Article
Ecology
Laura E. Dee, Aislyn A. Keyes
Summary: Biodiversity plays a crucial role in ecosystem services, but determining its specific contributions is challenging. Previous efforts have focused on identifying direct providers of services, but much less is known about how species indirectly influence ecosystem services through interactions with those direct providers. By compiling data sets and ecological networks, this study aims to advance knowledge of supporting species and develop new methods for ecosystem services. The data generated provides valuable information for understanding the importance of biodiversity in ecosystem services.
Article
Fisheries
Jacob E. Lerner, Christian Marchese, Brian P. Hunt
Summary: In coastal marine food webs, food chain length and trophic level distribution are crucial elements of ecosystem-based management. This study evaluates the hypothesis that high primary production leads to lower trophic levels and shorter food chain length in British Columbia coast. The results support this hypothesis, showing a significant inverse relationship between primary production and food chain length as well as trophic level.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lara M. Pinheiro, Isadora Carvalho, Vanessa O. Agostini, Gustavo Martinez-Souza, Tamara S. Galloway, Grasiela L. L. Pinho
Summary: The study found a significant plastic contamination of salt marshes in the Patos Lagoon, with most items being made of plastic and originating from food packaging, fishery, shipping activities, and personal use. While solid litter quantities were significantly higher in the dry zone, there was a tendency of increased biofouling towards the flooded zone, indicating a heterogeneous distribution of fouling communities.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Pei Zhang, Zaichao Yang, Jihua Wu
Summary: Livestock grazing generally enhances ecosystem multifunctionality in salt marshes, with a stronger impact in the middle marshes than in the high ones. Despite some indicators decreasing under grazing, activities of soil microbes and nematodes, soil nitrogen pool, nitrogen mineralization, decomposition, and soil respiration all increased.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Emily S. Choy, Louise K. Blight, John E. Elliott, Keith A. Hobson, Michelle Zanuttig, Kyle H. Elliott
Summary: The shift in diet of glaucous-winged gulls from mainly marine to including more terrestrial/freshwater inputs may have counteracted the increased deposition of mercury from long-range transport. No significant trend was observed in the concentrations of methylmercury and total mercury in glaucous-winged gull feathers from 1887 to 1996. However, the concentrations of total mercury in eggs of two species of cormorants decreased, potentially due to a decrease in local mercury sources.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biology
Mattia Sacco, Nicole E. White, Chris Harrod, Gonzalo Salazar, Pablo Aguilar, Carolina F. Cubillos, Karina Meredith, Bonnie K. Baxter, Aharon Oren, Elena Anufriieva, Nickolai Shadrin, Yeri Marambio-Alfaro, Victor Bravo-Naranjo, Morten E. Allentoft
Summary: This article explores the ecological dynamics of hypersaline ecosystems, addressing unique features of hypersaline lakes from biological and geochemical perspectives, the biota inhabiting these systems and their adaptations, strategies for protecting biodiversity, and scientific tools for future preservation efforts. It sheds light on the understudied ecosystems and advocates for the importance of conserving hypersaline lakes for their unique biodiversity.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jing Li, Lijuan Cui, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Juntao Wang, Yinuo Zhu, Rumiao Wang, Wei Li, Yinru Lei, Xiajie Zhai, Xinsheng Zhao, Brajesh K. Singh
Summary: This study investigated the shifts of microbial communities and soil multifunctionality along a vegetation gradient in a salt marsh ecosystem. The results showed that vegetation type had a significant impact on soil multifunctionality, and there was a positive correlation between fungal richness and soil multifunctionality.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Joseph J. Bizzarro, John C. Field, Jarrod A. Santora, K. Alexandra Curtis, Brian K. Wells
Summary: This study defines trophic guilds within biogeographic regions of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) and compares the results among these regions. The researchers found that each region had distinctive trophic guild structures, driven by species composition and ecological characteristics. They also emphasize the importance of considering spatial and temporal scales of coherence in predator and prey dynamics for ecosystem modeling and management strategies.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Kathryn M. Beheshti, Kerstin Wasson, Christine Angelini, Brian R. Silliman, Brent B. Hughes
Summary: Consumers, such as shore crabs, play a crucial role in regulating vegetation and soil structure in salt marsh ecosystems. Studies have shown that top-down control by shore crabs may have significant, yet underappreciated impacts on salt marsh communities in the Western Pacific, Eastern Pacific, and Western Atlantic regions.
Article
Environmental Sciences
N. Bada, Z. Da Ros, F. Rindi, S. Busi, E. Azzurro, F. Derbal, E. Fanelli
Summary: The study revealed significant seasonal variations in the diet of the sally lightfoot crab, improving understanding of its trophic plasticity and potential dietary overlaps with other herbivore species. This feeding plasticity is advantageous for the successful spread of the species in the Mediterranean Sea.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xue Chen, Zeng Zhou, Qiang He, Heyue Zhang, Tjeerd Bouma, Zheng Gong, Ian Townend, Changkuan Zhang
Summary: Based on a two-year continuous observation at a tidal wetland in the northern Jiangsu Coast, China, this study explored the relationship between crab burrow density and environmental variables. The study provides comprehensive field data for understanding crab burrow distribution and a scientific basis for sustainable management of tidal wetlands.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Philine S. E. zu Ermgassen, Ronald Baker, Michael W. Beck, Kate Dodds, Sophus O. S. E. zu Ermgassen, Debbrota Mallick, Matthew D. Taylor, R. Eugene Turner
Summary: Tidal marshes are economically valuable habitats that have experienced significant declines globally. Understanding and valuing ecosystem services plays a key role in conserving and restoring marshes, although there are hesitations regarding valuation and its application in decision-making. The quantification and valuation of ecosystem services are already influencing decision-making by coastal risk managers, insurers, engineers, and policy makers, indicating a growing recognition of the importance of ecosystem services in salt marsh conservation and restoration.
ESTUARIES AND COASTS
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Andrey G. Zuev, Marina G. Krivosheina, Vladislav D. Leonov, Maarja oepik, Martti Vasar, Anna K. Saraeva, Alexei V. Tiunov, Anton A. Goncharov
Summary: This study found that mycorrhizal fungi serve as a potentially abundant carbon resource for soil animals, but their role in soil food webs is still not well understood.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ronald Baker, Katya Abrantes, Ilka C. Feller
Summary: Mangroves and salt marshes are considered important habitats for a variety of fishery and other species, with a key role in fueling aquatic food webs. However, field sampling suggests that these wetland producers play a limited role in supporting aquatic consumers. Strong correlations were found between micro-algal sources and aquatic consumers across the ecotone.
ESTUARIES AND COASTS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gabriel Gellner, Kevin McCann, Alan Hastings
Summary: This study uses an inverse approach to investigate the relationship between diversity and stability. By comparing classic random matrix models with energetically constrained feasible models, it is found that the latter produces more stable high-diversity food webs. These energetically constrained webs show an increasing number of weak interactions, which can enhance local stability.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)