Carregant...
Fitxers
Tipus de document
ArticleVersió
Versió publicadaData de publicació
Tots els drets reservats
Si us plau utilitzeu sempre aquest identificador per citar o enllaçar aquest document: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/124929
Multiple cotrols of community structure and dynamics in a sublittoral marine environment
Títol de la revista
Director/Tutor
ISSN de la revista
Títol del volum
Recurs relacionat
Resum
The structure and dynamics of ecological communities can be determined by both top‐down (e.g., predation) and bottom‐up (e.g., energy inputs) processes, which can act synergistically and across spatial and temporal scales. Here we aimed at understanding the role of multiple controls in a Mediterranean rocky sublittoral marine community that harbors a diverse algal community and strongly interacting herbivores, and which is subject to marked seasonality in energy inputs. We conducted an experiment by manipulating densities of the major consumers of benthic algae (fishes and sea urchins) in ∼100‐m2 enclosures in a marine reserve, and monitored algal assemblages over two and a half years. Most algae showed a marked annual cycle, with a biomass peak in late spring/summer and low biomass in winter, following seasonal fluctuations in resource availability, indicating the existence of bottom‐up processes. Sea urchins reduced the abundance of most algal species, indicating the existence of top‐down processes. The effect of fish grazing on algal abundances was significantly weaker. Sea urchin grazing was inhibited when predatory fish were present. Multivariate analysis showed that the interaction between seasonal resource inputs and herbivory induced the formation of algal assemblages characterized by different species abundances. The organization of algal assemblages was determined by the synergistic interaction between top‐down and bottom‐up processes: top‐down control regulated total algal abundance, while bottom‐up control determined seasonal fluctuations.
Matèries
Matèries (anglès)
Citació
Citació
HEREU FINA, Bernat, ZABALA I LIMOUSIN, Mikel, SALA GAMITO, Enric. Multiple cotrols of community structure and dynamics in a sublittoral marine environment. _Ecology_. 2008. Vol. 89, núm. 12, pàgs. 3423-3435. [consulta: 21 de gener de 2026]. ISSN: 0012-9658. [Disponible a: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/124929]