scholarly journals A parasite indirectly impacts both abundance of primary producers and biomass of secondary producers in an intertidal benthic community

2006 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim N. Mouritsen ◽  
Robert Poulin
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Secondary Production ◽  
Sediment Surface ◽  
Benthic Primary Production ◽  
Community Functioning ◽  
Benthic Animal ◽  
Intertidal Sandflat ◽  
Austrovenus Stutchburyi ◽  
Animal Community

The New Zealand cockle Austrovenus stutchburyi is often found stranded on the sediment surface due to infections by echinostome trematodes. High densities of heavily-infected cockles on the sediment surface affect near-seabed hydrodynamics and sedimentation and, in turn, benthic animal community structure and diversity. In a six-month field experiment on an intertidal sandflat we manipulated the density of cockle mimics on the sediment surface, and here we show that their presence had two significant impacts on community functioning. First, the benthic primary production (in terms of chlorophyll-a content) was reduced by 8–22%. Second, their presence significantly boosted (up to 5-fold) the secondary production (in terms of biomass) of Coelenterata, Nemertea, small polychaetes, small bivalves and the gastropod Diloma subrostrata. The results hence provide a field experimental example of a parasite-mediated link between diversity and productivity.

scholarly journals Equal partnership: two trematode species, not one, manipulate the burrowing behaviour of the New Zealand cockle, Austrovenus stutchburyi

2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Babirat ◽  
K.N. Mouritsen ◽  
R. Poulin
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Sediment Surface ◽  
Trematode Species ◽  
Host Manipulation ◽  
Transmission Rates ◽  
Enhanced Transmission ◽  
Austrovenus Stutchburyi ◽  
Burrowing Behaviour

AbstractMetacercariae of the trematode Curtuteria australis (Echinostomatidae) accumulate in the foot of the New Zealand cockle Austrovenus stutchburyi, severely impairing the cockle's ability to burrow under the sediments. This results in increased predation by birds on cockles, and thus enhanced transmission rates of the parasite to its bird definitive hosts. This host manipulation by the trematode is costly: fish regularly crop the tip of the foot of cockles stranded on the sediment surface, killing any metacercariae they ingest. A second, previously undetected trematode species (characterized by 23 collar spines) co-existing with C. australis, has been found in the foot of cockles in the Otago Harbour, South Island, New Zealand. The relative abundance of the two species varies among localities, with the identity of the numerically dominant species also changing from one locality to the next. Both C. australis and the new species have a strong preference for encysting in the tip of the cockle's foot, where their impact on the burrowing ability of the host is greatest, and where they both face the risk of cropping by fish. Results indicate that these two species are ecological equivalents, and their combined numbers determine how the cockle population is affected.

scholarly journals Differences in meiofauna communities with sediment depth are greater than habitat effects on the New Zealand continental margin: implications for vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norliana Rosli ◽  
Daniel Leduc ◽  
Ashley A. Rowden ◽  
Malcolm R. Clark ◽  
P. Keith Probert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Sediment Surface ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Sediment Layer ◽  
Meiofaunal Community

Studies of deep-sea benthic communities have largely focused on particular (macro) habitats in isolation, with few studies considering multiple habitats simultaneously in a comparable manner. Compared to mega-epifauna and macrofauna, much less is known about habitat-related variation in meiofaunal community attributes (abundance, diversity and community structure). Here, we investigated meiofaunal community attributes in slope, canyon, seamount, and seep habitats in two regions on the continental slope of New Zealand (Hikurangi Margin and Bay of Plenty) at four water depths (700, 1,000, 1,200 and 1,500 m). We found that patterns were not the same for each community attribute. Significant differences in abundance were consistent across regions, habitats, water and sediment depths, while diversity and community structure only differed between sediment depths. Abundance was higher in canyon and seep habitats compared with other habitats, while between sediment layer, abundance and diversity were higher at the sediment surface. Our findings suggest that meiofaunal community attributes are affected by environmental factors that operate on micro- (cm) to meso- (0.1–10 km), and regional scales (> 100 km). We also found a weak, but significant, correlation between trawling intensity and surface sediment diversity. Overall, our results indicate that variability in meiofaunal communities was greater at small scale than at habitat or regional scale. These findings provide new insights into the factors controlling meiofauna in these deep-sea habitats and their potential vulnerability to anthropogenic activities.

Interactions between parasites of the cockleAustrovenus stutchburyi: hitch-hikers, resident-cleaners, and habitat-facilitators

Parasitology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. L. F. LEUNG ◽  
R. POULIN
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Infection Intensity ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Transmission Route ◽  
Interspecific Associations ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Austrovenus Stutchburyi ◽  
Rate Of Accumulation

The patterns of association between parasites within a particular host are determined by a number of factors. One of these factors is whether or not infection by one parasite influences the probability of acquiring other parasite species. This study investigates the pattern of association between various parasites of the New Zealand cockleAustrovenus stutchburyi. Hundreds of cockles were collected from one locality within Otago Harbour, New Zealand and examined for trematode metacercariae and other symbionts. Two interspecific associations emerged from the study. First, the presence of the myicolid copepodPseudomyicola spinosuswas positively associated with higher infection intensity by echinostomes. The side-effect of the copepod's activities within the cockle is suggested as the proximate mechanism that facilitates infection by echinostome cercariae, leading to a greater rate of accumulation of metacercariae in cockles harbouring the copepod. Second, a positive association was also found between infection intensity of the metacercariae of foot-encysting echinostomes and that of gymnophallid metacercariae. This supports earlier findings and suggests that the gymnophallid is a hitch-hiker parasite because, in addition to the pattern of positive association, it (a) shares the same transmission route as the echinostomes, and (b) unlike the echinostomes, it is not capable of increasing the host's susceptibility to avian predation. Thus, both active hitch-hiking and incidental facilitation lead to non-random infection patterns in this parasite community.

scholarly journals Community structure, life histories and secondary production of stoneflies in two small mountain streams with different degree of forest cover

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Beracko ◽  
Andrea Kušnírová ◽  
Michaela Partlová ◽  
Jana Ciceková
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Secondary Production ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Adult Emergence ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Mountain Streams ◽  
Annual Life Cycle ◽  
Forested Stream ◽  
The Difference

<p>Our study examines community structure and nymphal biology (life cycles and secondary production) of stoneflies in two adjacent mountain streams with different degree of forest cover in the Prosiečanka River Basin (Chočské Vrchy Mts., West Carpathians). One of the streams has non-forested catchment, converted to meadows and pastures, while the other one has catchment with 60% covered by spruce forest. Differences in forest cover and in thermal regime of the streams were reflected by the difference of stonefly communities at their structural and functional level. Species <em>Nemoura cinerea and Leuctra aurita </em>created stonefly assemblage in non-forested stream, whereas <em>Nemoura cinerea</em> also occurred in naturally forested stream together with species <em>Leuctra armata, Leuctra nigra, Leuctra prima, Siphonoperla neglecta</em> and <em>Arcynopteryx dichroa</em>. All examined species had maximally annual life cycle and in eudominant species <em>Nemoura cinerea</em> one month shift was found in nymphal hatching and adult emergence between streams. Total secondary production of stoneflies in undisturbed stream (126.46 mg DW m<sup>-2</sup> y<sup>-1</sup>) was more than two times higher than the production in non-forested stream (47.39 mg DW m<sup>-2</sup> y<sup>-1</sup>). </p>

scholarly journals Shrub density effects on the community structure and composition of a desert animal community

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Zuliani ◽  
Nargol Ghazian ◽  
Christopher J. Lortie
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Density Effects ◽  
Animal Community

scholarly journals Reliability of Bone Gelatin AMS Dating: Rattus Exulans and Marine Shell Radiocarbon Dates from Pauatahanui Midden Sites in Wellington, New Zealand

Radiocarbon ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Beavan Athfield ◽  
Bruce McFadgen ◽  
Rodger Sparks
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Beta Decay ◽  
Confidence Level ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Austrovenus Stutchburyi ◽  
Ams Dating ◽  
Marine Shell

A suite of 6 bone gelatin accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates for Rattus exulans Peale and associated beta decay 14C dates for Austrovenus stutchburyi shell are presented for 4 middens at Pauatahanui, Wellington, New Zealand. Mean calibrated age ranges of Rattus exulans (520–435 BP and 350–330 BP at 95% confidence level) and shell (465–375 BP at 95% confidence level) from the 4 midden sites overlap. The agreement between Rattus exulans bone gelatin dates and associated shell provides an inter-sample comparison of 14C dating using both gas counting (beta decay) and AMS dating techniques. We examine the adequacy of the standard gelatinization treatment for bone samples, which has been employed consistently at the laboratory since 1995.

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