Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Gouraguine, Adam
• Smale, Dan A.
• Edwards, Arwyn
• King, Nathan G.
• Jackson-Bué, Mathilde
• Kelly, Sean
• Earp, Hannah S.
• Moore, Pippa J.

Titel

Temporal and spatial drivers of the structure of macroinvertebrate assemblages associated with Laminaria hyperborea detritus in the northeast Atlantic

Ist Teil von

• Marine environmental research, 2024-06, Vol.198, p.106518-106518, Article 106518

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Kelp forests occur on more than a quarter of the world's coastlines, serving as foundation species supporting high levels of biodiversity. They are also a major source of organic matter in coastal ecosystems, with the majority of primary production released and exported as detritus. Kelp detritus also provides food and shelter for macroinvertebrates, which comprise important components of inshore food-webs. Hitherto, research on kelp detritus-associated macroinvertebrate assemblages remains relatively limited. We quantified spatiotemporal variability in the structure of detritus-associated macroinvertebrate assemblages within Laminaria hyperborea forests and evaluated the influence of putative drivers of the observed variability in assemblages across eight study sites within four regions of the United Kingdom in May and September 2015. We documented 5167 individuals from 106 taxa with Malacostraca, Gastropoda, Isopoda and Bivalvia the most abundant groups sampled. Assemblage structure varied across months, sites, and regions, with highest richness in September compared to May. Many taxa were unique to individual regions, with few documented in all regions. Finally, key drivers of assemblage structure included detritus tissue nitrogen content, depth, sea surface temperature, light intensity, as well as L. hyperborea canopy density and canopy biomass. Despite their dynamic composition and transient existence, accumulations of L. hyperborea detritus represent valuable repositories of biodiversity and represent an additional kelp forest component which influences secondary productivity, and potentially kelp forest food-web dynamics. •Here we investigated the role of kelp detritus, and understudied habitat compartment within kelp forests, in supporting macroinvertebrate diversity across 9° of latitude.•We found kelp detritus supported high levels of diversity, comparable to other better studied kelp habitat compartments, such as kelp holdfasts, as well as other habitats considered to support high levels of biodiversity such as seagrass meadows.•Key drivers of macrofaunal assemblage structure included detritus tissue nitrogen content, depth, SST, light intensity, as well as L. hyperborea canopy density and canopy biomass.