Lead Organizer: Kyle Emery, University of California, Los Angeles (kyleemery@ucla.edu)
Co-organizers:
Lluis Gomez-Pujol, University of the Balearic Islands (lgomez-pujol@uib.es)
Presentations
05:00 PM
Connectivity in tropical seascapes: An eco-hydrological perspective (5033)
Primary Presenter: Cecile Vulliet, James Cool University (cecile.vulliet@my.jcu.edu.au)
Tropical tidal wetlands are some of the most productive ecosystems on the planet. Yet, their values and resilience are threatened by anthropogenic activities and climate change. Paradoxically, our understanding of tidal wetlands functionality is principally conceptual, which precludes effective restoration and management of tropical seascapes. A quantitative understanding of tidal wetland hydrology such as hydroperiod (duration, depth, and frequency of inundation) is notably lacking. This represents a critical knowledge gap as hydrology is a key driver of seascape connectivity, productivity, and resilience. Therefore, developing accessible models of tidal wetland hydrological dynamics is urgently needed. Here, we present a high-resolution two-dimensional model of tidal dynamics in a tropical seascape using a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)-derived DEM (Digital Elevation Model) and photogrammetry. The effects of tidal dynamics on wetland vegetation distribution and on the role of tropical wetlands as exporters of trophic subsidies are then briefly explored. Together, this research illustrates some of the drivers of tropical seascape connectivity and highlights the importance of embracing hydrology and ecology to improve tropical seascapes management and restoration, while straightening resilience at the wetland and seascape scales.
05:15 PM
SPATIAL SCALES OF CONNECTIVITY IN SUBSIDY-DEPENDENT COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS (4644)
Primary Presenter: Kyle Emery, University of California, Los Angeles (kyleemery@ucla.edu)
Maintaining ecosystem connectivity is a key factor in the resilience of ecosystems to climate change. Subsidies of material and energy from donor ecosystems can significantly influence the structure and dynamics of recipient communities and food webs. The largest observed cross-ecosystem fluxes are from marine to terrestrial systems, consist of exported primary production, and are driven by currents and tides. An exceptional example is the substantial subsidy of organic matter exported by highly productive nearshore kelp forests to sandy beaches. The wrack subsidies exported from kelp forests to beaches support their biodiversity and numerous ecosystem functions as well as fuel highly productive beach food webs. Kelp wrack inputs to beaches are highly dynamic, but the relative spatial scale at which this connectivity occurs is largely unknown. Here, we use local (100 m) to regional (100 km) scale measurements of kelp wrack inputs along with nearshore kelp supply, via Landsat-derived kelp canopy biomass estimates, to determine the scale at which connectivity between beaches and kelp forests is maximized. Our results indicated that connectivity is maximized at scales of less than 10 km. Further, these relationships are strongest in winter and weakest in summer. In addition, the form of kelp (wrack vs. whole plants) is an important factor in determining the spatial scale of connectivity with kelp forests. Elucidating the fine-scale variability in ecosystem subsidies will be critical as ecosystem connectivity is weakened through climate change and anthropogenic development.
05:30 PM
EXPLORING ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS OF MARINE MACROPHYTES AND ASSOCIATED FAUNA IN THE BALTIC SEA (6269)
Primary Presenter: Federica Manca, University of Helsinki (federica.manca@helsinki.fi)
Understanding how ecological interactions affect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has become a central issue in ecology and conservation. Ecological network analysis provides powerful analytical tools to look at ecosystems from a novel, holistic perspective accounting for species and interactions altogether. Although the interest in ecological networks has steadily grown, some systems remain unexplored. Among these are macrophyte-animal associations in coastal habitats. Marine macrophytes (macroalgae and vascular plants) deliver important ecosystem services and are a primary source of nutrition and critical habitat to a variety of associated species. Macrophyte communities are however facing extensive shifts due to climate change and anthropogenic pressure, with potential effects on their associated fauna and coastal biodiversity at large. Despite their key ecological role, the mechanisms through which macrophytes support their associated species are still unclear, hindering our ability to predict how these systems will change in future decades. In this study, we use field data on macrophyte-epifauna associations in the Baltic Sea to illustrate how network analysis can help unveil the complexity of macrophyte-animal systems and understand how they will respond to ongoing and future threats, hence broadening our understanding of coastal ecosystem functioning.
05:45 PM
TROPHIC RESOURCE USE BY ARCTIC FISHES ACROSS BEAUFORT SEA COASTAL LAGOONS (7137)
Primary Presenter: Sydney Wilkinson, University of Alaska Fairbanks (swilkinson4@alaska.edu)
The Arctic is heating up nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet as reflected by warming ocean and coastal waters, reduced sea ice extent, thawing permafrost, and eroding coastlines. These changes affect the availability of organic matter from various marine or terrestrial origins that form the base of coastal lagoon food webs. The consequences to nearshore food webs for fish are manifested through shifts in their species composition, abundance, growth, and reproduction. Such adjustments can differ regionally or by species. Here, we aim to determine trophic resource use in multiple marine and diadromous fish species from several Arctic Beaufort Sea coastal lagoons using short and long time-scale markers of diet. First, a short-term diet snapshot was determined from stomach contents of Arctic fishes (Arctic cod, saffron cod, Arctic cisco, least cisco, fourhorn sculpin, Dolly Varden) from three regions (Utqiaġvik, Prudhoe Bay, Kaktovik). Analysis of diet composition revealed differences among species and by region. Secondly, trophic niche width, trophic position, and ultimate carbon sources of these six fish species at longer time scales (months) were determined by bulk carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic analysis and compound-specific amino acid carbon stable isotope analysis. Long-term markers indicated that marine residents assimilated carbon at higher tropic levels with strong connections to marine primary producers. Conversely, diadromous species feed at lower trophic levels and source carbon from a wider variety of organic matter sources. Our findings provide a better understanding of the current trophic resource for fish species that are important ecologically and for local subsistence. This work demonstrates the diversity of carbon sources that are seasonally available to sustain coastal fish populations in the context of anticipated ecosystem disruptions associated with climate warming.
06:00 PM
PRIMARY COLONIZATION AND EARLY SUCCESSION STAGES IN THE RECENT MARINE LAVA DELTAS OF LA PALMA (CANARY ISLANDS) (6560)
Primary Presenter: Daniel Alvarez-Canali, Universidad de La Laguna (dalvarec@ull.edu.es)
In September 2021 a volcanic eruption started in La Palma (Canary Islands), lasting for almost 3 months. During this episode, several lava flows reached the coast, creating two lava deltas with a total surface area of about 50 hectares, and reaching depths of over 100 meters in some points. In this study, we have followed the primary colonization and early succession of fishes, invertebrates and macroalgae in these new and morphologically complex intertidal and shallow subtidal environments. In general, the new lava deltas are still significantly different than the control areas, but community response has been different in the three groups and two environments (intertidal and subtidal) studied in terms of species richness and abundances. Fishes rapidly colonized the new areas, and have similar richness and abundances to the control zones after only seven months of monitoring. Invertebrates have shown a continuous increase in abundance and richness, still lower than in the control areas, and at different rates in both intertidal and subtidal. Macroalgae quickly covered almost 100% of the available substrate in the intertidal, with a distinctly lower cover in the subtidal, and richness has been in continuous fluctuation marked by the succession of seasonal species.
06:15 PM
Ecosystem services derived from SGD: insights from both academic and local knowledge in Mediterranean societies (5975)
Primary Presenter: Aaron Alorda-Kleinglass, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (aaron.alorda@gmail.com)
Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD) is recognized as a fundamental hydrological resource that supports many coastal biogeochemical cycles and can play an important role in social-ecological systems. Coastal services provided by ecosystems dependent on SGD can be analyzed under the Ecosystem Services Framework, which enables identifying and discussing both benefits and threats to coastal societies resulting from SGD outcomes. Due to the lack of academic literature on this matter, here we explore the academic and local knowledge of the social perception toward SGD and its ecosystem services (ES). This research is conducted through two case studies, the island of Mallorca and the Region of Salento, to unravel the similarities and particularities of each Mediterranean society regarding the SGD-ES identified and their historical evolution. Such evolution transitions from the management of the fresh groundwaters for human consumption to the exploitation by the tourism industry of cultural ecosystem services related to the same discharge. Combing traditional and academic knowledge are key to accessing society's perception of most cultural ES. Therefore, SGD-ES studies are extremely locally-dependent, and thus regional or global require an in-depth understanding of all areas comprehended in the study. Overall, this research presents to the academic community new insights from traditional knowledge and an opportunity to integrate interdisciplinarity into a study subject that has usually only been looked from the prism of natural sciences.
CS039 Coastal Ecosystems
Description
Time: 5:00 PM
Date: 7/6/2023
Room: Sala Menorca B