Non-additive effects of foundation species determine the response of aquatic ecosystems to nutrient perturbation
(2021) In Ecology 102(7).- Abstract
Eutrophication is a persistent threat to aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Foundation species, namely those that play a central role in the structuring of communities and functioning of ecosystems, are likely important for the resilience of aquatic ecosystems in the face of disturbance. However, little is known about how interactions among such species influence ecosystem responses to nutrient perturbation. Here, using an array (N = 20) of outdoor experimental pond ecosystems (15,000 L), we manipulated the presence of two foundation species, the macrophyte Myriophyllum spicatum and the mussel Dreissena polymorpha, and quantified ecosystem responses to multiple nutrient disturbances, spread over two years. In the first year, we added five... (More)
Eutrophication is a persistent threat to aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Foundation species, namely those that play a central role in the structuring of communities and functioning of ecosystems, are likely important for the resilience of aquatic ecosystems in the face of disturbance. However, little is known about how interactions among such species influence ecosystem responses to nutrient perturbation. Here, using an array (N = 20) of outdoor experimental pond ecosystems (15,000 L), we manipulated the presence of two foundation species, the macrophyte Myriophyllum spicatum and the mussel Dreissena polymorpha, and quantified ecosystem responses to multiple nutrient disturbances, spread over two years. In the first year, we added five nutrient pulses, ramping up from 10 to 50 μg P/L over a 10-week period from mid-July to mid-October, and in the second year, we added a single large pulse of 50 μg P/L in mid-October. We used automated sondes to measure multiple ecosystems properties at high frequency (15-minute intervals), including phytoplankton and dissolved organic matter fluorescence, and to model whole-ecosystem metabolism. Overall, both foundation species strongly affected the ecosystem responses to nutrient perturbation, and, as expected, initially suppressed the increase in phytoplankton abundance following nutrient additions. However, when both species were present, phytoplankton biomass increased substantially relative to other treatment combinations: non-additivity was evident for multiple ecosystem metrics following the nutrient perturbations in both years but was diminished in the intervening months between our perturbations. Overall, these results demonstrate how interactions between foundation species can cause surprisingly strong deviations from the expected responses of aquatic ecosystems to perturbations such as nutrient additions.
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- author
- Lürig, Moritz D. LU ; Narwani, Anita ; Penson, Hannele ; Wehrli, Bernhard ; Spaak, Piet and Matthews, Blake
- publishing date
- 2021-07
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- aquatic ecosystems, chlorophyll, eutrophication, foundation species, high-frequency time series, metabolism, non-additive effects, perturbation
- in
- Ecology
- volume
- 102
- issue
- 7
- article number
- e03371
- pages
- 14 pages
- publisher
- Ecological Society of America
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85107563933
- pmid:33961284
- ISSN
- 0012-9658
- DOI
- 10.1002/ecy.3371
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Funding Information: We thank J. Jokela, F. Pomati, and F. Altermatt for discussions regarding experimental design, and J. Jokela, M. Hoyer, M. Reyes, S. Käser, and G. Siegrist for help in setting up the experiment. We also thank D. Steiner for laboratory analyses of chlorophyll for the sensor calibrations. Furthermore, we would like to thank C. Ebi for installing the sonde‐grid on site at Dübendorf. This work was supported by a Strategic grant from Eawag, and project grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation to P. Spaak (310030L_166628), B. Wehrli (206021_157750), and B. Matthews (31003A_175614). M. D. Lürig was funded by the Center for Adaptation to a Changing Environment (ACE) at ETH Zürich, and by the Aquatic Ecology Department at Eawag. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the Ecological Society of America
- id
- d302538a-d501-4901-9b20-b778ebd578d5
- date added to LUP
- 2021-11-23 12:30:13
- date last changed
- 2024-06-15 21:16:01
@article{d302538a-d501-4901-9b20-b778ebd578d5,
abstract = {{<p>Eutrophication is a persistent threat to aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Foundation species, namely those that play a central role in the structuring of communities and functioning of ecosystems, are likely important for the resilience of aquatic ecosystems in the face of disturbance. However, little is known about how interactions among such species influence ecosystem responses to nutrient perturbation. Here, using an array (N = 20) of outdoor experimental pond ecosystems (15,000 L), we manipulated the presence of two foundation species, the macrophyte Myriophyllum spicatum and the mussel Dreissena polymorpha, and quantified ecosystem responses to multiple nutrient disturbances, spread over two years. In the first year, we added five nutrient pulses, ramping up from 10 to 50 μg P/L over a 10-week period from mid-July to mid-October, and in the second year, we added a single large pulse of 50 μg P/L in mid-October. We used automated sondes to measure multiple ecosystems properties at high frequency (15-minute intervals), including phytoplankton and dissolved organic matter fluorescence, and to model whole-ecosystem metabolism. Overall, both foundation species strongly affected the ecosystem responses to nutrient perturbation, and, as expected, initially suppressed the increase in phytoplankton abundance following nutrient additions. However, when both species were present, phytoplankton biomass increased substantially relative to other treatment combinations: non-additivity was evident for multiple ecosystem metrics following the nutrient perturbations in both years but was diminished in the intervening months between our perturbations. Overall, these results demonstrate how interactions between foundation species can cause surprisingly strong deviations from the expected responses of aquatic ecosystems to perturbations such as nutrient additions.</p>}},
author = {{Lürig, Moritz D. and Narwani, Anita and Penson, Hannele and Wehrli, Bernhard and Spaak, Piet and Matthews, Blake}},
issn = {{0012-9658}},
keywords = {{aquatic ecosystems; chlorophyll; eutrophication; foundation species; high-frequency time series; metabolism; non-additive effects; perturbation}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{7}},
publisher = {{Ecological Society of America}},
series = {{Ecology}},
title = {{Non-additive effects of foundation species determine the response of aquatic ecosystems to nutrient perturbation}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3371}},
doi = {{10.1002/ecy.3371}},
volume = {{102}},
year = {{2021}},
}