Effects of commercial trawling activities in the diet of the flat fish Citharus linguatula (Osteichthyes: Pleuronectiformes) and the starfish Astropecten irregularis (Echinodermata: Asteroidea)

This study assesses the effects of commercial trawling on benthic fauna, by analysing differences in the population structure and diet of benthic organisms inhabiting fishing grounds. The study is focused on two epifaunal species collected from a fishing ground in the north-western Mediterranean, which included a portion of un-trawled seabed used as a reference of undisturbed community. The selected species were the flatfish Citharus linguatula, more abundant at the undisturbed site and previously characterised as a surface predator and vulnerable to trawling, and the starfish Astropecten irregularis, which dominated the epibenthic community and had been characterised as an opportunistic species with low vulnerability to trawling. Both species were selective feeders and ingested similar prey species at each of the two sites, although differences in the relative prey abundance found in the stomachs occurred between sites. A. irregularis at the fished site mainly ingested gastropods, whereas higher proportion of bivalves was ingested at the undisturbed site. C. linguatula diet mainly composed of crustaceans at both sites, but there was an increase in the ingestion of small fish at the fished site. Moreover, prey ingestion of these two species generally increased with fishing activity. Trawling appears to modify the diet of these two species in terms of relative abundance of ingested prey, nevertheless, increased opportunism due to trawling disturbance was not detected and the density of these predators over fishing grounds was more closely related to their vulnerability to trawling.     

Detecting the effects of physical disturbance on benthic assemblages in a subtropical estuary: A Beyond BACI approach

The effects of dredging on the benthic communities in the Noosa River, a subtropical estuary in SE Queensland, Australia, were examined using a ‘Beyond BACI’ experimental design. Changes in the numbers and types of animals and characteristics of the sediments in response to dredging in the coarse sandy sediments near the mouth of the estuary were compared with those occurring naturally in two control regions. Samples were collected twice before and twice after the dredging operations, at multiple spatial scales, ranging from metres to kilometres. Significant effects from the dredging were detected on the abundance of some polychaetes and bivalves and two measures of diversity (numbers of polychaete families and total taxonomic richness). In addition, the dredging caused a significant increase in the diversity of sediment particle sizes found in the dredged region compared with elsewhere. Community composition in the dredged region was more similar to that in the control regions after dredging than before. Changes in the characteristics of the sedimentary environment as a result of the dredging appeared to lead to the benthic communities of the dredged region becoming more similar to those elsewhere in the estuary, so dredging in this system may have led to the loss or reduction in area of a specific type of habitat in the estuary with implications for overall patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem function.     

东湖沿岸带底栖藻类群落的时空变化

武汉东湖是一个浅水富营养湖泊,其沿岸带底栖藻类群落的季节分布特征明显,夏季的优势种群是一些体积很小的硅藻类曲壳藻(Achnanthes spp.),其他大部分季节是绿藻门的团集刚毛藻(Cladophora glomerata)和硅藻门的变异直链藻(Melosira varians)。不同样点间的底栖藻类现存量差异不显著,但优势种类不同,以团集刚毛藻为优势的绿藻在处于中富营养区域的磨山样点比例最高,以变异直链藻为优势种的硅藻在严重富营养化的水果湖样点中比例最高。底栖藻类月平均现存量(以叶绿素a计)的时间变化格局为夏季最低(41.5μg/cm2),逐渐增加到秋、冬季节的最高峰值(55.3μg/cm2)。造成东湖夏季底栖藻类现存量低的原因是雨季水体环境的不稳定性和水位升高造成的低光照。不同样点间的chlb、chlc及chlb/a、chlc/a值具有显著差异,分析这种差异显示:在东湖的富营养化条件下,过渡的富营养化能增加底栖藻类群落中硅藻的比例,却降低了绿藻的比例;不同环境条件下的底栖藻类群落结构具有特异性,分析底栖藻类群落结构可以用来评价水环境健康状况。东湖底栖藻类现存量的季节变化规律与浮游藻类不同,它和水温成显著的负相关,但温度和浮游藻类并不是影响东湖沿岸带底栖藻类生物量变化的直接因子。团集刚毛藻等底栖丝状藻类给各种底栖动物提供了食物和栖息环境,在东湖生态系统中具有重要的作用和功能。     

Effects of salinity gradients on benthic invertebrate and diatom communities in a German lowland river

The Lippe is a lowland river located in the Western part of Germany and has been heavily impacted by coal mining activities ever since. Although mining activities significantly decreased during the last decades, the associated discharge of salt-enriched mine water into the river still poses a persistent threat to the local benthic invertebrate and diatom communities. To analyze the effect of salt pollution on invertebrate and diatom species, biological and chemical data were compiled for this study from a publicly available database. Changes in the community composition due to increased salt concentrations were explored by Non-Metrical-Multidimensional Scaling. Indicator species and salinity thresholds for single species and communities were identified using the method TITAN (Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis). The method is an analytical approach to detect changes in frequency and abundance of species along an environmental gradient by combining the methods of change point analysis (nCPA) and indicator species analysis. The obtained salinity preferences and individual and community thresholds were compared to the literature and existing salinity classifications. For both diatoms and benthic invertebrates, Non-Metrical-Multidimensional Scaling showed a clear split between samples of high and low salinities. Significant salinity thresholds were determined for 50 invertebrate and 58 diatom species of which 23 respectively 18 species were described as ‘reliable’ indicators according to the specifications given by Baker and King (2010). A majority of salt-tolerant indicator organisms were invasive species. For both organism groups, major changes in community composition were detected at a conductivity value exceeding 900 μS/cm. A reduction of the average salinity to below this threshold may have positive effects on the overall species richness and the persistence of sensitive taxa in the river Lippe. Individual and community thresholds may however be data-dependent to a certain degree and subjected to fluctuations considering the potential interdependencies between salinity and additional physico-chemical and environmental parameters (e.g. water temperature, lime content).     

Quantifying structural redundancy in ecological communities

In multivariate analyses of the effects of both natural and anthropogenic environmental variability on community composition, many species are interchangeable in the way that they characterise the samples, giving rise to the concept of structural redundancy in community composition. Here, we develop a method of quantifying the extent of this redundancy by extracting a series of subsets of species, the multivariate response pattern of each of which closely matches that for the whole community. Structural redundancy is then reflected in the number of such subsets, which we term “response units”, that can be extracted without replacement. We have applied this technique to the effects of the Amoco-Cadiz oil-spill on marine macrobenthos in the Bay of Morlaix, France, and to the natural interannual variability of macrobenthos at two stations off the coast of Northumberland, England. Structural redundancy is shown to be remarkably high, with the number and sizes of subsets being comparable in all three examples. Taxonomic/functional groupings of species within the differing response units change in abundance in the same way over time. The response units are shown to possess a wide taxonomic spread and, using two different types of randomisation test, demonstrated to have a taxonomically and functionally coherent structure. The level of structural redundancy may therefore be an indirect measure of the resilience or compensation potential within an assemblage. Received: 23 January 1996 / Accepted: 14 July 1997     

Structures of benthic insect communities in two southeastern Wyoming (USA) streams: similarities and differences among spatial units at different local scales

Four sites on each of two southeastern Wyoming streams, Medicine Bow River (MBR) and Rock Creek (RC), were investigated during the summer and autumn of 2001 and 2002. This investigation resulted in inventories of benthic insect communities being obtained from these two streams. It also resulted in twelve metrics being calculated from benthic insect communities, and these metrics were compared between two spatial units at different local scales. Of the metrics used, five indicated taxa richness, four indicated relative abundance, two indicated diversity, and one involved a biotic index for organic pollution. More specifically, we used each metric to compare the montane with the plains sub-basin, as well as to compare two distinctly different types of substrates within each of the sub-basins. Also, metrics were compared between the two streams. Results indicated that few differences were observed between naturally-occurring substrates within sub-basins. In addition, few differences were observed between the two streams. In contrast, however, several differences were observed between the montane and plains sub-basins. Such differences were caused from naturally-occurring variations in hydraulic and ecological conditions. These findings suggest that the spatial scale should be carefully considered when selecting metrics for use in monitoring programs that are designed to detect anthropogenic disturbances in lotic systems. Handling editor: K. Martens     

The impact of harbour sludge disposal on benthic macrofauna communities in the Weser estuary

During an open-water disposal of about 710,000 m³ of harbour sludge in the polyhaline zone of the Weser estuary, Germany, a monitoring programme was carried out to investigate the impact on benthic invertebrates. The macrofaunal communities of four sites within the disposal area and five sites in a reference area were compared after discharge. The location and extent of the potentially affected area were inferred from a morphodynamic computer model (TIMOR 3; Zanke 1998). Disposal effects were analysed by comparing species numbers, densities, diversity and faunal similarity using multivariate methods. A loss of diversity and a decline in the abundance of several species in the disposal area were measured. The species number was reduced up to 50% and important habitat structures were absent from the disposal area. Several benthic species were affected by the disposal. The importance of species such as Mytilus edulis (Mollusca) and Lanice conchilega (Polychaeta) for the diversity of the community, and the sensitivity of these species to sediment discharge are analysed. The difficulties of separating dumping effects from natural variation in a dynamic estuarine channel system are discussed.Communicated by H.-D. Franke     

Trophic models of four benthic communities in Tongoy Bay (Chile): comparative analysis and preliminary assessment of management strategies

Steady-state trophic flow models of four benthic communities (seagrass, sand-gravel, sand and mud habitats) were constructed for a subtidal area in Tongoy Bay (Chile). Information of biomass, catches, food spectrum and dynamics of the commercial and non-commercial populations was used and the ECOPATH II software of Christensen and Pauly [Ecol. Modell. 61 (1992a) 169] was applied. The sea star Meyenaster gelatinosus and the crabs Cancer polyodon, C. porteri and Paraxanthus barbiger were found to be the most prominent predators in the benthic system. The scallop Argopecten purpuratus as well as other bivalves represented the principal secondary producers in the seagrass, sand-gravel and sand habitats, while the Infauna dominated the mud habitat. The highest total biomass and system throughput (33579.3 t/km²/year) was calculated for the sand-gravel habitat. The sand habitat had a negative net system production due to the amount of primary production imported from deeper waters to satisfy the food requirements of the large beach clam (Mulinia sp.) populations. The mean trophic level of the fishery varied between 2.06 (sand-gravel) and 3.92 (sand) reflecting the fact that the fishery concentrates on primary producers (i.e. algae and filter feeding), and on top predators (i.e. snails and crabs). Fishery is strongest in sand-gravel habitat, where annual catches amount to 122.05 g/m². Low values of the relative Ascendency (A/C) (from 27.4 to 32.7%) suggest that the systems analysed are immature and highly resistant to external perturbations. Manipulations of the input data for the exploited species suggest that seagrass and sand-gravel habitats have a potential for a ∼3 times higher than the present production of scallops and the red algae Chondrocanthus chamissoi. Preliminary results of Mixed Trophic Impacts (MTI) analysis suggest that any management policy aimed at a man-made increase in the standing stocks of A. purpuratus and Ch. chamissoi in seagrass and sand-gravel habitats, and a removal of the seastar M. gelatinosus in the seagrass habitat appears justified.     

Effect of environmental and spatial factors on the phylogenetic and functional diversity of the Mediterranean tree communities of Europe

• The tree flora of the Mediterranean Basin contains an outstanding taxonomic richness and a high proportion of endemic taxa. Contrary to other regions of the Mediterranean biome, a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the relationship between phylogenetic diversity, trait diversity and environmental factors in a spatial ecological context is lacking.
• We inferred the first calibrated phylogeny of 203 native tree species occurring in the European Mediterranean Basin based on 12 DNA regions. Using a set of four functional traits, we computed phylogenetic diversity for all 10,042 grid cells of 10 × 10 km spatial resolution to completely cover Mediterranean Europe. Then, we tested the spatial influence of environmental factors on tree diversity.
• Our results suggest that the nature of the relationship between traits and phylogeny varies among the different studied traits and according to the evolutionary distance considered. Phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity of European Mediterranean trees correlated strongly with species richness. High values of these diversity indices were located in the north of the study area, at high altitude, and minimum temperature of the coldest month. In contrast, the two phylogenetic indices that were not correlated with species richness (Mean Phylogenetic Distance, Phylogenetic Species Variability) were located in the south of the study area and were positively correlated with high altitude, soil organic carbon stock and sand soil texture.
• Our study provides support for the use of phylogenies in conservation biology to assess ecosystem functioning, and provides insights for the implementation of sustainable forest ecosystem management.

     

Setting reference conditions for mesohaline and oligohaline macroinvertebrate communities sensu WFD: Helping to define achievable scenarios in basin management plans

The Water Framework Directive requires all Member States to achieve good ecological quality status for all waters (e.g., transitional waters). For that purpose, Member States must assess water bodies based on information on the Biological Quality Elements listed for each of them (e.g., benthic macroinvertebrates). However, the production of such a quality status classification (high, good, moderate, poor, bad) requires high reference conditions (associated with the absence of, or very low, human pressure) against which the deviation of the samples to be assessed can be measured. In transitional waters, upper stretches have seldom been included in monitoring activities, resulting in very little knowledge of mesohaline and oligohaline areas, which means further difficulty when defining the required reference conditions for these zones.Regarding the benthic macroinvertebrates, large datasets from the mesohaline and oligohaline stretches of the Mondego estuary (four seasons, five years, environmental parameters, density and biomass data) were used to estimate high reference condition values. In terms of environmental conditions, summer was identified as the most stable season and the most suitable for defining reference conditions for selected ecological indicators. For each indicator, the multivariate linear model expressing the best correlation with measured environmental parameters was selected. These models were used afterwards, by replacing the environmental parameters in those equations with their high reference values, to calculate the reference condition for each ecological indicator.Generally, macrobenthic communities within each stretch changed over the years, being mainly influenced by salinity and sediment organic matter. In both stretches, only a few taxa occurred and two species (the amphipod Corophium multisetosum and the bivalve Corbicula fluminea) were clearly dominant. Diversity values (for Margalef, Shannon and ES₅₀ – Hurlbert indices) were low in both stretches, although higher in the mesohaline, and for the most part the ecological condition was low (AMBI – AZTI Marine Biotic Index, MEDDOC – Mediterranean Occidental index, BENTIX biotic index, BO2A – Benthic Opportunistic Annelida Amphipod index). On the whole, the RC estimated for each index followed the same trend, being different for each stretch and below those found for lower sections of the estuary in other surveys.     

Land-use intensification reduces functional redundancy and response diversity in plant communities

Ecosystem resilience depends on functional redundancy (the number of species contributing similarly to an ecosystem function) and response diversity (how functionally similar species respond differently to disturbance). Here, we explore how land-use change impacts these attributes in plant communities, using data from 18 land-use intensity gradients that represent five biomes and > 2800 species. We identify functional groups using multivariate analysis of plant traits which influence ecosystem processes. Functional redundancy is calculated as the species richness within each group, and response diversity as the multivariate within-group dispersion in response trait space, using traits that influence responses to disturbances. Meta-analysis across all datasets showed that land-use intensification significantly reduced both functional redundancy and response diversity, although specific relationships varied considerably among the different land-use gradients. These results indicate that intensified management of ecosystems for resource extraction can increase their vulnerability to future disturbances.
Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 76–86     

The multidimensionality of the niche reveals functional diversity changes in benthic marine biotas across geological time

Despite growing attention on the influence of functional diversity changes on ecosystem functioning, a palaeoecological perspective on the long-term dynamic of functional diversity, including mass extinction crises, is still lacking. Here, using a novel multidimensional functional framework and comprehensive null-models, we compare the functional structure of Cambrian, Silurian and modern benthic marine biotas. We demonstrate that, after controlling for increases in taxonomic diversity, functional richness increased incrementally between each time interval with benthic taxa filling progressively more functional space, combined with a significant functional dissimilarity between periods. The modern benthic biota functionally overlaps with fossil biotas but some modern taxa, especially large predators, have new trait combinations that may allow more functions to be performed. From a methodological perspective, these results illustrate the benefits of using multidimensional instead of lower dimensional functional frameworks when studying changes in functional diversity over space and time.     

An approach to analysis of functional redundancy in protozoan communities for bioassessment in marine ecosystems

It is necessary to detect how much ecological redundancy or response units (RUs) exist in communities for reducing the “signal-to-noise” ratios of the observed full species data in community-based ecological research and monitoring programs. To reveal the functional redundancy in ciliated protozoan communities in marine ecosystems for both ecological research and monitoring programs, a multivariate approach (peeling procedure) was used to identify the response units to the environmental changes using a dataset of biofilm-dwelling ciliates from coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. From the full 141-species dataset, three subsets with sufficient information of the whole community (correlation coefficient >0.75) were identified as response units (RUs 1–3) at three levels of functional redundancy, which comprised 20, 26 and 27 species, respectively. These response units appeared to be interchangeable between functional equivalents on both spatial and temporal scales. In terms of relative abundance, RU1, which predominated the ciliate communities over 1-year period, and RU2, which occurred only in warm seasons (except winter) with a peak in summer, presented a decreasing trend, while RU3, which distributed all four seasons with two peaks in summer and autumn, increased with the increase of pollution level. Furthermore, high proportions of bacterivores were found in RU1 during warm seasons and represented an increase trend, while high relative abundances of algivores occurred in RUs 2 and 3 appeared to be decreasing along the pollution gradient. These results demonstrated that the ciliated protozoan assemblages have high functional redundancy in response to environmental changes in marine ecosystems.     

Size structure of benthic freshwater fish communities in relation to environmental gradients

The benthic fish communities of 161 Swedish lakes, sampled with multi-mesh gillnets, were examined by direct gradient analyses with ten environmental factors. A geographic gradient, correlated with climatic factors and productivity, was most important for ordination of species optima. By contrast, the distribution of biomass in different size-classes and trophic groups, was influenced more directly by local factors such as water quality (pH) and lake morphometry (area and maximum depth). The communities are not only structured at the species level, but also by size-related allocation of resources, within and between coexisting species. This national survey confirmed patterns observed in previous local field studies, as well as experiments designed for testing mechanisms acting on size-structured populations. However, it highlighted the need for more extensive studies on if and how large-scale environmental variation affects the cues for size-related ontogenetic niche shifts in facultative piscivores, because species such as perch Perca fluviatilis , brown trout Salmo trutta , and Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus often dominate the benthic fish community.