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Differential benthic community response to increased habitat complexity mediated by an invasive barnacle

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Abstract

Invasive species threaten native ecosystems worldwide. However, these species can interact positively with local communities, increasing their richness, or the abundance of some species. Many invasive species are capable of influencing the habitat itself, by ameliorating physical stress and facilitating the colonization and survival of other organisms. Barnacles are common engineer species that can change the physical structure of the environment, its complexity, and heterogeneity through their own structure. Balanus glandula is a native barnacle of the rocky shores of the west coast of North America. In Argentina, this invasive species not only colonizes rocky shores but it also has successfully colonized soft-bottom salt marshes, where hard substrata are a limiting resource. In these environments, barnacles form three-dimensional structures that increase the structural complexity of the invaded salt marshes. In this work, we compared the composition, density, richness, and diversity of the macroinvertebrate assemblages associated with habitats of different structural complexity in two Patagonian salt marshes where B. glandula is well established. Our results showed differences in the relative distribution and abundances of the invertebrate species between habitats of different complexities. Furthermore, the response of the communities to the changes in the structural complexity generated by B. glandula was different in the two marshes studied. This highlights the fact that B. glandula facilitates other invertebrates and affect community structure, mainly where the settlement substrata (Spartina vs. mussels) are not functionally similar to the barnacle. Thus, our work shows that the rocky shore B. glandula is currently a critical structuring component of the native invertebrate community of soft-bottom environments where this species was introduced along the coast of southern South America.

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Acknowledgments

We are particularly grateful to friends and colleagues for their generous and always kind help and support in the field and laboratory. We thank the generosity to several colleagues for the help with the taxonomic identifications: to the late G. Alonso (MACN, amphipods), M. E. Diez, B. Trovant (CENPAT, polychaetes), B. Doti (UBA, isopods), J. Fernández Alfaya (CENPAT, nemerteans), C. De Francesco (IIMyC, gastropods), M. Brögger (CENPAT, ophiurans), A. Huespe and E. Gómez Simes (UNPSJB, decapods), and L. Patitucci (MACN, insect larvae) for their essential assistance with taxonomic identification and M. L. Pili for assisting us with the English. The study was financially supported by ANPCyT-FONCyT (PICT 2206 to AB) and CONICET (PIP 089 and 508 to ES, and doctoral fellowship to MMM). The manuscript was greatly improved by the comments of two anonymous reviewers and the Associate Editor Dr. Monaghan. Special thanks to the provincial authorities of Río Negro and Chubut for allowing us to work inside natural protected areas. This study is part of the doctoral thesis of M. M. Mendez at the Universidad Nacional del Comahue.

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Author notes

  1. María M. Mendez

    Present address: Laboratorio de Reproducción y Biología Integrativa de Invertebrados Marinos (IBIOMAR-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Argentina

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo de Ecología en Ambientes Costeros (IBIOMAR-CONICET) Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

    María M. Mendez & Evangelina Schwindt

  2. Grupo de Ecología en Ambientes Costeros (IPEEC-CONICET) Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

    Alejandro Bortolus

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  1. María M. Mendez
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  2. Evangelina Schwindt
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Correspondence to María M. Mendez.

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Handling Editor: Michael T. Monaghan.

Electronic supplementary material

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10452_2015_9536_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Supplementary material 1 Online Resource 1: repeated measures PERMANOVA results for Loros (A) and Riacho (B) marsh (Community variables: d.f.Zone= 2, d.f.Month= 7, d.f.ZonexMonth= 14. Organic matter content: d.f.Zone= 2, d.f.Month= 3, d.f.ZonexMonth= 6) and for the aggregates survey (C. d.f.Marsh= 1, d.f.Month= 7, d.f.MarshxMonth= 7) (PDF 12 kb)

10452_2015_9536_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Supplementary material 2 Online Resource 2: pairwise comparison results for the repeated measures PERMANOVAs for the macroinvertebrate assemblage composition, density, richness and diversity of Loros (A), Riacho (B) and aggregates survey (C) (PDF 20 kb)

10452_2015_9536_MOESM3_ESM.pdf

Supplementary material 3 Online Resource 3: SIMPER routine results showing the taxa which made the greatest contributions to dissimilarity for Loros (A), Riacho (B) and aggregates survey (C). Zones: H = high, M = middle and L = low. Marshes: L = Loros and R = Riacho. Lists were truncated when cumulative percentage reached 50% (PDF 18 kb)

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Mendez, M.M., Schwindt, E. & Bortolus, A. Differential benthic community response to increased habitat complexity mediated by an invasive barnacle. Aquat Ecol 49, 441–452 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-015-9536-1

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