Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Clara D. Schlieman, Stephen R. Wing, Sorrel A. O'Connell-Milne, Rebecca M. McMullin, Leonardo M. Durante, Stina Kolodzey, Russell D. Frew
Summary: Marine primary production is sensitive to environmental stressors from land-based and maritime anthropogenic activities. This study found significant differences in the composition of basal organic matter supporting bivalve species among sites and regions, highlighting the strong linkages between land use and the composition of organic matter sources. The findings also revealed the impact of salmon farming on the trophic dynamics of shellfish in the coastal zone.
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dillen Ng, Daisuke Taira, Eliza C. Heery, Peter A. Todd
Summary: Marine urbanization often leads to increased artificial coastal defenses and heavy sedimentation, negatively impacting coral reef systems in tropical coastal cities. This study shows that fish assemblages on sloping granite seawalls differ from those on reef flats, with higher feeding activity on seawalls. However, elevated sediment loads may reduce feeding activity on the epilithic algal matrix, limiting its utility as a feeding ground for nearshore communities. These findings highlight the complexities and interactive effects of anthropogenic changes driven by coastal urbanization.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Fengling Li, Zhiyu Liu, Lin Yao, Yanhua Jiang, Meng Qu, Yongxing Yu, Xiuqiong Gong, Zhijun Tan, Zhaojie Li
Summary: Polyfluorinated alkylated substances are recognized as important marine pollutants. Bivalves are used as model organisms to evaluate pollutant toxicity and monitor marine environments. This study investigated the immunotoxicity of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in Ruditapes philippinarum by measuring biomarkers of the immune profile. Hemocytes, an important component of the immune system in bivalves, were studied for changes in proliferation, phagocytosis, cell viability, and immune enzyme activities after exposure to PFOA. The study validated the immunotoxicity of PFOA in R. philippinarum and provided an integrated assessment of stress levels caused by PFOA in the marine environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Fisheries
Javier Sanchez-Hernandez, Sebastian Prati, Eirik Haugstvedt Henriksen, Aslak Smalas, Rune Knudsen, Anders Klemetsen, Per-Arne Amundsen
Summary: Disentangling the causes and consequences of ontogenetic niche shifts is crucial for understanding biological processes at different levels. This study examined the dietary shifts of two fish predators over a period of 20 years and found stable patterns of ontogenetic niche shifts. These persistent patterns reduce intra- and inter-specific competition, thus promoting population and community stability.
REVIEWS IN FISH BIOLOGY AND FISHERIES
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Christin Hemmerling, Michael Ackermann, Liliane Ruess
Summary: In this study, the food preference of three nematode species (Acrobeloides buetschlii, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Pristionchus pacificus) for the food-borne pathogen Salmonella enterica was examined in a modular soil system under semi-natural conditions. The tested nematodes showed a preference for bacterial strains with a low C/N ratio and avoided strains with a high C/N ratio, indicating that food choice is based on nutritional value rather than bacterial pathogenicity. Moreover, enrichment opportunists showed a stronger attraction to a suitable bacterial diet compared to general opportunists. Interestingly, there was no differentiation between common soil bacteria and the pathogen S. enterica.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
T. A. Johnston, A. D. Ehrman, J. J. Montgomery, H. K. Swanson
Summary: Variation among individuals in stable isotope composition is increasingly utilized as an ecological index of trophic niche size, assuming that most of the observed variation comes from differences in diet. The study found that non-dietary variation in delta C-13 and delta N-15 is usually a small component of the total delta C-13 and delta N-15 variation seen in wild lake trout populations, indicating that current isotopic niche metrics primarily capture dietary variation.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Maiara Menezes, Juliana Deo Dias, Guilherme O. Longo
Summary: This field experiment demonstrates that plastic pollution has a negative impact on benthic fish feeding in coral reefs, and fish barely interact with plastic debris.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Ecology
John L. Dryburgh, Jeffrey A. Davis
Summary: Plants defend against herbivores through localized or systemic defenses, potentially impacting other feeding guilds. Understanding the interactions between feeding guilds is crucial for optimizing host plant resistance. Inducing plant resistance with jasmonic acid can reduce herbivore performance and increase virus transmission, with the effect being variety-dependent.
ARTHROPOD-PLANT INTERACTIONS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Eve Galimany, Jessica Lunt, Christopher J. Freeman, I Segura-Garcia, M. Mossop, A. Domingos, J. Houk, Valerie J. Paul
Summary: Bivalve species showed varying clearance rates when exposed to different concentrations of isotopically labeled A. lagunensis cells, with the highest clearance rates at lower cell concentrations. Despite decreasing clearance rates with increasing bloom concentrations, bivalves were still able to consume algal cells at all levels and assimilate more cells at higher concentrations, highlighting the importance of healthy and diverse filter feeding communities in estuaries to combat harmful algal blooms.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Fisheries
Takashi Sakamaki, Yizhe Zheng, Yuji Hatakeyama, Megumu Fujibayashi, Osamu Nishimura
Summary: Proper evaluations of productivity and environmental impacts are essential for sustainable bivalve aquaculture in coastal marine systems. Estimation of organic matter budgets using one-box models provides a useful approach for understanding the interactions between aquaculture and the environment. However, interpretations are influenced by the spatial scale of assessments, as aquaculture facilities and ecosystems are spatially heterogeneous.
Article
Ecology
Anne K. S. Justino, Veronique Lenoble, Latifa Pelage, Guilherme V. B. Ferreira, Rafaela Passarone, Thierry Fredou, Flavia Lucena Fredou
Summary: This study explores the ingestion of microplastics by marine organisms in a tropical estuarine environment, revealing different contamination levels based on feeding strategies. Predators were found to be the most contaminated species, with fibers being the most common type of microplastics ingested. The high contamination levels in the estuarine complex pose potential risks to human health, as the microplastics likely accumulate in sediment and water.
REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Daniela Pinto-Coelho, Marcio Martins, Paulo Roberto Guimaraes Junior
Summary: In ecological communities, larger predators consuming a wider resource range promote nestedness in networks, while predators with specific lifestyles consuming distinct resources promote modularity. The presence of certain species, such as the family Boidae, with specific traits can significantly influence the structure of interaction networks among consumers and resources at the community level.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhiyong Zhang, Bingxue Li, Han Wang, Xiaoke Zhang, Shuyan Cui, Tingting An, Shifeng Fu, Mohammad Mahamood, Di Zhang, Jingkuan Wang
Summary: Increasing plant residue input alters the structure of soil micro-food web and the transformation of exogenous carbon (C). The research findings indicate that increasing organic input changes the composition of the micro-food web, increasing the abundance of bacteria, fungi, and fungivores but not bacterivores.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Lauren E. Graniero, David P. Gillikin, Donna Surge, Zita Kelemen, Steven Bouillon
Summary: This study evaluates the reliability of δ N-15 values in bivalve shells for recording particulate nitrogen values in rivers and estuaries, showing a positive correlation between CBOM and periostracum values. The δ N-15 values in different tissues suggest different trophic levels and N sources, while differences in CBOM values are attributed to land-use changes and species trophic levels.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Lesli C. Hernandez-Mendoza, Luis Escalera-Vazquez, Daniel Arceo-Carranza
Summary: This study compares the trophic dynamics of a fish community in a mangrove ecosystem in the Mexican-Caribbean using different types of fish species as bioindicators. The results show that the feeding characteristics of fish are related to the conservation or restoration status of the mangroves and the trophic dynamics in the community.
FRONTIERS IN FORESTS AND GLOBAL CHANGE
(2022)