Browsing by Author "Hovel, Kevin"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Biodiversity mediates top-down control in eelgrass ecosystems: a global comparative-experimental approachPublication . Duffy, J. Emmett; Reynolds, Pamela L.; Bostroem, Christoffer; Coyer, James A.; Cusson, Mathieu; Donadi, Serena; Douglass, James G.; Ekloef, Johan S.; Engelen, Aschwin H.; Eriksson, Britas Klemens; Fredriksen, Stein; Gamfeldt, Lars; Gustafsson, Camilla; Hoarau, Galice; Hori, Masakazu; Hovel, Kevin; Iken, Katrin; Lefcheck, Jonathan S.; Moksnes, Per-Olav; Nakaoka, Masahiro; O'Connor, Mary I.; Olsen, Jeanine L.; Richardson, J. Paul; Ruesink, Jennifer L.; Sotka, Erik E.; Thormar, Jonas; Whalen, Matthew A.; Stachowicz, John J.Nutrient pollution and reduced grazing each can stimulate algal blooms as shown by numerous experiments. But because experiments rarely incorporate natural variation in environmental factors and biodiversity, conditions determining the relative strength of bottom-up and top-down forcing remain unresolved. We factorially added nutrients and reduced grazing at 15 sites across the range of the marine foundation species eelgrass (Zostera marina) to quantify how top-down and bottom-up control interact with natural gradients in biodiversity and environmental forcing. Experiments confirmed modest top-down control of algae, whereas fertilisation had no general effect. Unexpectedly, grazer and algal biomass were better predicted by cross-site variation in grazer and eelgrass diversity than by global environmental gradients. Moreover, these large-scale patterns corresponded strikingly with prior small-scale experiments. Our results link global and local evidence that biodiversity and top-down control strongly influence functioning of threatened seagrass ecosystems, and suggest that biodiversity is comparably important to global change stressors.
- Latitude, temperature, and habitat complexity predict predation pressure in eelgrass beds across the Northern HemispherePublication . Reynolds, Pamela L.; Stachowicz, John J.; Hovel, Kevin; Bostrom, Christoffer; Boyer, Katharyn; Cusson, Mathieu; Eklof, Johan S.; Engel, Friederike G.; Engelen, Aschwin H.; Eriksson, Britas Klemens; Fodrie, F. Joel; Griffin, John N.; Hereu, Clara M.; Hori, Masakazu; Hanley, Torrance; Ivanov, Mikhail; Jorgensen, Pablo; Kruschel, Claudia; Lee, Kun-Seop; McGlathery, Karen; Moksnes, Per-Olav; Nakaoka, Masahiro; O'Connor, Mary I.; O'Connor, Nessa E.; Orth, Robert J.; Rossi, Francesca; Ruesink, Jennifer; Sotka, Erik E.; Thormar, Jonas; Tomas, Fiona; Unsworth, Richard K. F.; Whalen, Matthew A.; Duffy, J. EmmettLatitudinal gradients in species interactions are widely cited as potential causes or consequences of global patterns of biodiversity. However, mechanistic studies documenting changes in interactions across broad geographic ranges are limited. We surveyed predation intensity on common prey (live amphipods and gastropods) in communities of eelgrass (Zostera marina) at 48 sites across its Northern Hemisphere range, encompassing over 37 degrees of latitude and four continental coastlines. Predation on amphipods declined with latitude on all coasts but declined more strongly along western ocean margins where temperature gradients are steeper. Whereas insitu water temperature at the time of the experiments was uncorrelated with predation, mean annual temperature strongly positively predicted predation, suggesting a more complex mechanism than simply increased metabolic activity at the time of predation. This large-scale biogeographic pattern was modified by local habitat characteristics; predation declined with higher shoot density both among and within sites. Predation rates on gastropods, by contrast, were uniformly low and varied little among sites. The high replication and geographic extent of our study not only provides additional evidence to support biogeographic variation in predation intensity, but also insight into the mechanisms that relate temperature and biogeographic gradients in species interactions.