held belief that macrophyte cover strongly influences benthic fauna in marine coastal habitats, which is based on summer surveys, should be revisited and complemented with information obtained in other seasons.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Geologic Sediments
Time Factors
Ecological Metrics
Oceans and Seas
Biomass (Ecology)
lcsh:Medicine
Marine and Aquatic Sciences
Marine Biology
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Ecosystem engineer
Magnoliopsida
Oceans
14. Life underwater
lcsh:Science
Biomass (ecology)
Analysis of Variance
Multidisciplinary
biology
Ecology
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
lcsh:R
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Marine Ecology
Species diversity
Biology and Life Sciences
Aquatic Environments
Vegetation
Biodiversity
15. Life on land
Bodies of Water
biology.organism_classification
Marine Environments
Macrophyte
Seagrass
Community Ecology
13. Climate action
Benthic zone
Earth Sciences
lcsh:Q
Species richness
Seasons
Coastal Ecology
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 9
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PloS one
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....0be12037e9fd78ebcc86dce1d9cb44e6