Grazer Diversity Effects in an Eelgrass-Epiphyte-Microphytobenthos System

The dramatic loss of biodiversity and its consequences for ecosystem processes have been of considerable interest in recent ecological studies. However, the complex and interacting processes influencing diversity effects in multitrophic systems are still poorly understood. We used an experimental ee...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oecologia 2009-03, Vol.159 (3), p.607-615
Main Authors: Jaschinski, Sybill, Aberle, Nicole, Gohse-Reimann, Sandra, Brendelberger, Heinz, Wiltshire, Karen H., Sommer, Ulrich
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biodiversity
Biodiversity loss
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Community Ecology - Original Paper
Community Ecology - Original Papers
Diatoms
Ecological studies
Ecology
Ecosystem
Ecosystems
Epiphytes
Eukaryota - growth & development
Food webs
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Hydrology/Water Resources
Life Sciences
Marine Biology
Marine ecology
Microalgae
Nutrient availability
Nutrients
Plant Sciences
Poaceae
Species
Species diversity
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Summary:The dramatic loss of biodiversity and its consequences for ecosystem processes have been of considerable interest in recent ecological studies. However, the complex and interacting processes influencing diversity effects in multitrophic systems are still poorly understood. We used an experimental eelgrass system to study the effects of changing richness of three consumer species on the biomass, diversity and taxonomic composition of both epiphytic and benthic microalgal assemblages. After 1 week, consumer richness enhanced the grazing impact on epiphyte biomass relative to single consumer treatments and a positive effect of consumer richness on prey diversity was found. Moreover, strong effects of consumer species identity on taxonomic composition were found in both microalgal assemblages. However, the effects of consumer richness were not consistent over time. The consequences of high nutrient availability seemed to have masked consumer richness effects.
ISSN:0029-8549
1432-1939
DOI:10.1007/s00442-008-1236-2