[en] ABSTRACT: A large part of the production of <i>Laminaria hyperborea</i> kelp forests is not directly consumed by grazers, but is exported during storm events or natural annual blade erosion. Drifting kelp fragments are transported and can accumulate temporarily over subtidal benthic habitats. The decay process is particularly slow (>6 mo for complete decay during spring-summer) and <i>L. hyperborea</i> fragments are able to maintain their primary production function for several months. If they accumulate in low subtidal habitats, fragments can have a long residence time, thus modifying habitat structure. Based on a 6 mo cage experiment, we investigated macrofaunal colonization and community succession within accumulations of <i>L. hyperborea</i> fragments on a low subtidal (-10 m) sandy bottom ecosystem. Stable isotope (δ<sup>13</sup>C and δ<sup>15</sup>N) measurements were carried out to describe the structure and development of the trophic food web and the role of detritus as a food source. Kelp tissues were rapidly and abundantly colonized by macrofauna, and a classical ecological succession occurred, with changes in species dominance and increase in diversity during decay. The food web was based on 2 main sources: particulate organic matter from the water column and decaying kelp tissues. Kelp contributed significantly to the diet of numerous species that are commonly consumed by local predators (fish, shrimp). Following community succession, diets diversified and the food web became more complex during the decay process. Our results indicate that drift kelp accumulations structure their associated communities and food web during the whole decay process.
Research center :
FOCUS - Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch - ULiège MARE - Centre Interfacultaire de Recherches en Océanologie - ULiège
Bedford AP, Moore PG (1984) Macrofaunal involvement in the sublittoral decay of kelp debris: the detritivore community and species interactions. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 18: 97-111
Boecklen WJ, Yarnes CT, Cook BA, James AC (2011) On the use of stable isotopes in trophic ecology. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 42: 411-440
Boudouresque CF, Pergent G, Pergent-Martini C, Ruitton S, Thibaut T, Verlaque M (2016) The necromass of the Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow: fate, role, ecosystem services and vulnerability. Hydrobiologia 781: 25-42
Buchholz CM, Lebreton B, Bartsch I, Wiencke C (2019) Variation of isotope composition in kelps from Kongsfjorden (Svalbard). Mar Biol 166: 71
Caut S, Angulo E, Courchamp F (2009) Variation in discrimination factors (⊗15N and ⊗13C): the effect of diet isotopic values and applications for diet reconstruction. J Appl Ecol 46: 443-453
Christie H, Jørgensen NM, Norderhaug KM, Waage- Nielsen E (2003) Species distribution and habitat exploitation of fauna associated with kelp (Laminaria hyperborea) along the Norwegian coast. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 83: 687-699
Colombini I, Brilli M, Fallaci M, Gagnarli E, Chelazzi L (2011) Food webs of a sandy beach macroinvertebrate community using stable isotopes analysis. Acta Oecol 37: 422-432
Coplen TB, Brand WA, Gehre M, Gröning M, Meijer HAJ, Toman B, Verkouteren RM (2006) New guidelines for -13C measurements. Anal Chem 78: 2439-2441
de Bettignies F, Dauby P, Thomas F, Gobet A and others (2020) Degradation dynamics and processes associated with the accumulation of Laminaria hyperborea kelp fragments: an in situ experimental approach. J Phycol 56: 1481-1492
DeNiro MJ, Epstein S (1978) Influence of diet on the distribution of carbon isotopes in animals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 42: 495-506
Dethier MN, Sosik E, Galloway AWE, Duggins DO, Simenstad CA (2013) Addressing assumptions: variation in stable isotopes and fatty acids of marine macrophytes can confound conclusions of food web studies. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 478: 1-14
Dugan JE, Hubbard DM, McCrary MD, Pierson MO (2003) The response of macrofauna communities and shorebirds to macrophyte wrack subsidies on exposed sandy beaches of southern California. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 58: 25-40
Duggins DO, Gómez-Buckley MC, Buckley RM, Lowe AT, Galloway AWE, Dethier MN (2016) Islands in the stream: kelp detritus as faunal magnets. Mar Biol 163: 17
Forster GR (1959) The biology of the prawn, Palaemon (=Leander) serratus (Pennant). J Mar Biol Assoc UK 38: 621-627
Fredriksen S (2003) Food web studies in a Norwegian kelp forest based on stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) analysis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 260: 71-81
Frontier S, Pichod-Viale D, Lepretre A, Davoult D, Luczak C (2008) Ecosystemes: structure, fonctionnement, evolution, 4eme edn. Dunod, Paris Fry B (2006) Stable isotope ecology. Springer, New York, NY
Gallmetzer I, Pflugfelder B, Zekely J, Ott J (2005) Macrofauna diversity in Posidonia oceanica detritus: distribution and diversity of mobile macrofauna in shallow sublittoral accumulations of Posidonia oceanica detritus. Mar Biol 147: 517-523
Gambi MC, Lorenti M, Russo GF, Scipione MB, Zupo V (1992) Depth and seasonal distribution of some groups of the vagile fauna of the Posidonia oceanica leaf stratum: structural and trophic analyses. Mar Ecol 13: 17-39
Gorman D, Bajjouk T, Populus J, Vasquez M, Ehrhold A (2013) Modeling kelp forest distribution and biomass along temperate rocky coastlines. Mar Biol 160: 309-325
Guerao G, Ribera C (1996) Locomotor activity patterns and feeding habits in the prawn Palaemon Serratus (Pennant, 1777) (Decapoda, Palaemonidae) in the Alfacs Bay, Ebro Delta, Spain. Crustaceana 69: 101-112
Hairston NG Jr, Hairston NG Sr (1993) Cause.effect relationships in energy flow, trophic structure, and interspecific interactions. Am Nat 142: 379-411
Harrison PG (1989) Detrital processing in seagrass systems: a review of factors affecting decay rates, remineralization and detritivory. Aquat Bot 35: 263-288
Hedges JI, Stern JH (1984) Carbon and nitrogen determinations of carbonate-containing solids. Limnol Oceanogr 29: 657-663
Hemminga MA, Nieuwenhuize J (1991) Transport, deposition and in situ decay of seagrasses in a tropical mudflat area (Banc D'fArguin, Mauritania). Neth J Sea Res 27: 183-190
Jackson AL, Inger R, Parnell AC, Bearhop S (2011) Comparing isotopic niche widths among and within communities: SIBER.Stable Isotope Bayesian Ellipses in R. J Anim Ecol 80: 595-602
Jones CG, Lawton JH, Shachak M (1994) Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos 69: 373-386
Koenigs C, Miller RJ, Page HM (2015) Top predators rely on carbon derived from giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 537: 1-8
Krumhansl KA, Scheibling RE (2012a) Production and fate of kelp detritus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 467: 281-302
Krumhansl KA, Scheibling RE (2012b) Detrital subsidy from subtidal kelp beds is altered by the invasive green alga Codium fragile ssp. fragile. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 456: 73-85
Laurent MCZ, Le Bris N, Gaill F, Gros O (2013) Dynamics of wood fall colonization in relation to sulfide concentration in a mangrove swamp. Mar Environ Res 87-88: 85-95
Leclerc JC, Riera P, Leroux C, Leveque L, Laurans M, Schaal G, Davoult D (2013a) Trophic significance of kelps in kelp communities in Brittany (France) inferred from isotopic comparisons. Mar Biol 160: 3249-3258
Leclerc JC, Riera P, Leroux C, Leveque L, Davoult D (2013b) Temporal variation in organic matter supply in kelp forests: linking structure to trophic functioning. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 494: 87-105
Leclerc JC, Riera P, Laurans M, Leroux C, Leveque L, Davoult D (2015) Community, trophic structure and functioning in two contrasting Laminaria hyperborea forests. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 152: 11-22
Leclerc JC, Riera P, Leveque L, Davoult D (2016) Contrasting temporal variation in habitat complexity and species abundance distributions in four kelp forest strata. Hydrobiologia 777: 33-54
Lindeman RL (1942) The trophic-dynamic aspect of ecology. Ecology 23: 399-417
Mann KH (1973) Seaweeds: their productivity and strategy for growth. Science 182: 975-981
Mann KH (1988) Production and use of detritus in various freshwater, estuarine, and coastal marine ecosystems. Limnol Oceanogr 33: 910-930
Mascart T, Lepoint G, Deschoemaeker S, Binard M, Remy F, De Troch M (2015) Seasonal variability of meiofauna, especially harpacticoid copepods, in Posidonia oceanica macrophytodetritus accumulations. J Sea Res 95: 149-160
McCutchan JH, Lewis WM, Kendall C, McGrath CC (2003) Variation in trophic shift for stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur. Oikos 102: 378-390
Migne A, Spilmont N, Boucher G, Denis L and others (2009) Annual budget of benthic production in Mont Saint- Michel Bay considering cloudiness, microphytobenthos migration, and variability of respiration rates with tidal conditions. Cont Shelf Res 29: 2280-2285
Moore JC, Berlow EL, Coleman DC, Ruiter PC and others (2004) Detritus, trophic dynamics and biodiversity: detritus, trophic dynamics and biodiversity. Ecol Lett 7: 584-600
Nicol EAT (1932) The feeding habits of the Galatheidea. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 18: 87-106
Norderhaug KM, Christie H (2011) Secondary production in a Laminaria hyperborea kelp forest and variation according to wave exposure. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 95: 135-144
Orr KK, Wilding TA, Horstmeyer L, Weigl S, Heymans JJ (2014) Detached macroalgae: its importance to inshore sandy beach fauna. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 150: 125-135
Page HM, Reed DC, Brzezinski MA, Melack JM, Dugan JE (2008) Assessing the importance of land and marine sources of organic matter to kelp forest food webs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 360: 47-62
Parnell A, Jackson A (2013) siar: stable isotope analysis in R. R package version 4.2. www.CRAN.R-project.org/ package =siar
Parnell AC, Inger R, Bearhop S, Jackson AL (2010) Source partitioning using stable isotopes: coping with too much variation. PLOS ONE 5: e9672
Polis GA, Anderson WB, Holt RD (1997) Toward an integration of landscape and food web ecology: the dynamics of spatially subsidized food webs. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 28: 289-316
Ramirez-Llodra E, Rinde E, Gundersen H, Christie H and others (2016) A snap shot of the short-term response of crustaceans to macrophyte detritus in the deep Oslofjord. Sci Rep 6: 23800
Remy F (2016) Characterization, dynamics and trophic ecology of macrofauna associated to seagrass macrophytodetritus accumulations (Calvi Bay, Mediterranean Sea). PhD dissertation, Universite de Liege
Remy F, Gobert S, Lepoint G (2017) Effects of an experimental resource pulse on the macrofaunal assemblage inhabiting seagrass macrophytodetritus. Belg J Zool 147: 1-15
Remy F, Mascart T, De Troch M, Michel L, Lepoint G (2018) Seagrass organic matter transfer in Posidonia oceanica macrophytodetritus accumulations. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 212: 73-79
Renaud PE, Lokken TS, Jorgensen LL, Berge J, Johnson BJ (2015) Macroalgal detritus and food-web subsidies along an Arctic fjord depth-gradient. Front Mar Sci 2: 31
Schaal G, Riera P, Leroux C (2010) Trophic ecology in a northern Brittany (Batz Island, France) kelp (Laminaria digitata) forest, as investigated through stable isotopes and chemical assays. J Sea Res 63: 24-35
Simeone S, De Falco G (2012) Morphology and composition of beach-cast Posidonia oceanica litter on beaches with different exposures. Geomorphology 151-152: 224-233
Tenore KR, Hanson RB (1980) Availability of detritus of different types and ages to a polychaete macroconsumer, Capitella capitata. Limnol Oceanogr 25: 553-558
Tzetlin AB, Mokievsky VO, Melnikov AN, Saphonov MV, Simdyanov TG, Ivanov IE (1997) Fauna associated with detached kelp in different types of subtidal habitats of the White Sea. Hydrobiologia 355: 91-100
Vetter EW (1994) Hotspots of benthic production. Nature 372: 47
Vetter EW (1995) Detritus-based patches of high secondary production in the nearshore benthos. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 120: 251-262
Vilas D, Coll M, Pedersen T, Corrales X and others (2020) Kelp-carbon uptake by Arctic deep-sea food webs plays a noticeable role in maintaining ecosystem structural and functional traits. J Mar Syst 203: 103268
