Dataset: Invertebrate survival: Invertebrate survival rates from feeding experiments, conducted at Bodega Marine Laboratory, where food sources (eelgrass (Zostera marina) genotypes) were varied

Final no updates expectedDOI: 10.1575/1912/bco-dmo.715405.1Version 1 (2017-09-15)Dataset Type:experimental

Principal Investigator: John J. Stachowicz (University of California-Davis)

Co-Principal Investigator: Richard K. Grosberg (University of California-Davis)

Co-Principal Investigator: Susan L. Williams (University of California - Davis: Bodega Marine Laboratory)

Contact: Laura K. Reynolds (University of Florida)

BCO-DMO Data Manager: Shannon Rauch (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)


Project: Connecting genetic diversity to ecosystem functioning: links between genetic diversity, relatedness and trait variation in a seagrass community (Genetic Div to Ecosys Functioning)


Abstract

Seagrass meadows are among the world's most productive ecosystems, and as in many other systems, genetic diversity is correlated with increased production. However, only a small fraction of seagrass production is directly consumed, and instead much of the secondary production is fueled by the detrital food web. Here, we study the roles of plant genetic diversity and grazer species diversity on detrital consumption in California eelgrass Zostera marina meadows. We used three common mesograzers—an...

Show more

In this project, we examined the effect of eelgrass genetic and invertebrate species diversity on detrital consumption and animal survival rates in a series of laboratory experiments.

Abstract:
​Seagrass meadows are among the world's most productive ecosystems, and as in many other systems, genetic diversity is correlated with increased production. However, only a small fraction of seagrass production is directly consumed, and instead much of the secondary production is fueled by the detrital food web. Here, we study the roles of plant genetic diversity and grazer species diversity on detrital consumption in California eelgrass Zostera marina meadows. We used three common mesograzers—an amphipod, Ampithoe lacertosa, an isopod, Idotea resecata, and a polychaete, Platynereis bicanaliculata. In this experiment, we raised communities of either Ampithoe lacertosa or communities of all three mesograzers on either no food, eelgrass detritus from a single clone, or eelgrass detritus from 3 of from 6 different clones. Under monospecific grazer assemblages, plant genetic identity but not diversity influenced detritus consumption. However, more realistic, diverse mesoconsumer communities combined with high plant-detrital genotypic diversity resulted in greater consumption and grazer survival. 

These data are illustrated in figure 6 of Reynolds et al., 2017 (DOI:10.1111/oik.04471)


Related Datasets

No Related Datasets

Related Publications

Results

Reynolds, L. K., Chan, K. M., Huynh, E., Williams, S. L., & Stachowicz, J. J. (2017). Plant genotype identity and diversity interact with mesograzer species diversity to influence detrital consumption in eelgrass meadows. Oikos, 127(2), 327–336. doi:10.1111/oik.04471