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Effects of sedimentation on macroalgae: species-specific responses are related to reproductive traits

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Abstract

Although increases in sedimentation have been proposed to interfere with benthic communities in many coastal areas worldwide, few experimental studies have investigated the effect of sedimentation on community composition and assessed species-specific responses. In a field experiment on a rocky shore on the Swedish east coast (northern Baltic Proper) we confirmed the hypotheses that ambient sedimentation influences macroalgal abundance and community composition, and that species-specific responses to sedimentation correlate with reproductive strategies. We followed the establishment and development of macroalgal vegetation on artificial substrates at 8-m and 15-m depth for 4.5 years while manipulating the depositional environment by regularly removing accumulated sediment. Sediment removal significantly favoured macroalgal development and vegetation cover. Responses of macroalgal species to the sediment treatments were clearly species-specific; for example, the ephemeral green algae (Cladophora glomerata and Enteromorpha spp.) were highly tolerant to sedimentation while belt-forming perennial brown algae (Fucus vesiculosus and Sphacelaria arctica) were not. Accordingly, multivariate analyses (redundancy analysis) showed that variance in species abundances were significantly correlated to sediment conditions. The effect of sediment removal was higher at 15-m than at 8-m depth and some species’ distributions seemed limited in depth by the present sediment load (e.g. F. vesiculosus). Vegetative propagation was common in the study area and many species mainly depended on dispersal by fragmentation. Generally, species with an extended reproductive period, either by long continuous spore release (C. glomerata and Enteromorpha spp.) or vegetative dispersal by fragmentation (e.g. Furcellaria lumbricalis and Polysiphonia fucoides), were most tolerant to sedimentation. This paper demonstrates long-term effects of sediment deposition on the development of a macroalgal community over several growing seasons. The results indicate that variation in sediment loads is an important constraint for species’ local distributions and abundances, and affects the composition of sublittoral rocky-shore macroalgal communities.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Bertil Lundmans Fund for botanical studies, Ebba and Sven Schwartz Foundation, Hierta-Rietzius support for scientific purposes, Sernanders Foundation, Extensus Foundation and Th Kroks Donation. We would like to thank C. Borg, J. Eriksson, N. Gyllenstrand, M. Hjällström, M. Johansson, G. Løe, E. Norell, C. Ritzl, L. Van Nieuwerburgh, I. Wänstrand and Diving Club Tumlaren for valuable assistance during field work, and P. Snoeijs and J. Ågren for valuable comments on the manuscript.

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  1. B. K. Eriksson

    Present address: Department of Botany, University of Cologne, Gyrhofstrasse 15, 50931, Cologne, Germany

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  1. Department of Plant Ecology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Villavägen 14, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden

    B. K. Eriksson & G. Johansson

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Eriksson, B.K., Johansson, G. Effects of sedimentation on macroalgae: species-specific responses are related to reproductive traits. Oecologia 143, 438–448 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1810-1

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