Marine Ecosystem Analysis of Gouldsboro and Dyer Bays, Maine

In the early 1980s, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) initiated an ecosystem analysis of Gouldsboro Bay in eastern Maine as part of a planned marine sanctuary. The original report to NOAA by Walter H. Adey was not published after the sanctuary concept for Maine was abandoned. Because significant human-related climatic and ecosystem changes are underway in the Gulf of Maine, that report provides valuable baseline data and is included as the Appendix to this volume. After qualitatively describing the geological, physical, chemical, and biogeographical features of Gouldsboro Bay and adjacent Dyer Bay, we quantitatively describe the principal bay ecological communities with data collected during the 1981–1983 ecosystem assessment as well as additional measurements taken within the past decade. We then undertake a comparison of the primary productivity of these bays with the Google Earth Pro polygon tool to determine component areas. Benthic taxa are the dominant primary producers in both bays: rockweeds (primarily Ascophyllum nodosum, with Fucus vesiculosus secondary) in the intertidal; Irish moss (Chondrus crispus, with Fucus distichus secondary) as a near monoculture in the lowest intertidal (infralittoral); kelps (primarily Saccharina latissima, Laminaria digitata, and Agarum clathratum) in the rocky subtidal; and the angiosperm Zostera marina (seagrass) in soft bottom substrate. The rocky intertidal, dominated by Ascophyllum with a specific productivity of 10.6 kg/m2/year, provides nearly one-third of all bay productivity. Because of the proportionally greater shore length relative to area of Dyer Bay, it has 45% greater productivity for its surface area than Gouldsboro Bay. Kelp has a specific productivity value of 7.2 kg/m2/year, and Zostera of 1.2 kg/m2/year. The kelps provide approximately 20% of Gouldsboro Bay’s primary productivity and 35% of that of Dyer Bay. Zostera provides roughly 20% of total primary productivity in Gouldsboro Bay and 12% in Dyer Bay. With a primary productivity of 1.73 kg/m2/year, salt marshes provide only 3.7% (Gouldsboro) and 2.6% (Dyer) of total primary productivity. With a primary productivity of 0.06 kg/m2/year, plankton account for 23.8% of Gouldsboro Bay and 16% of Dyer Bay primary productivity.

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Marine Ecosystem Analysis of Gouldsboro and Dyer Bays, Maine

Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences ◽

10.5479/si.11950329.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. vii-192

Author(s):

Walter H. Adey ◽

Thew S. Suskiewicz ◽

Douglas B. Rasher

Keyword(s):

Primary Productivity ◽

Salt Marshes ◽

Gulf Of Maine ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Google Earth ◽

Rocky Intertidal ◽

Saccharina Latissima ◽

Specific Productivity ◽

Rocky Subtidal ◽

Total Primary Productivity

In the early 1980s, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) initiated an ecosystem analysis of Gouldsboro Bay in eastern Maine as part of a planned marine sanctuary. The original report to NOAA by Walter H. Adey was not published after the sanctuary concept for Maine was abandoned. Because significant human-related climatic and ecosystem changes are underway in the Gulf of Maine, that report provides valuable baseline data and is included as the Appendix to this volume. After qualitatively describing the geological, physical, chemical, and biogeographical features of Gouldsboro Bay and adjacent Dyer Bay, we quantitatively describe the principal bay ecological communities with data collected during the 1981–1983 ecosystem assessment as well as additional measurements taken within the past decade. We then undertake a comparison of the primary productivity of these bays with the Google Earth Pro polygon tool to determine component areas. Benthic taxa are the dominant primary producers in both bays: rockweeds (primarily Ascophyllum nodosum, with Fucus vesiculosus secondary) in the intertidal; Irish moss (Chondrus crispus, with Fucus distichus secondary) as a near monoculture in the lowest intertidal (infralittoral); kelps (primarily Saccharina latissima, Laminaria digitata, and Agarum clathratum) in the rocky subtidal; and the angiosperm Zostera marina (seagrass) in soft bottom substrate. The rocky intertidal, dominated by Ascophyllum with a specific productivity of 10.6 kg/m2/year, provides nearly one-third of all bay productivity. Because of the proportionally greater shore length relative to area of Dyer Bay, it has 45% greater productivity for its surface area than Gouldsboro Bay. Kelp has a specific productivity value of 7.2 kg/m2/year, and Zostera of 1.2 kg/m2/year. The kelps provide approximately 20% of Gouldsboro Bay’s primary productivity and 35% of that of Dyer Bay. Zostera provides roughly 20% of total primary productivity in Gouldsboro Bay and 12% in Dyer Bay. With a primary productivity of 1.73 kg/m2/year, salt marshes provide only 3.7% (Gouldsboro) and 2.6% (Dyer) of total primary productivity. With a primary productivity of 0.06 kg/m2/year, plankton account for 23.8% of Gouldsboro Bay and 16% of Dyer Bay primary productivity.

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Checklist of the brachyuran crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda) in the rocky subtidal of Vitória Archipelago, southeast coast of Brazil

Check List ◽

10.15560/8.5.940 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 940 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Douglas Fernandes Rodrigues Alves ◽

Samara De Paiva Barros-Alves ◽

Valter José Cobo ◽

Daniel José Marcondes Lima ◽

Adilson Fransozo

Keyword(s):

Primary Productivity ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

The Other ◽

Brazilian Coast ◽

Continuous Assessment ◽

Scuba Divers ◽

Rocky Subtidal ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Global Environmental Changes ◽

Rocky Bottoms

Biodiversity can be useful as an ecosystem indicator for conservation and monitoring, through continuous assessment of its main properties including stability, primary productivity, exploitation tolerance and even global environmental changes. The main purpose of this study was to provide a checklist of the crabs associated with subtidal rocky bottoms at the Vitoria Archipelago, southeastern Brazilian coast. Monthly collections were carried out from February 2004 through January 2006 on three islands at the Vitória Archipelago (23°44’S-45°01’W). The crabs were hand-caught by SCUBA divers during the daytime, in rock subtidal. A total of 3084 individuals were caught, belonging to 42 species, 28 genera, and 12 families, highlighting Mithraculus forceps (1528) and Stenorhynchus seticornis (407) representing more than 60% of the sample. On the other hand, Dromia erythropus, Moreiradromia antilensis, Ebalia stimpsoni, Garthiope spinipes and Tumidotheres maculatus had only one individual sampled.

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DO ALTERNATE STABLE COMMUNITY STATES EXIST IN THE GULF OF MAINE ROCKY INTERTIDAL ZONE? COMMENT

Ecology ◽

10.1890/03-3055 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 85 (4) ◽

pp. 1160-1165 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Peter S. Petraitis ◽

Steve R. Dudgeon

Keyword(s):

Intertidal Zone ◽

Gulf Of Maine ◽

Rocky Intertidal ◽

Rocky Intertidal Zone ◽

Stable Community

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Feeding ecology of benthic mobile predators: experimental analyses of their influence in rocky subtidal communities of the Gulf of Maine

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology ◽

10.1016/0022-0981(91)90114-c ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 149 (1) ◽

pp. 13-44 ◽

Cited By ~ 73

Author(s):

F. Patricio Ojeda ◽

John H. Dearborn

Keyword(s):

Feeding Ecology ◽

Gulf Of Maine ◽

Rocky Subtidal ◽

Experimental Analyses

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Traits matter: When rarity means more than abundance to functional diversity

10.7287/peerj.preprints.26840 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Thomas J. Trott

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Rare Species ◽

Gulf Of Maine ◽

Taxonomic Diversity ◽

Abundant Species ◽

Rocky Intertidal ◽

Taxonomic Distinctness ◽

Ecological Traits ◽

Mere Presence ◽

Species Removal

Rare species can significantly contribute to ecosystem stability and resiliency. Furthermore, wider taxonomic trees can support a wider range of functional diversity. These ideas with the notion that functional diversity leads to ecosystem resiliency suggest rare species can disproportionately increase taxonomic and functional diversity. To test this hypothesis, functional distinctness was used to estimate functional diversity, and average taxonomic distinctness to evaluate taxonomic diversity for rocky intertidal species assemblages sampled by three surveys separated by years examining a total 41 locations spanning the Gulf of Maine. Fifteen life-history and ecological traits were assigned to the 95 species observed using a total of 90 options. Species were ranked either rare or abundant using incidence. Influence of rarity on functional and taxonomic distinctness was appraised by comparing intact assemblages to ones where rare species (observed once per location) were removed to imitate rare species loss. For intact assemblages, functional and taxonomic distinctness correlated. However, rare species removal significantly decreased functional diversity for some assemblages while taxonomic diversity was less affected. Removal of abundant species produced no significant effects. Results demonstrate rare species can increase functional diversity without necessarily being rare taxonomically. Abundant species exert their effects through their numbers; mere presence makes no difference.

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Causes and consequences of broad-scale geographic variation in Gulf of Maine rocky intertidal communities

10.17760/d20004828 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth S. Bryson

Keyword(s):

Geographic Variation ◽

Gulf Of Maine ◽

Rocky Intertidal ◽

Intertidal Communities ◽

Broad Scale

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Sources, cycling and export of nitrogen on the Greenland Ice Sheet

10.5194/bg-2015-484 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J. L. Wadham ◽

J. Hawkings ◽

J. Telling ◽

D. Chandler ◽

J. Alcock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Productivity ◽

Inorganic Nitrogen ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Ice Sheet ◽

Greenland Ice Sheet ◽

Nutrient Supply ◽

Coastal Ecosystems ◽

The Arctic ◽

Polar Regions ◽

Nitrogen Fluxes

Abstract. Fjord and continental shelf environments in the Polar Regions are host to some of the planet’s most productive ecosystems, and support economically important fisheries. Their productivity, however, is often critically dependent upon nutrient supply from up-stream terrestrial environments delivered via river systems. One of the most extensive glacially-fed coastal ecosystems is that bordering the Greenland Ice Sheet. The future primary productivity of this marine ecosystem, however, is uncertain. A potential increase in primary productivity driven by reduced sea ice extent and associated increased light levels may be curtailed by insufficient nutrient supply, and specifically nitrogen. Research on small valley glaciers indicates that glaciers are important sources of nitrogen to downstream environments. However, no data exists from ice sheet systems such as Greenland. Time series of nitrogen concentrations in runoff are documented from a large Greenland glacier, demonstrating seasonally elevated fluxes to the ocean. Fluxes are highest in mid-summer, when nitrogen limitation is commonly reported in coastal waters. It is estimated that approximately half of the glacially-exported nitrogen is sourced from microbial activity within glacial sediments at the surface and bed of the ice sheet, doubling nitrogen fluxes in runoff. Summer dissolved inorganic nitrogen fluxes from the Greenland Ice Sheet (30–40 Gg) are a similar order of magnitude to those from a large Arctic river (40 Gg, Holmes et al., 2012). Nitrogen yields from the ice sheet (100–160 kg TDN km−2 a−1), however, are approximately double those from Arctic riverine catchments. We assert that this ice sheet nitrogen subsidy to Arctic coastal ecosystems may be important for understanding coastal biodiversity, productivity and fisheries, and should be considered in future biogeochemical modelling studies of coastal marine productivity in the Arctic regions.

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Assessing the distribution and variation characteristics of marine primary productivity in the coastal marine area of Vietnam South Centre

IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science ◽

10.1088/1755-1315/964/1/012011 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 964 (1) ◽

pp. 012011

Author(s):

Nguyen Trinh Duc Hieu ◽

Nguyen Huu Huan ◽

Tran Thi Van ◽

Nguyen Phuong Lien

Keyword(s):

Primary Productivity ◽

El Niño ◽

El Nino ◽

Southern Oscillation ◽

Monsoon Season ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Northeast Monsoon ◽

Marine Area ◽

Coastal Marine

Abstract Primary production (PP) of phytoplankton plays an essential role in food web dynamics, biogeochemical cycles and marine fisheries. It is used as one of the basic information for evaluating marine ecosystems. In this paper, monthly composite PP data on a 4 km x 4 km grid for the period 2003-2020 was used to evaluate the distributional characteristics of PP in the coastal marine area of Vietnam South Centre. The statistical results show that the climatological average of PP in 18 years reached 449.2 mgC/m2/day, ranged from 272.1 to 14,205.4 mgC/m2/day. The PP has seasonal and spatial variations. In time, the lowest value of PP was in spring, and the highest was in winter; in space, PP tended to decrease from shore to offshore, PP was higher in coastal areas than in the open sea areas. During the northeast monsoon season, PP increased by more than 1000 mgC/m2/day in the coastal area. Meanwhile, in the southwest monsoon season, due to the ecological influence of the upwelling phenomenon, PP increased with a value greater than 1500 mgC/m2/day, distributed along the coastline of Ninh Thuan - Binh Thuan. Primary productivity positively correlated with chlorophyll content but negatively correlated with sea surface temperature with correlation coefficients of 0.9 and -0.6, respectively. There was a weak correlation between PP and ONI with correlation coefficients of -0.23. The temporal-spatial variation of PP was affected by the ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) phenomenon, the positive phase of ENSO (El Niño conditions) corresponded to lower PP, and the negative phase of ENSO (La Niña conditions) corresponded to higher PP. The research results from this paper can be used as a reference in marine ecosystem management.

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How Can High Animal Diversity Be Supported in Low-Productivity Deserts?: The Role of Macrodetritivory and Habitat Physiognomy

Biodiversity in Drylands ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195139853.003.0007 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

Gary A. Polis ◽

Yael Lubin

Keyword(s):

High Temperatures ◽

Primary Productivity ◽

Salt Marshes ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

General Pattern ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

High Productivity ◽

Number Of Species ◽

Mechanics Model ◽

Number Of Individuals

On large spatial scales, species diversity is typically correlated positively with productivity or energy supply (Wright et al. 1993, Huston 1994, Waide et al. 1999). In line with this general pattern, deserts are assumed to have relatively few species for two main reasons. First, relatively few plants and animals have acquired the physiological capabilities to withstand the stresses exerted by the high temperatures and shortage of water found in deserts (reviewed by Noy-Meir 1974, Evenari 1985, Shmida et al. 1986). A second, more ecological mechanism is resource limitation. In deserts, the low and highly variable precipitation levels, high temperatures and high evapotranspiration ratios limit both plant abundance and productivity to very low levels (Noy-Meir 1973, 1985, Polis 1991d). This lack of material at the primary producer level should exacerbate the harsh abiotic conditions and reduce the abundance of animals at higher trophic levels by limiting the types of resources and their availability. Animal abundance should be even further reduced because primary productivity is not only low, but also tends to be sporadic in time and space (MacMahon 1981, Crawford 1981, Ludwig 1986). Herbivores should have difficulties tracking these variations (e.g., Ayal 1994) and efficiently using the available food resources. Hence, herbivore populations in deserts have low densities relative to other biomes (Wisdom 1991) and most of the primary productivity remains unused (Crawford 1981, Noy-Meir 1985). This low abundance of herbivores should propagate through the food web and result as well in lower abundance of higher trophic levels. The number of individuals and the number of species are not always positively correlated; in particular, some examples of low diversity at high productivity with high densities are well documented (e.g., salt marshes, reviewed by Waide et al. 1999). However, several distinct mechanisms have led to the expectation that when productivity and the number of individuals are low, the number of species is also likely to be low. First, within trophic levels, the “statistical mechanics” model of Wright et al. (1993) may operate. In this model, the amount of energy present determines the probability distribution of population sizes for the members of the species pool in a region.

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