Demersal amphipod migrations: spatial patterns in marine shallow waters

Author(s):  
Carlos Navarro-Barranco ◽  
Alejandro Irazabal ◽  
Juan Moreira

AbstractThe nocturnal displacement to the water column of species hiding in the substrate during the day (so-called demersal migration) is a widespread phenomenon in coastal habitats. However, despite the relevance of these migrations to coastal ecosystem functioning, most of their ecological aspects are poorly understood. We aim to characterize spatial distribution patterns of demersal amphipods by comparing samples collected by light traps deployed both at rocky and nearby sandy areas. Dispersal abilities of such species were explored by considering two spatial scales of separation between rocky and sandy substrates: (1) <100 m and (2) >1 km. A total of >45,000 amphipod specimens were collected in the water column during the whole study, belonging to 50 species. The numerically dominant species were Guernea coalita, Bathyporeia cf. elegans, Perioculodes longimanus and Nototropis swammerdamei. The present study highlights the relevance of substrate type and study location on coastal demersal amphipod migrations. Amphipod assemblages were significantly different in the water column above rocky and sandy bottoms, even at a small spatial scale. Species emerging from rocky bottoms tend to remain in the proximity of this habitat; they showed lower abundances in sandy areas located nearby and almost none of them reached distant sandy areas. In contrast, migrant species commonly found on sediment during the day were collected at higher abundances in light traps deployed above rocky bottoms. Although several factors (e.g. food availability, predation pressure) are proposed to explain these patterns, the purpose of this horizontal migration remains unknown.

2021 ◽  
pp. 0271678X2110029
Author(s):  
Mitsouko van Assche ◽  
Elisabeth Dirren ◽  
Alexia Bourgeois ◽  
Andreas Kleinschmidt ◽  
Jonas Richiardi ◽  
...  

After stroke restricted to the primary motor cortex (M1), it is uncertain whether network reorganization associated with recovery involves the periinfarct or more remote regions. We studied 16 patients with focal M1 stroke and hand paresis. Motor function and resting-state MRI functional connectivity (FC) were assessed at three time points: acute (<10 days), early subacute (3 weeks), and late subacute (3 months). FC correlates of recovery were investigated at three spatial scales, (i) ipsilesional non-infarcted M1, (ii) core motor network (M1, premotor cortex (PMC), supplementary motor area (SMA), and primary somatosensory cortex), and (iii) extended motor network including all regions structurally connected to the upper limb representation of M1. Hand dexterity was impaired only in the acute phase ( P = 0.036). At a small spatial scale, clinical recovery was more frequently associated with connections involving ipsilesional non-infarcted M1 (Odds Ratio = 6.29; P = 0.036). At a larger scale, recovery correlated with increased FC strength in the core network compared to the extended motor network (rho = 0.71; P = 0.006). These results suggest that FC changes associated with motor improvement involve the perilesional M1 and do not extend beyond the core motor network. Core motor regions, and more specifically ipsilesional non-infarcted M1, could hence become primary targets for restorative therapies.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 33-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mário Sérgio Sigrist ◽  
Claudio José Barros de Carvalho

An important biological challenge today is the conservation of biodiversity. Biogeography, the study of the distribution patterns of organisms, is an important tool for this challenge. Endemism, the co-occurrence of several species unique to the same area, has important implications for the preservation of biodiversity, since many areas of endemism are also areas with large human impact. More rigorously defined, areas of endemism are historical units of distributional congruence of monophyletic taxa. These areas often assumed to be due to nonrandom historical events that favored conditions associated with high rates of speciation. Thus, understanding endemism and the delimitation of endemic areas has important implications for conservation. Today, most studies delimit areas of endemism by superimposing maps of distribution for various species. This approach suffers from arbitrary delimitations, however, when a great distributional data is used. In this paper we used the method of Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity (PAE) based on georeferenced quadrats in order to delimit areas of endemism. This modality of the method is important due to its testable nature and can also be used to infer area relationships. We applied the method to raw distributional data from 19 unrelated taxa to delimit general patterns of endemism in the Neotropical Region and in the Atlantic forest domain using different grid scales. Neotropical areas found are comprised over the Panama region, northern Andean region and the Atlantic forest. Atlantic forest showed a major division into two distinct components (northern x southern). Endemic areas delimited using smaller scale grids on the Atlantic forest should be considered for conservation priorities once they showed endemism at regional and local scales. The results were also compared to other studies using different taxa and methods. Finally, some considerations on the analysis scale and future perspectives of the method are presented.


Crustaceana ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 88 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 839-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hesse ◽  
J. A. Stanley ◽  
A. G. Jeffs

Kelp habitats are in decline in many temperate coastal regions of the world due to climate change and expansion of populations of grazing urchins. The loss of kelp habitat may influence the vulnerability to predators of the juveniles of commercially important species. In this study relative predation rates for kelp versus barren reef habitat were measured for early juvenile Australasian spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii (Hutton, 1875), on the northeastern coast of New Zealand using tethering methods. Variation in assemblages of predators over small spatial scales appeared to be more important for determining the relative predation of lobsters, regardless of habitat type. Therefore, the assessment of relative predation risk to early juvenile lobsters between kelp and barren habitats will require more extensive sampling at a small spatial scale, as well as a specific focus on sampling during crepuscular and nocturnal periods when these lobsters are most at risk of predation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 471-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matúš Hyžný

AbstractDecapod associations have been significant components of marine habitats throughout the Cenozoic when the major diversification of the group occurred. In this respect, the circum-Mediterranean area is of particular interest due to its complex palaeogeographic history. During the Oligo-Miocene, it was divided in two major areas, Mediterranean and Paratethys. Decapod crustaceans from the Paratethys Sea have been reported in the literature since the 19thcentury, but only recent research advances allow evaluation of the diversity and distribution patterns of the group. Altogether 176 species-level taxa have been identified from the Oligocene and Miocene of the Western and Central Paratethys. Using the three-dimensional NMDS analysis, the composition of decapod crustacean faunas of the Paratethys shows significant differences through time. The Ottnangian and Karpatian decapod associations were similar to each other both taxonomically and in the mode of preservation, and they differed taxonomically from the Badenian ones. The Early Badenian assemblages also differed taxonomically from the Late Badenian ones. The time factor, including speciation, immigration from other provinces and/or (local or global) extinction, can explain temporal differences among assemblages within the same environment. High decapod diversity during the Badenian was correlated with the presence of reefal settings. The Badenian was the time with the highest decapod diversity, which can, however, be a consequence of undersampling of other time slices. Whereas the Ottnangian and Karpatian decapod assemblages are preserved virtually exclusively in the siliciclastic “Schlier”-type facies that originated in non-reefal offshore environments, carbonate sedimentation and the presence of reefal environments during the Badenian in the Central Paratethys promoted thriving of more diverse reef-associated assemblages. In general, Paratethyan decapods exhibited homogeneous distribution during the Oligo-Miocene among the basins in the Paratethys. Based on the co-occurrence of certain decapod species, migration between the Paratethys and the North Sea during the Early Miocene probably occurred via the Rhine Graben. At larger spatial scales, our results suggest that the circum-Mediterranean marine decapod taxa migrated in an easterly direction during the Oligocene and/or Miocene, establishing present-day decapod communities in the Indo-West Pacific.


2011 ◽  
Vol 89 (9) ◽  
pp. 796-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Tang ◽  
A.G. Lewis ◽  
M. Sackville ◽  
L. Nendick ◽  
C. DiBacco ◽  
...  

We observed diel vertical migration patterns in juvenile pink salmon ( Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walbaum, 1792)) and tested the hypothesis that fish behaviour is altered by exposure to sea lice copepodids. Experiments involved replicated field deployments of a large (9 m) plankton column, which provided a vertical distribution enclosure under natural light and salinity conditions. Diel vertical distributions of juvenile pink salmon were observed during the first 3 weeks of seawater acclimation in both the presence and the absence of the ectoparasitic salmon louse ( Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer, 1838)). Immediately upon entering seawater, juvenile pink salmon preferred the top 1 m of the water column, but they moved significantly deeper down the vertical water column as seawater acclimation time increased. A significant diel migration pattern was observed, which involved a preference for the surface at night-time, compared with daytime. When fish in the column were exposed to L. salmonis copepodids for 3 h, 43%–62% of fish became infected, fish expanded their vertical distribution range, and significant changes in vertical distribution patterns were observed.


2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Metaxas

For marine benthic invertebrates with meroplanktonic larvae, the relative importance of hydrodynamics and swimming behaviour in determining larval dispersal in the water column, particularly at small spatial scales, has not been determined. In the field, larval aggregations recorded at physical and biological discontinuities in the water column were attributed to hydrodynamics. Similar aggregations obtained in the absence of flow in the laboratory indicate a potentially significant role of behaviour. At large spatial scales, larval distribution in the plankton is mainly regulated by horizontal advection. However, the ability of larvae to behaviourally regulate their position at scales of micrometres to metres when exposed to turbulent fluid motion in the water column, as evidenced in the benthic boundary layer, is unknown. Evaluation of swimming in turbulent flows in the water column is an intriguing area of research, which involves several constraints. In the field, quantification of behaviour is limited by low success in tracking larvae and lack of appropriate observational tools. In the laboratory, the generation and quantification of flow regimes that are representative of those in the field remains a challenge. An approach that integrates biological and physical measurements within realistic ranges is necessary to advance our understanding of larval dispersal.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Benjamin Magana-Rodriguez

<p>The current crisis in loss of biodiversity requires rapid action. Knowledge of species' distribution patterns across scales is of high importance in determining their current status. However, species display many different distribution patterns on multiple scales. A positive relationship between regional (broad-scale) distribution and local abundance (fine-scale) of species is almost a constant pattern in macroecology. Nevertheless interspecific relationships typically contain much scatter. For example, species that possess high local abundance and narrow ranges, or species that are widespread, but locally rare. One way to describe these spatial features of distribution patterns is by analysing the scaling properties of occupancy (e.g., aggregation) in combination with knowledge of the processes that are generating the specific spatial pattern (e.g., reproduction, dispersal, and colonisation). The main goal of my research was to investigate if distribution patterns correlate with plant life-history traits across multiple scales. First, I compared the performance of five empirical models for their ability to describe the scaling relationship of occupancy in two datasets from Molesworth Station, New Zealand. Secondly, I analysed the association between spatial patterns and life history traits at two spatial scales in an assemblage of 46 grassland species in Molesworth Station. The spatial arrangement was quantified using the parameter k from the Negative Binomial Distribution (NBD). Finally, I investigated the same association between spatial patterns and life-history traits across local, regional and national scales, focusing in one of the most diverse families of plant species in New Zealand, the Veronica sect. Hebe (Plantaginaceae). The spatial arrangement was investigated using the mass fractal dimension. Cross-species correlations and phylogenetically independent contrasts were used to investigate the relationships between plant life-history traits and spatial patterns on both data bases. There was no superior occupancy-area model overall for describing the scaling relationship, however the results showed that a variety of occupancy-area models can be fit to different data sets at diverse spatial scales using nonlinear regression. Additionally, here I showed that it is possible to deduce and extrapolate information on occupancy at fine scales from coarse-scale data. For the 46 plantassemblage in Molesworth Station, Specific leaf area (SLA) exhibits a positive association with aggregation in cross-species analysis, while leaf area showed a negative association, and dispersule mass a positive correlation with degree of aggregation in phylogenetic contrast analysis at a local-scale (20 × 20 m resolution). Plant height was the only life-history trait that was associated with degree of aggregation at a regional-scale (100 × 60 mresolution). For the Veronica sect. Hebe dataset, leaf area showed a positive correlation with aggregation while specific leaf area showed a negative correlation with aggregation at a fine local-scale (2.5-60 m resolution). Inflorescence length, breeding system and leaf area showed a negative correlation with degree of aggregation at a regional-scale (2.5-20 km resolution). Height was positively associated with aggregation at national-scale (20-100 km resolution). Although life-history traits showed low predictive ability in explaining aggregation throughout this thesis, there was a general pattern about which processes and traits were important at different scales. At local scales traits related to dispersal and completion such as SLA , leaf area, dispersule mass and the presence of structures in seeds for dispersal, were important; while at regional scales traits related to reproduction such as breeding system, inflorescence length and traits related to dispersal (seed mass) were significant. At national scales only plant height was important in predicting aggregation. Here, it was illustrated how the parameters of these scaling models capture an important aspect of spatial pattern that can be related to other macroecological relationships and the life-history traits of species. This study shows that when several scales of analysis are considered, we can improve our understanding about the factors that are related to species' distribution patterns.</p>


2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cássia Gôngora Goçalo ◽  
Mario Katsuragawa ◽  
Ilson Carlos Almeida da Silveira

Horizontal and vertical distribution patterns and abundance of larval phosichthyids were investigated from oblique and depth-stratified towns off Southeastern brazilian waters, from São Tomé cape (41ºW.; 22ºS.) to São Sebastião island (45ºW.; 24ºS.). The sampling was performed during two cruises (January/2002 -summer; August/2002 -winter). Overall 538 larvae of Phosichthyidae were collected during summer and 158 in the winter. Three species, Pollichthys mauli, Vinciguerria nimbaria and Ichthyioccoccus sp. occurred in the area, but Ichthyioccoccus sp. was extremely rare represented by only one specimen, caught in the oceanic region during the summer. Geographically, larval were concentrated in the oceanic region, and vertically distributed mainly between the surface and 80 m depth in the summer and winter. Larvae were more abundant during the night, performing a diel vertical migration in the water column. The results suggest that the meandering and eddies of Brazil Current play important role on the transport and distribution patterns of larval phosichthyids over the oceanic and neritic area in the Southeastern Brazil.


The Auk ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Scott Fretz

Abstract The Hawaii Akepa (Loxops coccineus coccineus) is an endangered bird that has declined dramatically in the last 100 years, and is now rare or absent from many areas that appear to support suitable habitat. Food availability may play a role in these distribution patterns, but differences in food between sites may arise from different sources. I compared prey availability between a site supporting a large, stable Hawaii Akepa population, and a site from which Hawaii Akepa have declined in the last 100 years for unknown reasons. I used three spatial scales to compare food between sites to explore the basis of differences in food between sites. At a scale appropriate for comparing prey population dynamics (scale 1), I found that prey population densities are similar between sites, suggesting that introduced (or native) predators or parasitoids have not affected prey populations differently between sites. At two larger scales incorporating habitat structure, I found that food availability is much lower at the site of Hawaii Akepa declines. Differences in canopy density per square meter (scale 2), and in canopy cover per square kilometer (scale 3), result in lower food availability that may have effects on individual foraging birds as well as on potential Hawaii Akepa population density. These findings illustrate the importance of explicitly incorporating spatial scale into inquiries about food for Hawaii Akepa, and suggest that the site of population declines may not be suitable habitat with respect to food for this species.


2007 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan R. Duckworth ◽  
Carsten W. Wolff

Distribution and size frequency patterns of sessile organisms such as sponges may vary among and within neighbouring reefs. In the present study, we examined small-scale variation of dictyoceratid sponges (class Demospongiae), commonly found on coral reefs, by surveying six neighbouring islands in central Torres Strait. Each island had four study sites, at least 1 km apart, with each site consisting of three shallow (4 to 6 m) and three deep (10 to 15 m) 20 m2 transects. For each transect, we recorded the number of each species and measured the size of the more common dictyoceratid sponges. Seven species of dictyoceratid were recorded in central Torres Strait, with only three species, Coscinoderma sp., Dysidea herbacea and Hyrtios erecta, common to all six islands. Abundance patterns generally varied greatly among islands or sites within islands, perhaps resulting from a combination of physical, biological and stochastic factors. More dictyoceratids were found in deeper water; however, abundance across depth for some species varied among islands or sites. Size-frequency distribution patterns also varied greatly among islands and dictyoceratid species, indicating that factors that may promote growth for one species may not necessarily promote growth for a related species. This study shows that patterns of abundance and size of dictyoceratids can vary greatly over small spatial scales, and that patterns are species-specific.


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