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Food web structure and ecosystem multifunctionality in a subsidized coastal ecosystem.

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Marine plant debris fuels sandy beach ecosystems, boosting food web diversity and overall function. This highlights how connected coastal ecosystems are, with impacts on one affecting others.

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Area of Science:

  • Marine ecology
  • Coastal ecosystem dynamics
  • Ecosystem services

Background:

  • Ecosystems face increasing threats from local development and climate change.
  • Ecosystems with limited primary production often rely on external resource inputs.
  • Sandy beaches are particularly vulnerable to changes in resource availability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of basal resource availability on sandy beach community structure and ecosystem multifunctionality.
  • To determine the role of marine macrophyte wrack in supporting beach ecosystems.
  • To understand the relationship between resource inputs, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning.

Main Methods:

  • Piecewise structural equation modeling was used to analyze data.
  • Quantified the abundance of marine macrophyte wrack.
  • Assessed beach food web diversity, macroinvertebrate biomass, and ecosystem multifunctionality.

Main Results:

  • Wrack abundance positively influenced beach food web diversity and macroinvertebrate biomass (detritivores and predators).
  • Ecosystem multifunctionality was enhanced by both resource inputs and biodiversity.
  • Biodiversity's contribution to multifunctionality was significantly supported by wrack inputs.
  • Shorebird populations (top predators) showed responses similar to resource availability.

Conclusions:

  • Marine macrophyte wrack acts as a crucial detrital subsidy, supporting sandy beach ecosystems.
  • Foundation species like kelp can significantly influence distant recipient ecosystems.
  • The high degree of coupling in coastal ecosystems means impacts on donor ecosystems can cascade to subsidized ones.