Dataset Information

The interactive effect of herbivory, nutrient enrichment and mucilage on shallow rocky macroalgal communities.

ABSTRACT: This paper focuses on the interactive short and long-term effect of three different stressors on a macroalgal assemblage. Three stressors are considered: herbivory, nutrients and mucilage. The experiment was conducted in Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area (Mediterranean Sea) during a bloom of the benthic mucilage-producing microalga Chrysophaeum taylorii (Pelagophyceae); this microalga is recently spreading in the Mediterranean Sea. On a rocky substratum, 36 plots 20 × 20 cm in size were prepared. Factorial combinations of three experimental treatments were applied in triplicate, including three grazing levels crossed with two nutrient enrichment and two mucilage removal treatments. Significant differences were observed among treatments 8 weeks later, at the end of summer. In particular, dark filamentous algae were more abundant in all enriched plots, especially where mucilage and macroalgae had been removed; a higher percent cover of crustose coralline algae was instead observed where nutrients had been increased and no grazing pressure acted. Furthermore, the abundance of Dictyota spp. and Laurencia spp. was significantly higher in enriched mucilage-free plots where the grazing pressure was null or low. However, the effects of the treatments on the overall assemblage of the macroalgal community were not long persistent (36 weeks later). These results illustrate the capacity of a shallow-water macroalgal community to quickly recover from the simultaneous impacts of herbivory, nutrient enrichment, and mucilage.

SUBMITTER: Caronni S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6521808 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The interactive effect of herbivory, nutrient enrichment and mucilage on shallow rocky macroalgal communities.

Caronni Sarah S Calabretti Chiara C Citterio Sandra S Delaria Maria Anna MA Gentili Rodolfo R Macri Giovanni G Montagnani Chiara C Navone Augusto A Panzalis Pieraugusto P Piazza Giulia G Ceccherelli Giulia G

PeerJ 20190513

This paper focuses on the interactive short and long-term effect of three different stressors on a macroalgal assemblage. Three stressors are considered: herbivory, nutrients and mucilage. The experiment was conducted in Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area (Mediterranean Sea) during a bloom of the benthic mucilage-producing microalga <i>Chrysophaeum taylorii</i> (<i>Pelagophyceae</i>); this microalga is recently spreading in the Mediterranean Sea. On a rocky substratum, 36 plots 20 ...[more]

PMID: 31139504

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The interactive effect of herbivory, nutrient enrichment and mucilage on shallow rocky macroalgal communities.

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The interactive effect of herbivory, nutrient enrichment and mucilage on shallow rocky macroalgal communities.

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