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Grazer responses to variable macroalgal resource conditions facilitate habitat structuring

Consumer responses to altered resource conditions can vary depending on dietary preference, resource characteristics and secondary resource features such as shelter. These can have cascading effects, especially if the consumed resource impacts on overall ecological functioning. In this study, we ass...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Rishworth, Gavin M., Perissinotto, Renzo, Bird, Matthew S., Pelletier, Noémie
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society Publishing 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5792922/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29410845
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171428
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author Rishworth, Gavin M.
Perissinotto, Renzo
Bird, Matthew S.
Pelletier, Noémie
author_facet Rishworth, Gavin M.
Perissinotto, Renzo
Bird, Matthew S.
Pelletier, Noémie
author_sort Rishworth, Gavin M.
collection PubMed
description Consumer responses to altered resource conditions can vary depending on dietary preference, resource characteristics and secondary resource features such as shelter. These can have cascading effects, especially if the consumed resource impacts on overall ecological functioning. In this study, we assessed the dietary composition of grazer communities following seasonal changes in the characteristics of their staple food-source (macroalgae). This was conducted in the living stromatolite pools growing along the coast of South Africa. Stable isotope mixing models suggested that following macroalgal bleaching in summer, metazoan consumers shifted their diet from predominantly macroalgae to a generalist composition. This has important implications for the integrity of the stromatolite matrix and its layered deposition. Where previously in winter stromatolite microalgae comprised a minor component of metazoan consumer diets, in summer, following a change in the resource conditions of macroalgae, microalgae featured more prominently in grazer diets. This seasonal grazing pressure on stromatolite-related resources probably promotes the pattern of annual layering observed in the stromatolite accretion. It also demonstrates a mechanism whereby grazer dietary shifts following a change in their preferred food resource can affect the ecosystem structure of their environment, specifically the stromatolite layering process which responds to microalgal growth or grazing conditions.
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spelling pubmed-57929222018-02-06 Grazer responses to variable macroalgal resource conditions facilitate habitat structuring Rishworth, Gavin M. Perissinotto, Renzo Bird, Matthew S. Pelletier, Noémie R Soc Open Sci Biology (Whole Organism) Consumer responses to altered resource conditions can vary depending on dietary preference, resource characteristics and secondary resource features such as shelter. These can have cascading effects, especially if the consumed resource impacts on overall ecological functioning. In this study, we assessed the dietary composition of grazer communities following seasonal changes in the characteristics of their staple food-source (macroalgae). This was conducted in the living stromatolite pools growing along the coast of South Africa. Stable isotope mixing models suggested that following macroalgal bleaching in summer, metazoan consumers shifted their diet from predominantly macroalgae to a generalist composition. This has important implications for the integrity of the stromatolite matrix and its layered deposition. Where previously in winter stromatolite microalgae comprised a minor component of metazoan consumer diets, in summer, following a change in the resource conditions of macroalgae, microalgae featured more prominently in grazer diets. This seasonal grazing pressure on stromatolite-related resources probably promotes the pattern of annual layering observed in the stromatolite accretion. It also demonstrates a mechanism whereby grazer dietary shifts following a change in their preferred food resource can affect the ecosystem structure of their environment, specifically the stromatolite layering process which responds to microalgal growth or grazing conditions. The Royal Society Publishing 2018-01-17 /pmc/articles/PMC5792922/ /pubmed/29410845 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171428 Text en © 2018 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Biology (Whole Organism)
Rishworth, Gavin M.
Perissinotto, Renzo
Bird, Matthew S.
Pelletier, Noémie
Grazer responses to variable macroalgal resource conditions facilitate habitat structuring
title Grazer responses to variable macroalgal resource conditions facilitate habitat structuring
title_full Grazer responses to variable macroalgal resource conditions facilitate habitat structuring
title_fullStr Grazer responses to variable macroalgal resource conditions facilitate habitat structuring
title_full_unstemmed Grazer responses to variable macroalgal resource conditions facilitate habitat structuring
title_short Grazer responses to variable macroalgal resource conditions facilitate habitat structuring
title_sort grazer responses to variable macroalgal resource conditions facilitate habitat structuring
topic Biology (Whole Organism)
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5792922/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29410845
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171428
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