scholarly journals Negative resistance and resilience: biotic mechanisms underpin delayed biological recovery in stream restoration

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1947) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle C. Barrett ◽  
Angus R. McIntosh ◽  
Catherine M. Febria ◽  
Helen J. Warburton
Keyword(s):  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Negative Resistance ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Biological Recovery ◽  
Abiotic Constraints ◽  
Community Presence ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽  
Degraded Ecosystems ◽  
Healthy Community

Traditionally, resistance and resilience are associated with good ecological health, often underpinning restoration goals. However, degraded ecosystems can also be highly resistant and resilient, making restoration difficult: degraded communities often become dominated by hyper-tolerant species, preventing recolonization and resulting in low biodiversity and poor ecosystem function. Using streams as a model, we undertook a mesocosm experiment to test if degraded community presence hindered biological recovery. We established 12 mesocosms, simulating physically healthy streams. Degraded invertebrate communities were established in half, mimicking the post-restoration scenario of physical recovery without biological recovery. We then introduced a healthy colonist community to all mesocosms, testing if degraded community presence influenced healthy community establishment. Colonists established less readily in degraded community mesocosms, with larger decreases in abundance of sensitive taxa, likely driven by biotic interactions rather than abiotic constraints. Resource depletion by the degraded community likely increased competition, driving priority effects. Colonists left by drifting, but also by accelerating development, reducing time to emergence but sacrificing larger body size. Since degraded community presence prevented colonist establishment, our experiment suggests successful restoration must address both abiotic and biotic factors, especially those that reinforce the ‘negative’ resistance and resilience which perpetuate degraded communities and are typically overlooked.

The Biology of Lakes and Ponds

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christer Brönmark ◽  
Lars-Anders Hansson
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Freshwater Organisms ◽  
Abiotic Constraints ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Degraded Ecosystems ◽  
Behavioural Adaptations

The Biology of Lakes and Ponds focuses on the interactions between the abiotic frame, such as turbulence, temperature, pH and nutrients, and the organisms, including interactions with and among organisms at the individual, population and community level. The book fills this niche between traditional limnology and evolutionary ecology by focusing on physiological, morphological and behavioural adaptations among organisms to abiotic and biotic factors and how interactions between biotic processes and abiotic constraints determine the structure and dynamics of lake and pond systems. In addition, the book describes and analyses the causes and consequences of human activities on freshwater organisms and ecosystems and covers longstanding environmental threats, such as eutrophication and acidification, as well as novel threats, such as biodiversity loss, use of everyday chemicals and global climate change. However, also signs of improvement and the possibilities to restore degraded ecosystems are discussed and provide hope for future generations.

Biology and Management of Inland Striped Bass and Hybrid Striped Bass

2013 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Striped Bass ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Mountain Lake ◽  
First Year ◽  
Fish Prey ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors

<em>Abstract</em>.—The stocking of fingerling striped bass <em>Morone saxatilis</em> in freshwater impoundments has led to the development of successful put-grow-take fisheries throughout the southern United States. However, first-year survival of stocked fingerlings is often low. To enhance stocking success of striped bass, a better understanding is needed on the impacts of different stocking strategies on early life-history dynamics. In this review paper, we first examined the existing literature on the role of abiotic and biotic factors on recruitment dynamics of stocked piscivores in inland freshwater systems. Second, we compiled the results of a progressive series of studies that were completed over a 25-year period in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, that focused on understanding the relationship between striped bass stocking success and biotic interactions, forage-fish prey availability and dynamics, and first-year recruitment. This case study demonstrated that differential intra-cohort growth and poor first-year winter survival are the primary factors limiting stocking success and that stocking fingerlings at a greater number of sites throughout the lake at lower densities improved recruitment to age 1. With this information, we provide stocking size, time, density, and location strategy recommendations that should yield increased survival and stocking success of striped bass in freshwater impoundments.

scholarly journals Environmental factors influencing fine-scale distribution of Antarctica’s only endemic insect

Oecologia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 194 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-539
Author(s):  
Leslie J. Potts ◽  
J. D. Gantz ◽  
Yuta Kawarasaki ◽  
Benjamin N. Philip ◽  
David J. Gonthier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Species Distributions ◽  
Biotic Factors ◽  
Belgica Antarctica ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractSpecies distributions are dependent on interactions with abiotic and biotic factors in the environment. Abiotic factors like temperature, moisture, and soil nutrients, along with biotic interactions within and between species, can all have strong influences on spatial distributions of plants and animals. Terrestrial Antarctic habitats are relatively simple and thus good systems to study ecological factors that drive species distributions and abundance. However, these environments are also sensitive to perturbation, and thus understanding the ecological drivers of species distribution is critical for predicting responses to environmental change. The Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica, is the only endemic insect on the continent and has a patchy distribution along the Antarctic Peninsula. While its life history and physiology are well studied, factors that underlie variation in population density within its range are unknown. Previous work on Antarctic microfauna indicates that distribution over broad scales is primarily regulated by soil moisture, nitrogen content, and the presence of suitable plant life, but whether these patterns are true over smaller spatial scales has not been investigated. Here we sampled midges across five islands on the Antarctic Peninsula and tested a series of hypotheses to determine the relative influences of abiotic and biotic factors on midge abundance. While historical literature suggests that Antarctic organisms are limited by the abiotic environment, our best-supported hypothesis indicated that abundance is predicted by a combination of abiotic and biotic conditions. Our results are consistent with a growing body of literature that biotic interactions are more important in Antarctic ecosystems than historically appreciated.

An introduction to the 'micronet' of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs): cyanobacteria, zooplankton and microorganisms: a review

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Wilk-Woźniak
Keyword(s):  
Harmful Algal Blooms ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Cyanobacterial Blooms ◽  
Biotic Factors ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Change Temperature ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽  
Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms are known all around the world. Climate change (temperature increase) and human activity (eutrophication) are factors that promote the proliferation of cyanobacteria, leading to the development of blooms and the release of toxins. Abiotic and biotic factors are responsible for the development of blooms and how long they last. Although the abiotic factors controlling blooms are well known, knowledge of biotic factors and their interactions is still lacking. This paper reviews five levels of biotic interactions, namely cyanobacteria–zooplankton, cyanobacteria–ciliates, cyanobacteria–bacteria, cyanobacteria–viruses and cyanobacteria–fungi, showing a more complex food web network than was previously thought. New findings published recently, such as the relationships between cyanobacteria and viruses or cyanobacteria and fungi, indicate that cyanobacterial blooms are not the end of the cycle of events taking place in water habitats, but rather the middle of them. As such, a new approach needs to consider mutual connections, genetic response, horizontal gene transfer and non-linear flow of carbon.

Influence of abiotic and biotic factors on two co-occurring species of Bolboschoenus

2000 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Siebentritt ◽  
George G. Ganf
Keyword(s):  
Water Depth ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Biotic Factors ◽  
Depth Gradient ◽  
Shoot Height ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Net Assimilation ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors

Distribution of the emergent macrophytes Bolboschoenus medianus and Bolboschoenus caldwellii is dominated by the latter at regions higher on the elevation gradient, whereas the former is dominant further down the gradient. Monocultures and mixtures of plants were grown across a water-depth gradient in experimental ponds to determine whether distribution is due to abiotic factors, biotic factors, or a combination of both. Monocultures of each species tolerated exposure, showing little variation in relative growth rate (RGR), net assimilation rate (NAR) or leaf area ratio (LAR). Survival when initially flooded was dependent on shoot height. Plants surviving inundation responded by increasing height through reallocation of biomass. The RGR of B. medianus was maintained across the water-depth gradient by increasing NAR as LAR declined. The RGR of B. caldwellii beyond a depth of −20 cm declined because reductions in LAR were not paralleled by increases in NAR. Mixtures of species growing at 20 cm and 0 cm indicated that biotic interactions occurred and that B. caldwellii was the dominant species. Neither species dominated at −60 cm, presumably because this was beyond the depth tolerated by both species. The study suggests that the zonation of B. medianus and B. caldwellii is attributable to a combination of both abiotic and biotic factors.

The effect of preservation on diversity in a Triassic reef basin assemblage

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Julie Roden ◽  
Alexander Nützel ◽  
Wolfgang Kiessling
Keyword(s):  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Strong Increase ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Cassian Formation ◽  
Tropical Reef ◽  
Fossil Assemblages ◽  
Benthic Ecosystems ◽  
High Beta

&lt;p&gt;Taphonomic effects complicate the assessment of variations in biodiversity over time. Most pre-Cenozoic fossil assemblages have been altered through taphonomic effects, such as lithification and aragonite dissolution. Several studies have found alpha (local) and gamma (global) diversity in marine ecosystems to be low in the early Mesozoic and then increase throughout the Mesozoic, reaching a maximum in the Cenozoic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Middle to Late Triassic Cassian Formation, exposed in the Dolomites, Southern Alps, northern Italy, comprises tropical reef basin and transported platform assemblages characterized by high diversity and commonly excellent preservation of fossils. The Cassian Formation yields high alpha (mean species richness per locality: 96), beta (mean Jaccard dissimilarity: 0.95), and gamma (1421 invertebrate species) diversity. The high primary diversity is probably due to the tropical reef-associated setting, and its reduced taphonomic alteration caused 4.5 times higher biodiversity to be preserved than in comparable pre-Cenozoic settings. High beta diversity can be explained by the presence of various habitat types and may also have been driven by priority effects. The Cassian fauna, like most comparable modern ecosystems, features a large number of gastropods (39% of all invertebrates, 58% of mollusks are gastropods). Especially small species in the millimeter size range contribute to the large number of gastropod species in the Cassian Formation. Our results support the assumption that the Modern Evolutionary Fauna was already established early in the Mesozoic and that the scarcity of small gastropods in many fossil assemblages is a taphonomic phenomenon. This contradicts the view that the major radiation of gastropods and the generally very strong increase in biodiversity largely took place in the Cenozoic. We suggest that highly complex, gastropod-dominant marine benthic ecosystems are as old as Middle/Late Triassic, pointing to an earlier establishment of the Modern Evolutionary Fauna than previously assumed. An improved eco-space utilization by infaunalization and increased biotic interactions such as a predator/prey escalation may have contributed to the high biodiversity and may reflect early aspects of the Marine Mesozoic Revolution.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Commensal associations and benthic habitats shape macroevolution of the bivalve clade Galeommatoidea

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1834) ◽  
pp. 20161006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingchun Li ◽  
Diarmaid Ó Foighil ◽  
Ellen E. Strong
Keyword(s):  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Biotic Factors ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Symbiotic Associations ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors

The great diversity of marine life has been shaped by the interplay between abiotic and biotic factors. Among different biotic interactions, symbiosis is an important yet less studied phenomenon. Here, we tested how symbiotic associations affected marine diversification, using the bivalve superfamily Galeommatoidea as a study system. This superfamily contains large numbers of obligate commensal as well as free-living species and is therefore amenable to comparative approaches. We constructed a global molecular phylogeny of Galeommatoidea and compared macroevolutionary patterns between free-living and commensal lineages. Our analyses inferred that commensalism/sediment-dwelling is likely to be the ancestral condition of Galeommatoidea and that secondary invasions of hard-bottom habitats linked to the loss of commensalism. One major clade containing most of the free-living species exhibits a 2–4 times higher diversification rate than that of the commensals, likely driven by frequent niche partitioning in highly heterogeneous hard-bottom habitats. However, commensal clades show much higher within-clade morphological disparity, likely promoted by their intimate associations with diverse hosts. Our study highlights the importance of interactions between different ecological factors in shaping marine macroevolution and that biotic factors cannot be ignored if we wish to fully understand processes that generate marine biodiversity.

scholarly journals Do priority effects outweigh environmental filtering in a guild of dominant freshwater macroinvertebrates?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea J. Little ◽  
Florian Altermatt
Keyword(s):  
Species Distribution Model ◽  
Environmental Filtering ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Distribution Model ◽  
Amphipod Species ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Equal Importance ◽  
Environmental Requirements

AbstractAbiotic conditions have long been considered essential in structuring freshwater macroinvertebrate communities. Ecological drift, dispersal, and biotic interactions also structure communities, and although these mechanisms are more difficult to detect, they may be of equal importance in natural communities. Here, we conducted repeated surveys of locally-dominant amphipod species across ten naturally replicated stream catchments. We then used a hierarchical joint species distribution model to assess the influence of different drivers on species co-occurrences. The species had unique environmental requirements, but a distinct spatial structure in their distributions was unrelated to habitat. Species co-occurred much less frequently than predicted by their niches, which was surprising because laboratory and field evidence suggests they are capable of coexisting in equal densities. We suggest that niche preemption may limit their distribution and that a blocking effect determines which species colonizes and dominates a given stream catchment, thus resolving a long-standing conundrum in freshwater ecology.

scholarly journals Integrating succession and community assembly perspectives

F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Chang ◽  
Janneke HilleRisLambers
Keyword(s):  
Community Assembly ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Historical Contingency ◽  
Environmental Filters ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Modern Analytical

Succession and community assembly research overlap in many respects, such as through their focus on how ecological processes like dispersal, environmental filters, and biotic interactions influence community structure. Indeed, many recent advances have been made by successional studies that draw on modern analytical techniques introduced by contemporary community assembly studies. However, community assembly studies generally lack a temporal perspective, both on how the forces structuring communities might change over time and on how historical contingency (e.g. priority effects and legacy effects) and complex transitions (e.g. threshold effects) might alter community trajectories. We believe a full understanding of the complex interacting processes that shape community dynamics across large temporal scales can best be achieved by combining concepts, tools, and study systems into an integrated conceptual framework that draws upon both succession and community assembly theory.

scholarly journals Succession comprises a sequence of threshold-induced community assembly processes towards multidiversity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian Hanusch ◽  
Xie He ◽  
Victoria Ruiz-Hernandez ◽  
Robert R. Junker
Keyword(s):  
Community Assembly ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Environmental Filters ◽  
Form Complex ◽  
Species Sorting ◽  
Glacier Forefield ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽  
Stochastic Dispersal

Research on ecological successions and community assembly shaped our understanding of community establishment, co-existence, and diversity. Although both lines of research address the same processes such as dispersal, species sorting, and biotic interactions, they lack unifying concepts. However, recent theoretical advances proposed to integrate both research lines and thus provided hypotheses on how communities assemble over time and form complex ecological systems. This framework predicts a sequence of stochastic and niche-based processes along successional gradients. Shifts in these assembly processes are assumed to occur abruptly once abiotic and biotic factors dominate over dispersal as main driver of community assembly. Considering the multidiversity composed of five organismal groups including plants, animals, and microbes, we empirically show that stochastic dispersal-dominated community assembly is replaced by environmental filters and biotic interactions after around 60 years of succession in a glacier forefield. The niche-based character of later successional processes is further supported by a pronounced decline in multi-beta-diversity after the shift in assembly processes. Our results support recent theories and provide new insights into the emergence of multidiverse and complex ecosystems. Our study will stimulate updates of concepts of community assembly considering multiple taxa with unique and complementary ecological roles and help to bridge the gap between research on successions and community assembly.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document