The role of fish predation in the structure of amphipod community associated with Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows

Despite the major ecological importance of Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean Sea, little attention has been given to community structuring forces by predators in this ecosystem. To better understand the mechanisms by which fishes affect amphipod community structure associated to P. oceanica beds, experimental manipulations of predation intensity (enclosure and exclusion cages) were set up in the Tavolara-Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area (Sardinia, NW Mediterranean). In totally protected area, where high abundance of predatory fishes is recorded, we have performed exclusion experiment. Total amphipod abundance increased at the end of the experiment, but diversity and specific composition were unaffected. At the species taxonomic level, significant increase in abundance between treatments appeared only for Caprella acanthifera. In partially protected area, where fish abundance is lower and amphipod abundance higher, individuals of the carnivorous fish Coris julis (Labridae) were enclosed in cages to provide an estimate of the potential for this species to impact on amphipod community. There was a small but measurable effect on amphipod abundance between enclosures and unmanipulated controls. A few dominant amphipod species responded to fish predation by significant decrease in abundance. These results suggest that fish predation may determine the relative abundances in the community of some amphipod species and to some degree, through an untested link with habitat complexity, determine the spatial distribution of amphipod abundance within P. oceanica beds. Moreover, patterns observed at the species level, suggest parallel complex interactions probably mainly related to ecological behaviour of amphipod species.