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Living apart-together: Microhabitat differentiation of cryptic nematode species in a saltmarsh habitat

Coexistence of highly similar species is at odds with ecological theory of competition; coexistence, then, requires stabilizing mechanisms such as differences in ecological niche. In the bacterivore nematode Litoditis marina species complex, which occurs associated with macro-algae, four cryptic lin...

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Autores principales: Guden, Rodgee Mae, Vafeiadou, Anna-Maria, De Meester, Nele, Derycke, Sofie, Moens, Tom
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6160205/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30261070
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204750
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author Guden, Rodgee Mae
Vafeiadou, Anna-Maria
De Meester, Nele
Derycke, Sofie
Moens, Tom
author_facet Guden, Rodgee Mae
Vafeiadou, Anna-Maria
De Meester, Nele
Derycke, Sofie
Moens, Tom
author_sort Guden, Rodgee Mae
collection PubMed
description Coexistence of highly similar species is at odds with ecological theory of competition; coexistence, then, requires stabilizing mechanisms such as differences in ecological niche. In the bacterivore nematode Litoditis marina species complex, which occurs associated with macro-algae, four cryptic lineages (Pm I-IV) co-occur in the field along the south-western coast and estuaries of The Netherlands. Here we investigate the temporal and/or spatial niche differentiation in their natural environment using a qPCR-based detection and relative quantification method. We collected different algal species (i.e. two Fucus species and Ulva sp.) and separated algal structures (i.e. receptacula, thalli, non-fertile tips and bladders) at different sampling months and times (i.e. twice per sampling month), to examine differences in microhabitat use between coexisting L. marina species. Results demonstrate that the cryptic species composition varied among different algal species and algal structures, which was also subject to temporal shifts. Pm I dominated on Fucus spp., Pm II showed dominance on Ulva sp., while Pm III overall had the lowest frequencies. Microhabitat partitioning was most pronounced between the two cryptic species which had similar microbiomes (Pm I and Pm II), and less so between the two species which had significantly different microbiomes (Pm I and Pm III), suggesting that species which share the same microhabitats may avoid competition through resource partitioning. The interplay of microhabitat differentiation and temporal dynamics among the cryptic species of L. marina implies that there is a complex interaction between biotic components and abiotic factors which contributes to their coexistence in the field.
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spelling pubmed-61602052018-10-19 Living apart-together: Microhabitat differentiation of cryptic nematode species in a saltmarsh habitat Guden, Rodgee Mae Vafeiadou, Anna-Maria De Meester, Nele Derycke, Sofie Moens, Tom PLoS One Research Article Coexistence of highly similar species is at odds with ecological theory of competition; coexistence, then, requires stabilizing mechanisms such as differences in ecological niche. In the bacterivore nematode Litoditis marina species complex, which occurs associated with macro-algae, four cryptic lineages (Pm I-IV) co-occur in the field along the south-western coast and estuaries of The Netherlands. Here we investigate the temporal and/or spatial niche differentiation in their natural environment using a qPCR-based detection and relative quantification method. We collected different algal species (i.e. two Fucus species and Ulva sp.) and separated algal structures (i.e. receptacula, thalli, non-fertile tips and bladders) at different sampling months and times (i.e. twice per sampling month), to examine differences in microhabitat use between coexisting L. marina species. Results demonstrate that the cryptic species composition varied among different algal species and algal structures, which was also subject to temporal shifts. Pm I dominated on Fucus spp., Pm II showed dominance on Ulva sp., while Pm III overall had the lowest frequencies. Microhabitat partitioning was most pronounced between the two cryptic species which had similar microbiomes (Pm I and Pm II), and less so between the two species which had significantly different microbiomes (Pm I and Pm III), suggesting that species which share the same microhabitats may avoid competition through resource partitioning. The interplay of microhabitat differentiation and temporal dynamics among the cryptic species of L. marina implies that there is a complex interaction between biotic components and abiotic factors which contributes to their coexistence in the field. Public Library of Science 2018-09-27 /pmc/articles/PMC6160205/ /pubmed/30261070 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204750 Text en © 2018 Guden et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Guden, Rodgee Mae
Vafeiadou, Anna-Maria
De Meester, Nele
Derycke, Sofie
Moens, Tom
Living apart-together: Microhabitat differentiation of cryptic nematode species in a saltmarsh habitat
title Living apart-together: Microhabitat differentiation of cryptic nematode species in a saltmarsh habitat
title_full Living apart-together: Microhabitat differentiation of cryptic nematode species in a saltmarsh habitat
title_fullStr Living apart-together: Microhabitat differentiation of cryptic nematode species in a saltmarsh habitat
title_full_unstemmed Living apart-together: Microhabitat differentiation of cryptic nematode species in a saltmarsh habitat
title_short Living apart-together: Microhabitat differentiation of cryptic nematode species in a saltmarsh habitat
title_sort living apart-together: microhabitat differentiation of cryptic nematode species in a saltmarsh habitat
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6160205/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30261070
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204750
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