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Updated: Jan 12, 2026
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Design and Use of an Apparatus for Quantifying Bivalve Suspension Feeding at Sea
Published on: September 5, 2018
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Food web structure and ecosystem multifunctionality in a subsidized coastal ecosystem
Kyle A Emery1,2, Jenifer E Dugan3, David M Hubbard3
1Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA. emery@ucsb.edu.
Scientific Reports
|November 7, 2025
Summary
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.
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.
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