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Can a Single Species Challenge Paradigms of Salt Marsh Functioning?

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Abstract

Over the history of ecology, well-established generalizations were refined or even changed after the appearance or consideration of new evidence. Here, we review results obtained in Southwestern Atlantic salt marshes (between southern Brazil −32° 1′ S- and the Argentinean Patagonia −53° 48′ S-). Most of these salt marshes are inhabited by the intertidal burrowing crab Neohelice granulata, a species that influences many ecological processes through bioturbation and herbivory. The experimental evaluation of these processes shows that in some cases, the results were not consistent with generalizations and models of salt marsh ecological functioning. However, this does not imply that the generalizations grounded mainly on the results from North American sites are not valid. In turn, we suggest that these apparently conflicting results emerged because two major processes, herbivory and bioturbation, have been overlooked until recently. Thus, their relative contribution has not been included in the models of salt marsh functioning. In conclusion, we believe that there is a need for performing parallel and simultaneous experiments comparing distant sites with varying environmental (i.e., abiotic and biotic) conditions to be able to uncover common processes and causes of contingencies. Particularly, Southwestern Atlantic salt marshes could lead the way in providing information to better incorporate herbivory and bioturbation into current models or paradigms about how salt marshes work.

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Acknowledgments

We thank P. Martinetto and two anonymous reviewers for greatly improving earlier versions of this manuscript. Results discussed were obtained through a continuous funding from Fundación Antorchas, UNMdP, CONICET, and ANPCyT.

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  1. Laboratorio de Ecología, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), FCEyN, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Juan Alberti, Pedro Daleo, Eugenia Fanjul, Mauricio Escapa, Florencia Botto & Oscar Iribarne

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  1. Juan Alberti
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  2. Pedro Daleo
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Correspondence to Juan Alberti.

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Communicated by Wayne S. Gardner

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Alberti, J., Daleo, P., Fanjul, E. et al. Can a Single Species Challenge Paradigms of Salt Marsh Functioning?. Estuaries and Coasts 38, 1178–1188 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-014-9836-z

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