A Latitudinal Cline in the Taxonomic Structure of Eelgrass Epifaunal Communities is Associated With Plant Genetic Diversity

ABSTRACT Aim Biogenic structural complexity increases mobile animal richness and abundance at local, regional and global scales, yet animal taxa vary in their response to complexity. When these taxa also vary functionally, habitat structures favouring certain taxa may have consequences for ecosystem function. We characterised global patterns of epifaunal invertebrates in eelgrass ( Zostera marina ) beds that varied in structural and genetic composition. Location North America, Europe and Asia. Time Period 2014. Major Taxa Studied Peracarid crustaceans and gastropod molluscs. Methods We sampled epifaunal invertebrate communities in 49 eelgrass beds across 37° latitude in two ocean basins concurrently with measurements of eelgrass genetic diversity, structural complexity and other abiotic and biotic environmental variables. We examined how species richness, abundance and community composition varied with latitude and environmental predictors using a random forest approach. We also examined how functional trait composition varied along with community structure. Results Total species richness decreased with latitude, but this was accompanied by a taxonomic shift in dominance from peracarid crustaceans to gastropods, which exhibited different sets of functional traits. Greater eelgrass genetic diversity was strongly correlated with both richness and abundance of peracarids, but less so for gastropods. Main Conclusions Our results add to a growing body of literature that suggests genetic variation in plant traits influences their associated faunal assemblages via habitat structure. Because peracarids and gastropods exhibited distinct functional traits, our results suggest a tentative indirect link between broad‐scale variation in plant genetic diversity and ecosystem function.

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Publication Details

Journal
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Published
2024-09-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13918
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.80

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article

A Latitudinal Cline in the Taxonomic Structure of Eelgrass Epifaunal Communities is Associated With Plant Genetic Diversity

J. Emmett Duffy, John J. Stachowicz, Pablo Jorgensen, F. Joel Fodrie et al.
3 citations
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies
1.80
article

A Latitudinal Cline in the Taxonomic Structure of Eelgrass Epifaunal Communities is Associated With Plant Genetic Diversity

J. Emmett Duffy, John J. Stachowicz, Pablo Jorgensen, F. Joel Fodrie, Masakazu Hori, Shelby L. Ziegler, Pamela L. Reynolds, Johan Eklöf, Mary I. O’Connor, Masahiro Nakaoka, Fiona Tomás, Francesca Rossi, Clara M. Hereu, Jonathan S. Lefcheck, Jonas Thormar, Per‐Olav Moksnes, Mikhail Ivanov, Aschwin H. Engelen, Katharyn E. Boyer, Jennifer L. Ruesink, Robert J. Orth, Claudia Kruschel, Bradley J. Peterson, Mathieu Cusson, Richard K. F. Unsworth, Henning Reiss, Melissa R. Kardish, Britas Klemens Eriksson, Erin P. Voigt, Collin P. Gross, Matthew A. Whalen, Erik E. Sotka, Nessa E. O’Connor, Christoffer Boström, John N. Griffin, A. Randall Hughes, Kevin A. Hovel, Karen McGlathery, Kun‐Seop Lee, Jørn Olsen
article en
3 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Aim Biogenic structural complexity increases mobile animal richness and abundance at local, regional and global scales, yet animal taxa vary in their response to complexity. When these taxa also vary functionally, habitat structures favouring certain taxa may have consequences for ecosystem function. We characterised global patterns of epifaunal invertebrates in eelgrass ( Zostera marina ) beds that varied in structural and genetic composition. Location North America, Europe and Asia. Time Period 2014. Major Taxa Studied Peracarid crustaceans and gastropod molluscs. Methods We sampled epifaunal invertebrate communities in 49 eelgrass beds across 37° latitude in two ocean basins concurrently with measurements of eelgrass genetic diversity, structural complexity and other abiotic and biotic environmental variables. We examined how species richness, abundance and community composition varied with latitude and environmental predictors using a random forest approach. We also examined how functional trait composition varied along with community structure. Results Total species richness decreased with latitude, but this was accompanied by a taxonomic shift in dominance from peracarid crustaceans to gastropods, which exhibited different sets of functional traits. Greater eelgrass genetic diversity was strongly correlated with both richness and abundance of peracarids, but less so for gastropods. Main Conclusions Our results add to a growing body of literature that suggests genetic variation in plant traits influences their associated faunal assemblages via habitat structure. Because peracarids and gastropods exhibited distinct functional traits, our results suggest a tentative indirect link between broad‐scale variation in plant genetic diversity and ecosystem function.

Global Ecology and BiogeographyVol. 33(12)
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (CA), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US), Virginia State University (US), Northeastern University (US), Åbo Akademi University (FI), North Carolina State University (US), University of British Columbia (CA), University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (US), Stockholm University (SE), William & Mary (US), University of Groningen (NL), St Petersburg University (RU), National University of Mar del Plata (AR), University of Washington (US), College of Charleston (US), Trinity College Dublin (IE), Hokkaido University (JP), San Diego State University (US), Nord University (NO), Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (NO), Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (IT), Swansea University (GB), Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (ES), Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (JP), Institute of Marine and Coastal Research (AR), Pusan National University (KR), University of Virginia (US), Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (US), University of Zadar (HR), Stony Brook University (US), Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (MX), University of Algarve (PT), San Francisco State University (US), Villanova University (US), University of California, Davis (US), University of Gothenburg (SE)
National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Stiftelsen för Åbo Akademi, Centro de Ciências do Mar, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Openalex Percentile: Top 13%
Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies
1.80
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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