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  • New England rocky intertidal zone  (1)
  • Salt marsh  (1)
  • 1995-1999  (2)
  • 1
    ISSN: 1432-1939
    Keywords: Key words Density-dependent foraging ; Flow-mediated recruitment ; New England rocky intertidal zone ; Positive interactions ; Species borders
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract We examined the relative contribution of recruitment, intraspecific species interactions, and predation in controlling the upper intertidal border of the northern acorn barnacle, Semibalanusbalanoides, in a tidal estuary in Maine. We hypothesized that the contracted border at sites that experienced low tidal currents was due to flow-mediated recruitment that resulted in reduced survival due to the absence of neighbor buffering of thermal stress (i.e., positive intraspecific interactions). We tested this hypothesis by manipulating the density of recently settled barnacles and their thermal environment in a field experiment. Counter to our original hypothesis, barnacles with neighbors suffered severe mortality at low-flow sites. When density-dependent predation by the green crab (Carcinusmaenus) was experimentally eliminated, however, we did detect evidence for positive interactions at the low-flow sites but not at the high-flow sites. In spite of the close proximity of the sites, maximum daily rock temperatures at the low-flow sites were slightly, but consistently, greater than those at high-flow sites. Our findings suggest that the upper intertidal border of S. balanoides in the Damariscotta River is limited at low-flow sites by a combination of reduced recruitment, elevated mortality from thermal stress and enhanced predation by green crabs. More generally, our findings highlight how physical stress and predation interact to alter the nature of density-dependent species interactions in natural assemblages.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 2
    ISSN: 1432-1939
    Keywords: Key words Nitrogen ; Salt marsh ; Positive interaction ; Insect herbivory ; Trophic interaction
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Nutrients can structure communities by influencing both plant interactions and plant herbivore interactions, though rarely do studies integrate these processes. In this study we examined how nitrogen fertilization influenced (1) the positive interaction between the marsh elder, Iva frutescens, and the black rush, Juncusgerardi, and (2) the quality of Iva as a host plant for the aphid, Uroleuconambrosiae. Previous studies have shown that by mitigating soil salt accumulation and hypoxia, Juncus is essential to the survival of Iva and its aphid herbivore at mid-marsh elevations. To address the effects of nitrogen on this interaction, we compared fertilized and unfertilized Iva plants subject to Juncus removal and control treatments in the field. Additionally, we measured the monthly population growth rates of aphids transplanted onto these Iva plants. Iva leaf biomass and flower number results indicated that fertilizing Iva eliminated its dependence upon Juncus, such that fertilized plants grown without Juncus were not different from unmanipulated plants. Aphid monthly population growth rates through mid-summer revealed that fertilization also eliminated the indirect dependency of aphids on Juncus, so that aphid growth rates on fertilized Iva without Juncus neighbors were similar to rates on unmanipulated Iva. Results also indicated that fertilizing Iva grown with Juncus increased Iva size, potentially enabling these plants to support larger aphid populations. Our results suggest that only under conditions of nitrogen limitation are the positive effects of Juncus essential to the mid-marsh persistence of Iva and its aphid herbivore. Furthermore, we found that nitrogen effects on aphid populations may arise not only from a direct effect of nutrients on Iva size but also through the indirect effects of nitrogen on the interaction between Juncus and Iva. We argue that studies integrating processes occurring both within and between trophic levels, are important to fully understanding the community-wide effects of nutrients.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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