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Taxonomic and functional nematode diversity in Maldivian coral degradation zones: patterns across reef typologies and depths

The intensification of dredging and infilling activities in lagoons and on coral reefs are common practices in the Maldivian archipelago, and these activities alter the biodiversity of the bioconstructors and the functioning of the ecosystem. The alteration of environmental factors can also affect i...

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Autores principales: Grassi, Eleonora, Montefalcone, Monica, Cesaroni, Lucia, Guidi, Loretta, Balsamo, Maria, Semprucci, Federica
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9250765/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35791363
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13644
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author Grassi, Eleonora
Montefalcone, Monica
Cesaroni, Lucia
Guidi, Loretta
Balsamo, Maria
Semprucci, Federica
author_facet Grassi, Eleonora
Montefalcone, Monica
Cesaroni, Lucia
Guidi, Loretta
Balsamo, Maria
Semprucci, Federica
author_sort Grassi, Eleonora
collection PubMed
description The intensification of dredging and infilling activities in lagoons and on coral reefs are common practices in the Maldivian archipelago, and these activities alter the biodiversity of the bioconstructors and the functioning of the ecosystem. The alteration of environmental factors can also affect inconspicuous fauna, such as free-living nematodes. The implications of a reduction in biodiversity may transcend decreased taxonomic diversity, resulting in changes in functional diversity and redundancy; however, how the environmental conditions and human pressure affects the functionality of nematodes in Maldivian coral degradation zones (CDZs) remain poorly understood. In this paper, we examined changes in the taxonomic and functional diversity and the functional redundancy in nematode communities regarding the geographic location (atolls with various levels of human pressure), the exposure and topography of the reef (lagoon and ocean), the slope of the reef, and the depth. The functional diversity and redundancy were evaluated by considering two main biological traits of nematodes: i) the trophic strategy, and ii) the life strategy. The extremely high number of nematode genera observed in the Maldives is supported by the high complexity of the carbonate sediments. The reef exposure and depth were the most relevant environmental factors that influenced the taxonomic and functional diversity. The functional diversity, according to the trophic strategies, mirrored the taxonomic diversity because the adaptive plasticity of nematode buccal cavity structures is closely associated with the high biodiversity of the phylum. The high abundance of k-strategists in ocean reefs may indicate a higher ecological quality when compared to lagoon reefs; however, the absence of significant differences in life strategy functional diversity and functional redundancy indicates that a recovery process is underway. Analyses of nematode communities should be combined with standard investigations of reef bioconstructors during monitoring activities to assess the vulnerability of CDZ systems to future disturbances and facilitate the adoption of the most appropriate preventative actions.
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spelling pubmed-92507652022-07-04 Taxonomic and functional nematode diversity in Maldivian coral degradation zones: patterns across reef typologies and depths Grassi, Eleonora Montefalcone, Monica Cesaroni, Lucia Guidi, Loretta Balsamo, Maria Semprucci, Federica PeerJ Biodiversity The intensification of dredging and infilling activities in lagoons and on coral reefs are common practices in the Maldivian archipelago, and these activities alter the biodiversity of the bioconstructors and the functioning of the ecosystem. The alteration of environmental factors can also affect inconspicuous fauna, such as free-living nematodes. The implications of a reduction in biodiversity may transcend decreased taxonomic diversity, resulting in changes in functional diversity and redundancy; however, how the environmental conditions and human pressure affects the functionality of nematodes in Maldivian coral degradation zones (CDZs) remain poorly understood. In this paper, we examined changes in the taxonomic and functional diversity and the functional redundancy in nematode communities regarding the geographic location (atolls with various levels of human pressure), the exposure and topography of the reef (lagoon and ocean), the slope of the reef, and the depth. The functional diversity and redundancy were evaluated by considering two main biological traits of nematodes: i) the trophic strategy, and ii) the life strategy. The extremely high number of nematode genera observed in the Maldives is supported by the high complexity of the carbonate sediments. The reef exposure and depth were the most relevant environmental factors that influenced the taxonomic and functional diversity. The functional diversity, according to the trophic strategies, mirrored the taxonomic diversity because the adaptive plasticity of nematode buccal cavity structures is closely associated with the high biodiversity of the phylum. The high abundance of k-strategists in ocean reefs may indicate a higher ecological quality when compared to lagoon reefs; however, the absence of significant differences in life strategy functional diversity and functional redundancy indicates that a recovery process is underway. Analyses of nematode communities should be combined with standard investigations of reef bioconstructors during monitoring activities to assess the vulnerability of CDZ systems to future disturbances and facilitate the adoption of the most appropriate preventative actions. PeerJ Inc. 2022-06-30 /pmc/articles/PMC9250765/ /pubmed/35791363 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13644 Text en © 2022 Grassi et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Biodiversity
Grassi, Eleonora
Montefalcone, Monica
Cesaroni, Lucia
Guidi, Loretta
Balsamo, Maria
Semprucci, Federica
Taxonomic and functional nematode diversity in Maldivian coral degradation zones: patterns across reef typologies and depths
title Taxonomic and functional nematode diversity in Maldivian coral degradation zones: patterns across reef typologies and depths
title_full Taxonomic and functional nematode diversity in Maldivian coral degradation zones: patterns across reef typologies and depths
title_fullStr Taxonomic and functional nematode diversity in Maldivian coral degradation zones: patterns across reef typologies and depths
title_full_unstemmed Taxonomic and functional nematode diversity in Maldivian coral degradation zones: patterns across reef typologies and depths
title_short Taxonomic and functional nematode diversity in Maldivian coral degradation zones: patterns across reef typologies and depths
title_sort taxonomic and functional nematode diversity in maldivian coral degradation zones: patterns across reef typologies and depths
topic Biodiversity
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9250765/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35791363
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13644
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