The distribution of benthic marine algae

Hitherto only gametangial and carposporangial phases of Thuretellopsis peggiana Kylin have been reported. A study of this rare member of the Dumontiaceae (Cryptonemiales) in culture has disclosed the existence of an encrusting tetrasporangial phase, previously unknown, whilst the life history has been shown to be of the ‘Bonnemaisonia’ type.     

The effect of habitat stability on benthic invertebrate communities: the utility of species abundance distributions

Spatial and temporal patterns in the species abundance distribution of benthic invertebrate communities of 11 freshwater habitats (10 streams and a wind-swept lake shore) were examined with respect to habitat stability. Abundance patterns varied markedly between seasons at most sites. However, mean abundance distributions at 4 of the 5 unstable sites and the 2 most stable sites were dominated by one or two taxa with a large number of rare species, whereas sites of intermediate stability had more equitable distributions. Both the log series and log normal distributions were statistically indistinguishable, at the 5% level, from all the observed mean abundance patterns. In contrast, graphical comparisons of the observed and fitted distributions suggested the log series may be the better fit at most of the unstable sites and the two most stable sites, whereas the more equitable distribution at sites of intermediate stability suggested the log normal distribution was the better fit. If conditions at a site favoured one or two species, either through severe physical conditions, or through competitive superiority in the absence of disturbance then the log series distribution may result. However, if no species in the community was strongly advantaged over others, a log normal distribution should result. Given the discriminating power of the appropriate statistical test it may not, however, be possible to pick up these differences without graphical comparisons as well.     

Effect of the distribution and density of benthic target organisms on manta tow estimates of their abundance

The perception biases associated with manta tow estimates of the abundance of benthic organisms were investigated using artificial targets, the density, distribution and availability of which could be controlled. The proportion of targets which are counted by a mantatowed observer (sightability) and the precision of the resultant estimates of their abundance decreased as the targets were distributed more widely over a reef slope. The sightability of targets was enhanced when they were arranged at a high density or in relatively large groups of 9–11, or when they were located directly under the manta towed observer rather than at the edges of his visual field. Limiting the search width of a manta towed observer to about 9 m should improve manta tow estimates of target organisms. However, in practice this would be difficult for reef organisms such as Acanthaster planci because of the extreme three dimensionality of the reef surface relative to the depth of the water.     

A similarity measure sensitive to the contribution of rare species and its use in investigation of variation in marine benthic communities

Summary We propose a new measure of similarity, the normalized expected species shared or NESS. The measure is based on the expected number of species shared between random samples of size, m, drawn from a population. The NESS measure is shown to be a generalization of Morisita's similarity and is demonstrated to be less biased than other commonly used measures. The contribution of dominant and rare species is explicit according to the sample size, m, chosen. For large m, NESS is sensitive to the less common species in the populations to be compared.The NESS measure has been used to cluster a 2-year sequence of subtidal benthic samples taken after a severe disturbance. The NESS measure is responsive to the less common species so that both a temporal progression in community recovery and seasonal variation are revealed.Contribution No. 3699 from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution     

Phytoplankton species and abundance in response to eutrophication in coastal marine mesocosms

In a mesocosm nutrient enrichment experiment the species (orcategories) and abundances of diatoms, dinoflagellates, flagellates,monads and ciliates were identified and counted over a 16-monthperiod. Diatoms and ciliates increased with increasing nutrienttreatment while monads and flagellates, <10 µm in size,did not. By contrast, in the field diatoms sometimes appearedto decrease while small phytoplankton µ10 µm appearedto increase under eutrophic conditions. In the experiment, insome instances, grazing controlled abundances to low levelsin nutrient-enriched treatments. Self-shading by phytoplanktonlimited upper levels of abundance when nutrients were excessive.While nuisance species were occasionally present in variousnutrient treatments, the intensity and frequency of their presencedid not tend to increase with nutrient treatment. Generallyspecies (or categories) did not appear to change with nutrienttreatment.     

Real-time quantitative PCR for assessment of abundance of Pseudoalteromonas species in marine samples

A real-time quantitative PCR (RTQ-PCR) method for measuring the abundance of Pseudoalteromonas species in marine samples is presented. PCR primers targeting a Pseudoalteromonas-specific region of the 16S rRNA gene were tested at three different levels using database searches (in silico), a selection of pure cultures (in vitro), and a combined denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and cloning approach on environmental DNA (in situ). The RTQ-PCR method allowed for the detection of SYBR Green fluorescence from double-stranded DNA over a linear range spanning six orders of magnitude. The detection limit was determined as 1.4 fg of target DNA (1,000 gene copies) measured in the presence of 20 ng of nontarget DNA from salmon testes. In this study, we discuss the importance of robust post-PCR analyses to overcome pitfalls in RTQ-PCR when samples from different complex marine habitats are analyzed and compared on a nonroutine basis. Representatives of the genus Pseudoalteromonas were detected in samples from all investigated habitats, suggesting a widespread distribution of this genus across many marine habitats (e.g., seawater, rocks, macroalgae, and marine animals). Three sample types were analyzed by RTQ-PCR to determine the relative abundance of Pseudoalteromonas ribosomal DNA (rDNA) compared to the total abundance of eubacterial rDNA. The rDNA fractions of Pseudoalteromonas compared to all Eubacteria were 1.55% on the green alga Ulva lactuca, 0.10% on the tunicate Ciona intestinalis, and 0.06% on the green alga Ulvaria fusca.     

Animal-sediment relationships in intertidal marine benthic habitats: Some determinants of deposit-feeding species diversity

Particulate sedimentary properties were examined in a variety of New England intertidal habitats. The sediments were composed of a complex array of both food and non-food particle types. Little evidence of temporal or vertical spatial variation was observed in the major particulate fractions. Organic-mineral aggregates (“detritus”), however, exhibited significant seasonal change in abundance at the sediment-water interface, possibly being related to annual productivity-decay cycles of the marsh grass Spartina alterniflora. Both particulate and bulk sedimentary characteristics were related to deposit-feeding species diversity. Species richness was correlated with the amount of surficial sedimentary organic carbon, and species diversity with total particulate and food particulate diversity. Food abundance and variety, therefore, may regulate the organization of deposit-feeding assemblages. Standard methods for describing sediments may largely be inadequate for understanding many aspects of organism-sediment relationships in marine benthic environments.     

Competitive hierarchies in marine benthic communities

Summary Patterns of competitive displacement by over-growth were examined in communities of sessile organisms in the low intertidal zone at three sites in Washington state and Alaska. Cruotose invertebrates and algae can be arranged into a hierarchy such that species of lower competitive rank rarely overgrow any higher ranking species. Erect and solitary species show a wide range of competitive abilities, but whether they fall into a strict hierarchy is unknown. Few of the solitary or erect species occupy substantial amounts of space in the communities examined.An approximate competitive hierarchy is well established in middle to high intertidal areas dominated by mussels, fleshy algae, and barncles, and has been an important concept in developing both an intuitive understanding and specific mathematical models of the dynamics of benthic marine communities. In particular, lower ranking species in such communities are thought to depend upon predation or chronic disturbance to the dominants to avoid competitive displacement. An alternative viewpoint, proposed on the basis of nonstransitive competitive relationships observed in cryptic encrusting communities on the undersides of coral plates, is that specific competitive loops or networks allow the coexistence of a number of competitors. Although the growth forms and higher taxa represented in the low intertidal bear some similarity to those in the cryptic coral reef community, there is little evidence of ecologically important competitive loops in the intertidal. A reanalysis of data from cryptic reef communities suggests that they also do not depart substantially from a competitive hierarchy, although there appear to be many more cases of local reversals in the outcome of competition. It is suggested that the ecological importance of departures from a strict hierarchy depends upon the competitive rankings of the participants, with departures involving competitively dominant species likely to contribute much more to community structure than those involving opportunistic species.     

Shifts in species abundance of large benthic foraminifera Amphistegina: the possible effects of Tropical Cyclone Ita

On the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the large benthic foraminifera Amphistegina lobifera, A. lessonii and A. radiata occur in shallow (<30 m) areas and have a clear distribution gradient. In April 2014, Severe Tropical Cyclone (TC) Ita impacted the northern region of the GBR. We surveyed the leeward slope of Yonge Reef at 6 and 18 m, in August 2013 and 2014. Results showed an overall decline in abundance of Amphistegina and a shift in proportion at both depths between 2013 and 2014. The shallow-dweller A. lobifera was severely affected; however, the deep-dweller A. radiata and the generalist A. lessonii only declined at 6 m and increased in abundance at 18 m. Patterns observed are likely linked to the occurrence of TC Ita. We propose that differing population-level source–sink dynamics should be considered when exploring persistence and recovery patterns over depth in foraminiferal communities.

     

Partitioning the effects of algal species identity and richness on benthic marine primary production

Influential research in terrestrial habitats indicates that several ecosystem processes are related to plant biodiversity, yet these links remain poorly studied in marine ecosystems. We conducted one field and one mesocosm experiment to quantify the relative effects of macroalgal species identity and richness on primary production in coral reef macroalgal communities off the north coast of Jamaica. We measured production as the net accumulation of algal biomass in the absence of consumers and as photosynthetic rate using oxygen probes in sealed aquaria. We used two recently developed techniques to attribute deviations in expected relative yield to components associated with species identity or diversity and then to further partition diversity effects into mechanistic components based on dominance, trait-dependent complementarity, and trait-independent complementarity. Our results indicate that algal identity had far greater effects on absolute net growth and photosynthesis than richness. The most diverse mixture of macroalgae did not outperform the most productive monoculture or the average monoculture in either measure of primary production (i.e. we did not find evidence of either transgressive or non-transgressive overyielding). Trait-independent complementarity effects were positive but dominance and trait-dependent complementarity were both negative and became stronger when richness was increased. Thus the potentially positive influence of species interactions and niche partitioning on production were negated by dominance and other negative selection effects. These results demonstrate that the counteracting influence of component effects can diminish the net richness effects on production. This could explain frequently observed weak net richness effects in other aquatic and terrestrial systems and suggests that life history tradeoffs greatly reduce the potential for ecologically relevant plant biodiversity effects on ecosystem properties.     

Habitat use and feeding behavior of thirteen species of benthic stream fishes

Synopsis The densities, habitat use, and feeding behaviors of 13 fish species belonging to the benthic invertebrate-feeding guild were studied by snorkeling at three localities in the Little River of eastern Tennessee, U.S.A. Resource partitioning occurred by habitat, feeding behavior and time of activity. Differences were also found at the generic level.Cottus was a nocturnal feeder, whereasPercina andEtheostoma were, for the most part, diurnally active.Percina moved about rapidly and spent most of its time above the bottom. In contrast,Etheostoma varied considerably in the amount of time spent under cover, spent little time above the bottom, and exhibited low levels of swimming activity. Nearly all species sought cover at night, suggesting they may be particularly sensitive to predation at night. Species with small adult sizes (Etheostoma, Cottus andP. evides) were concentrated in shallow water habitats, whereas species with large adult sizes (Percina) were more abundant in deep water habitats. The habitat use data are consistent with the hypothesis that size-selective predation by centrarchid bass may cause smaller fish to avoid deep water areas. Large species should have a lower risk of predation due to their size and behavior.     

Species size distributions in marine benthic communities

Summary Species body size distributions from eight temperate benthic communities show a highly conservative pattern with two separate lognormal distributions, corresponding to the traditional categories of meiofauna and macrofauna. The meiofaunal mode occurs at a dry body weight of 0.64 g and the macrofaunal mode at 3.2 mg, with a trough between them at 45 g. It is suggested that there is a particular body size at which meiofaunal life-history and feeding traits can be optimised, and another for macrofaunal traits. As size departs in either direction (larger or smaller) from these optima, fewer species of the same size are able to co-exist. The split occurs at 45 g because many life history and feeding characteristics switch more or less abruptly at about this body size, compromise traits being either non-viable or disadvantageous. Meiofauna and macrofauna therefore comprise two separate evolutionary units each with an internally coherent set of biological characteristics.The expression of this conservative pattern is modified by water depth: the proportion of macrofauna species increases from intertidal situations to deeper water, and it is suggested that mechanisms of resource partitioning and diversity maintainence in the meiofauna and macrofauna are affected differentially by sediment disturbance. Salinity does not affect this proportionality, and so does not differentially affect mechanisms for maintaining species diversity in any particular size category of animals. Meiofauna species size distributions may be modified in sandy sediments because of physical impositions on interstitial or burrowing lifestyles.Brief discussion of some implications of these observations includes speculations on the larval ecology of macrofauna, on gigantism in Antarctic invertebrates, and on the benthic Sheldon spectrum.     

Calibrating estimates of phage-induced mortality in marine bacteria: Ultrastructural studies of marine bacteriophage development from one-step growth experiments

The timing of lytic phage development and the relationship between host generation times and latent periods were investigated by electron microscopy of one-step growth experiments in two strains of marine Vibrio species. Results were used in a correction factor developed to interpret field studies of phage-infected marine bacteria. Both the number of mature phage per average cell section and the percentage of cells with mature phage increased exponentially by 73–86% into the latent periods. Assuming that bacterial infection and lysis take place continually in the ocean, conversion factors for relating the percentage of visibly infected bacteria to the total percentage of the bacterial community that are phage-infected were calculated as 3.70–7.14. When this range of factors was applied to previously-collected field data [Proctor LM, Fuhrman JA (1990) Nature (Lond) 343:60–62; Proctor LM, Fuhrman JA (1991) Mar Ecol Prog Ser 69:133–142] from 3 to 31% of the free-living bacteria and 3 to 26% of particulate-associated bacteria appeared to be phage-infected at any given time. Based upon a steady-state model in which half the daughter cells survive to divide again, the percent of total mortality would be twice the total percentage of phage-infected cells. From 6 to 62% and from 6 to 52% of mortality for the free-living and particulate-associated bacterial community, respectively, may be due to viruses. Offprint requests to: L. M. Proctor.     

Determination of virus abundance in marine sediments

In this study, we optimized procedures to enumerate viruses from marine sediments by epifluorescence microscopy using SYBR Green I as a stain. The highest virus yields from the bulk of the sediments were obtained by utilizing pyrophosphate and 3 min of sonication. The efficiency of extraction benthic viruses by pyrophosphate-ultrasound treatment was about 60% of the extractable virus particles. Samples treated with nucleases had increased virus counts, suggesting a masking effect of extracellular DNA. No significant differences were observed between virus counts obtained by epifluorescence microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Both formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde gave significant reductions of virus counts after only 24 h of sediment storage, but no further loss occurred after 7 days.     

The succession of minima in the abundance of species

Many of the leading ecological and evolutionary characteristics of populations are governed by their effective population size, which in turn is strongly influenced by the minimum census size. The succession of minima of increasing rank R in time is described by the expected value of the next minimum ω_R and by the expected time T_R elapsing before it occurs. The relationships of ω_R and T_R with R together determine the minimal population expected to be encountered within a given period of time. These relationships depend on the dynamic model for species abundance. The four main types of model investigated here have characteristically different successions. – Random: ω_R log‐linear and T_R log‐linear on R; – Forced: ω_R linear and T_R log‐linear on R; – Neutral community: ω_R linear and T_R linear on R; – Foodweb: ω_R log‐linear and T_R linear on R; Data on species abundance in long‐term surveys of plankton communities suggests that the Foodweb model best represents nature. This implies that each species is likely to encounter new minima on time‐scales much shorter than species longevity. Either local selection and dispersal or large population size may help to alleviate frequent bottlenecks, but it is likely that the internal dynamics of trophically structured communities may lead to continual change in species composition.     

The measurement of marine species diversity, with an application to the benthic fauna of the Norwegian continental shelf

Species diversity includes two aspects, the number of species (species richness) and the proportional abundances of the species (heterogeneity diversity). Species richness and heterogeneity diversity can be measured over different scales; a single point, samples, large scales, biogeographical provinces and in assemblages and habitats. In the literature, the terminology of these scales is confused. Here, scales are given a uniform notation. Scales of species richness and heterogeneity diversity are distinguished from turnover (beta) diversity, which is the degree of change in species composition along a gradient. Methods of measurement of the scales of species richness, heterogeneity diversity, turnover diversity and for estimating total species richness are reviewed. Two methods for measuring heterogeneity diversity are recommended Exp H′ (where H′ is the Shannon-Wiener index) and 1/Simpson’s index, together with an equitability index J′. The reviewed methods are then applied to a data set from the Norwegian continental shelf to illustrate the advantages of the recommended methods. Finally, the application of the methods to assessment of effects of disturbance, to studies of gradients of species richness and to conservation issues are discussed.     

The use of coarser taxonomic resolution in studies of predation on marine sedimentary fauna

Given the logistical difficulties, cost, and time involved in species-level identifications, several authors have proposed the use of coarser taxonomic resolution (e.g. family, order) in studies of pollution. The use of surrogates instead of species relies on their sufficiency to detect community responses to the pollution gradient without appreciable loss of information. No studies, however, have applied this approach to experimental studies such as community responses to predation disturbance and evaluated the performance of surrogates at the spatial scales typical of experiments. We addressed both problems by analyzing the results of three predation experiments carried out in Bonne Bay, Newfoundland. We pooled species data into coarser taxonomic categories (family to class) and determined whether effects of predation that were evident at the species level were also evident with the use of each coarser surrogate and increasing data transformation. Our results indicate that non-transformed data at the family level represent a reasonable surrogate of species; however, the ability to discriminate between ambient and (predator) manipulated sediments is gradually lost with data transformation and with the pooling of species into coarser taxonomic categories. Successive data transformation indicates that in this system predation plays a strong role on dominant but not necessarily rare species. Moreover, our results suggest that varying reliability of surrogates precludes the identification of a single general level of taxonomic sufficiency to be used in experimental studies. The use of surrogates, therefore, is suggested only after scrutiny and evaluation, and should be limited to preliminary studies where biodiversity has been well described.     

Nematode species abundance patterns and their use in the detection of environmental perturbations

If the concepts of biological indices and biomonitoring at the multi-species level are to prove viable, then meiofauna and marine nematodes in particular should be an ideal group with which to test the hypothesis. Many attempts to assess the structure of species assemblages, such as the use of diversity indices, nematode: copepod ratios and the graphical method of log normal plots, have been shown to be theoretically unsound and/or impractical, especially for routine use by extension workers. A method of assessing shifts in dominance patterns which involves all the proportional species abundances is suggested as a better means of comparing diversity. A modified method of rapidly assessing Simpson's dominance-weighted diversity index is also advocated as being of practical use. In combination, they should enable the diversity aspect of the multi-species approach to biomonitoring to be rigorously and exhaustively evaluated.     

The maintenance of evolutionary equilibrium in Late Ordovician benthic marine invertebrate faunas

An upper evolutionary limit on species equilibrium number (S of MacArthur & Wilson) has been postulated but never demonstrated. Results of the present study indicate that an S of about 10 was attained very rapidly in a Late Ordovician benthic marine invertebrate faunal succession. This S value was then maintained for perhaps five million years within a marine environment that did not remain uniform but changed progressively from relatively deep to shallow water. Most importantly, significant taxonomic and presumed trophic changes that accompanied the gradual habitat alteration seem to have had a negligible effect on the plateau-like limit to species equilibrium number. We conclude from these preliminary results that the maintenance of evolutionary equilibrium in an open ecosystem strongly suggests a long-term component of biotic resiliency, at least within this one marine ecosystem, and perhaps in many others. The reasons for this resiliency remain to be explored.