کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
9448726 1305948 2005 16 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
The relative importance of herbivore-induced effects on productivity of crustose coralline algae: Sea urchin grazing and nitrogen excretion
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم زیستی و بیوفناوری علوم کشاورزی و بیولوژیک علوم آبزیان
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
The relative importance of herbivore-induced effects on productivity of crustose coralline algae: Sea urchin grazing and nitrogen excretion
چکیده انگلیسی
In Hong Kong, the sea urchin, Anthocidaris crassispina (A. Agassiz, 1863), is an important grazer in low-shore rock pools, which are dominated by crustose coralline algae (CCA > 70% cover). The pools are emersed for an average of ∼ 6 h during daytime low tides, at which time the pool water becomes nitrogen enriched, primarily due to urchin excretion. This nitrogen enhancement potentially provides an episodic, additional, nitrogen source for the CCA. Factorial laboratory experiments were conducted to examine whether this nitrogen source contributed to CCA primary productivity and the relative importance of sea urchin induced effects (grazing vs. nitrogen regeneration). Urchin grazing significantly stimulated area-specific CCA productivity, although the CCA showed no response to nitrogen excretion, suggesting these algae were not nitrogen limited. This grazing enhanced CCA productivity apparently facilitates CCA to quickly occupy newly released, small, patches (cm) of bare surface and suggests that top-down (grazing) effects are more important then bottom-up (nitrogen) effects in controlling the dominance of CCA in low-shore, tropical, rock pools.
ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology - Volume 324, Issue 2, 10 November 2005, Pages 141-156
نویسندگان
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