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.

Primary Presenter: Federica Manca, University of Helsinki (federica.manca@helsinki.fi)

Authors:

Federica Manca, University of Helsinki  (federica.manca@helsinki.fi)

Camilla Gustafsson, University of Helsinki  (camilla.gustafsson@helsinki.fi)

Mar Cabeza, University of Helsinki  (mar.cabeza@helsinki.fi)

Alf Norkko, University of Helsinki  (alf.norkko@helsinki.fi)

Giovanni Strona, European Commission, Joint Research Centre  (giovanni.strona@ec.europa.eu)