Marine diversity shift linked to interactions among grazers, nutrients and propagule banks

Diverse coastal seaweed communities dominated by perennial fucoids become replaced by species-poor turfs of annual algae throughout the Baltic Sea. A large-scale field survey and factorial field experiments indicated that grazers maintain the fucoid community through selective consumption of annual...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine ecology. Progress series (Halstenbek) 1999-01, Vol.185, p.309-314
Main Authors: Worm, Boris, Lotze, Heike K., Boström, Christoffer, Engkvist, Roland, Labanauskas, Vytautas, Sommer, Ulrich
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Akvatisk ekologi
Algae
Aquatic communities
Aquatic Ecology
Baltic Sea
Biologi
Biology
Ceramium strictum
Cladophora rupestris
Coastal ecosystems
Community structure
Darmancy
Diversity
Ecosystem services
Enteromorpha
Eutrophication
Fucus vesiculosus
Herbivory
Littoral ecosystems
Macroalgae
Marin ekologi
Marine
Marine ecology
Marine ecosystems
NATURAL SCIENCES
NATURVETENSKAP
Nutrient nutrient interactions
Nutrients
Perennials
Pilayella littoralis
Seas
Species diversity
Terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecology
Terrestrisk, limnisk och marin ekologi
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Summary:Diverse coastal seaweed communities dominated by perennial fucoids become replaced by species-poor turfs of annual algae throughout the Baltic Sea. A large-scale field survey and factorial field experiments indicated that grazers maintain the fucoid community through selective consumption of annual algae. Interactive effects between grazers and dormant propagules of annual algae, stored in a 'marine seed bank', determine the response of this system to anthropogenic nutrient loading. Nutrients override grazer control and accelerate the loss of algal diversity in the presence but not in the absence of a propagule bank. This implies a novel role of propagule banks for community regulation and ecosystem response to marine eutrophication.
ISSN:0171-8630
1616-1599
DOI:10.3354/meps185309