Biomass and diversity measurements in eelgrass (Zostera marina) habitat from 16 sites across the Northern Hemisphere, 2011 (ZEN project)

Website: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/659737
Data Type: Other Field Results
Version: 1
Version Date: 2016-09-26

Project
» Zostera Experimental Network (ZEN)
ContributorsAffiliationRole
Duffy, J. EmmettVirginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)Principal Investigator
Reynolds, Pamela LUniversity of California-Davis (UC Davis)Scientist, Contact
Copley, NancyWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI BCO-DMO)BCO-DMO Data Manager

Abstract
This dataset includes biomass and diversity measurements of eelgrass communities from 16 sites across the Northern Hemisphere: Japan (2), USA (8), Canada (2), Norway (1), Sweden (1), Finland (1), Portugal (1). The purpose was to study the plant and animal responses to top-down and bottom-up manipulations in eelgrass (Zostera marina) habitat.


Coverage

Spatial Extent: N:67 E:1 S:32.71 W:135
Temporal Extent: 2011 - 2011

Methods & Sampling

Methodology is available from: J. Emmett Duffy, et al. Biodiversity mediates top-down control in eelgrass ecosystems: A global comparative-experimental approach. Ecology Letters 18:7 (696–705). DOI: 10.1111/ele.12448.

Table S1. Codes and locations of sites

Code Site Latitude Longitude Principal Investigator
AK Kachemak Bay, Alaska, USA 59.648 -151.436 Iken
BB Bodega Bay, California, USA 38.317 -123.033 Stachowicz
BC Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 49.000 -123.100 O'Connor
FI Ängsö Island, Finland 60.100 21.700 Boström
JN Akkeshi-Ko Estuary, Hokkaido, Japan 43.060 144.911 Nakaoka
JS Akiwan Bay, Hiroshima, Japan 34.178 132.550 Hori
MA Nahant, Massachusetts, USA 42.426 -70.919 Douglass
NC Beaufort, North Carolina, USA 34.683 -76.600 Reynolds, Sotka
NN Misvaerfjord, Bodø, Norway 67.233 15.200 Olsen, Eriksson, Horeau
PO Ria Formosa Lagoon, Portugal 36.997 -7.829 Engelen
QU Pointe-Lebel, Quebec, Canada 49.113 68.179 Cusson
SD San Diego Bay, CA, USA 32.714 -117.226 Hovel
SW Gullmar Fjord, Sweden  58.314 11.548 Moksnes/Fredriksen
VA Goodwin Islands, Gloucester Point, Virginia  37.217 -76.383 Duffy/Reynolds
WA Willapa Bay, Washington, USA 46.500 -124.000 Ruesink

Data Processing Description

Data have been QA/QC’d for accuracy. Irrelevant/incorrect values have been removed.

BCO-DMO Processing:
- added conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date, reference information
- renamed some parameters to BCO-DMO standard
- reformatted date from m/d/y to yyyy-mm-dd
- reduced digits to right of decimal


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Data Files

File
ZEN.csv
(Comma Separated Values (.csv), 60.98 KB)
MD5:d265e6306a20a1fc0c6477b44bfdf467
Primary data file for dataset ID 659737

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Related Publications

Duffy, J. E., P.-O. Moksnes, and A. R. Hughes. (2013). Ecology of Seagrass Communities. Pages 271–297 in M. D. Bertness, J. F. Bruno, B. R. Silliman, and J. J. Stachowicz, editors. "Marine Community Ecology and Conservation". Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts. https://isbnsearch.org/isbn/978-1605352282
Results
Duffy, J. E., Reynolds, P. L., Boström, C., Coyer, J. A., Cusson, M., Donadi, S., … Stachowicz, J. J. (2015). Biodiversity mediates top-down control in eelgrass ecosystems: a global comparative-experimental approach. Ecology Letters, 18(7), 696–705. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12448
Results
Reynolds, P. L., Richardson, J. P., & Duffy, J. E. (2014). Field experimental evidence that grazers mediate transition between microalgal and seagrass dominance. Limnology and Oceanography, 59(3), 1053–1064. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2014.59.3.1053
Results
Whalen, M. A., Duffy, J. E., & Grace, J. B. (2013). Temporal shifts in top-down vs. bottom-up control of epiphytic algae in a seagrass ecosystem. Ecology, 94(2), 510–520. https://doi.org/10.1890/12-0156.1
Results

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Parameters

ParameterDescriptionUnits
site_codeCode: VA (Virginia); NC (North Carolina); MA (Massachusettes); QU (Quebec); AK (Alaska); BC (British Columbia);WA (Washington); BB (Bodega Bay); SD (San Diego); JN (Northern Japan); JS (Southern Japan); NN (Norway); SW (Sweden);FI (Finland); PO (Portugal) unitless
plotunique plot number within a site unitless
unique_plot_idunique idenitifier; concatenated from site code and plot number unitless
treatmentD refers to deterrent; N refers to nutrient addition; and +/- refer to presence or absence; respectively. unitless
grazer_bmass_per_gTotal biomass of all mesograzers sampled from the plot; estimatred using Edgar's (1990) size-class equations grams
crustacean_bmass_per_gTotal biomass of all crustacean mesograzers sampled from the plot; estimatred using Edgar's (1990) size-class equations grams
gammarid_bmass_per_gTotal biomass of all gammaridean mesograzers sampled from the plot; estimatred using Edgar's (1990) size-class equations grams
caprellid_bmass_per_gTotal biomass of all caprellid mesograzers sampled from the plot; estimatred using Edgar's (1990) size-class equations grams
isopod_bmass_per_gTotal biomass of all isopod mesograzers sampled from the plot; estimatred using Edgar's (1990) size-class equations grams
decapod_bmass_per_gTotal biomass of all decapod mesograzers sampled from the plot; estimatred using Edgar's (1990) size-class equations grams
gastropod_bmass_per_gTotal biomass of all gastropod mesograzers sampled from the plot; estimatred using Edgar's (1990) size-class equations grams
grazer_richness_plotTotal number of mesograzer taxa (usually species) recorded from the plot taxa
chla_per_ZosteraAlgal chlorophyll-a attached to eelgrass blades; expressed as micrograms chl a per g eelgrass blade tissue micrograms chl a per g (ug/g)
latitudeLatitude in decimal degrees decimal degrees
longitudeLongitude in decimal degrees decimal degrees
temp_avgWater temperature in degrees Celsius; mean of measurements made during the experiment degrees Celsius
salSalinity in parts per thousand PPT
N_mean_pcentElemental nitrogen as % of eelgrass dry mass unitless
genotype_richness_standardizedTotal number of eelgrass multilocus genotypes recorded from the site; divided by the maximum number recorded from any site (thus; scale = 0 - 1) unitless
grazer_richness_siteTotal number of mesograzer taxa (usually species) recorded from all 40 plots at the site taxa
oceanAtlantic (including Baltic Sea); Pacific unitless


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Instruments

Dataset-specific Instrument Name
Generic Instrument Name
CHN Elemental Analyzer
Generic Instrument Description
A CHN Elemental Analyzer is used for the determination of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen content in organic and other types of materials, including solids, liquids, volatile, and viscous samples.

Dataset-specific Instrument Name
Generic Instrument Name
Automated DNA Sequencer
Generic Instrument Description
General term for a laboratory instrument used for deciphering the order of bases in a strand of DNA. Sanger sequencers detect fluorescence from different dyes that are used to identify the A, C, G, and T extension reactions. Contemporary or Pyrosequencer methods are based on detecting the activity of DNA polymerase (a DNA synthesizing enzyme) with another chemoluminescent enzyme. Essentially, the method allows sequencing of a single strand of DNA by synthesizing the complementary strand along it, one base pair at a time, and detecting which base was actually added at each step.

Dataset-specific Instrument Name
Generic Instrument Name
Refractometer
Dataset-specific Description
Used to measure salinity
Generic Instrument Description
A refractometer is a laboratory or field device for the measurement of an index of refraction (refractometry). The index of refraction is calculated from Snell's law and can be calculated from the composition of the material using the Gladstone-Dale relation. In optics the refractive index (or index of refraction) n of a substance (optical medium) is a dimensionless number that describes how light, or any other radiation, propagates through that medium.

Dataset-specific Instrument Name
Generic Instrument Name
Thermal Cycler
Generic Instrument Description
A thermal cycler or "thermocycler" is a general term for a type of laboratory apparatus, commonly used for performing polymerase chain reaction (PCR), that is capable of repeatedly altering and maintaining specific temperatures for defined periods of time. The device has a thermal block with holes where tubes with the PCR reaction mixtures can be inserted. The cycler then raises and lowers the temperature of the block in discrete, pre-programmed steps. They can also be used to facilitate other temperature-sensitive reactions, including restriction enzyme digestion or rapid diagnostics. (adapted from http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/research_methods/genomics/pcr.html)

Dataset-specific Instrument Name
Generic Instrument Name
Temperature Logger
Dataset-specific Description
HOBO Pendant temperature loggers
Generic Instrument Description
Records temperature data over a period of time.


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Deployments

ZEN_2011

Website
Platform
eelgrass_beds_global
Start Date
2011-06-01
End Date
2011-08-31
Description
eelgrass community studies


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Project Information

Zostera Experimental Network (ZEN)


Coverage: Northern Hemisphere


NSF Project Title:
"Biodiversity and Complex Forcing of Ecosystem Functioning in the Marine Foundation Species, Eelgrass: A Global Experimental Network"

Description from NSF award abstract:
This project will develop a global collaborative network of field experiments to quantify how resources and grazing interactively affect biomass, production, and trophic transfer along natural gradients in biodiversity and abiotic forcing. It focuses on a key mutualism between invertebrate mesograzers and the globally distributed eelgrass (Zostera marina), as a model system and as the foundation of important but threatened coastal ecosystems worldwide. This interaction provided a model for influential experiments linking biodiversity to functioning (BEF) of multitrophic ecosystems. Yet, seagrass ecology has historically focused almost exclusively on bottom-up forcing, and impacts of these ubiquitous animals in the field are nearly unknown.The research program will address three questions:
(1) What role do crustacean mesograzers, the benthic equivalents of grazing copepods, play in regulating vegetated coastal ecosystem functioning and buffering effects of eutrophication?
(2) Are generalizations derived from 15 years of BEF experiments consistent with variation in ecosystem properties along natural diversity gradients in complex, open marine systems?
(3) Do relative influences and interactions of resource supply, grazing pressure, and biodiversity on ecological processes vary systematically with climate and abiotic environmental drivers?

Methods will include two novel approaches. First, a new technique that excludes crustacean mesograzers without cage artifacts will rigorously test their long-suspected role in fostering macrophyte dominance. The project assembles experienced collaborators who will conduct identical factorial experiments manipulating grazers and nutrient loading at each of 12 sites spanning the sub-global range of eelgrass, across concomitant gradients in diversity and abiotic forcing variables. Second, Structural Equation Models (SEM), designed specifically to quantify relative importance and interactions among variables in complex systems, will tease apart effects of resource supply, grazer biomass, species composition, and richness, and several abiotic variables on eelgrass and algal biomass, production, and trophic transfer. Small-scale experiments with synthesized communities show that biodiversity generally enhances production and resource use in a range of ecosystems, but the importance of diversity relative to other well-documented forcing factors remains poorly understood. Intriguingly, BEF relationships in the few studies from wild ecosystems often saturate at much higher richness than in experiments, suggesting that prior work may underestimate rather than overestimate functional effects of diversity. Yet few large-scale data sets are available to evaluate this conjecture. This research will do so on a global scale in eelgrass beds, one of the few community types in which such a test is possible.

This project will initiate a lasting, and open, collaborative network of researchers studying the functioning of multitrophic marine vegetation ecosystems. It leverages a wealth of globally distributed collaborator expertise, person power, and experience with multinational partnerships including a new network of marine plant-herbivore ecologists funded by the Australian Research Council; the Census of Marine Life's NaGISA project; and key partners in MarBEF's BIOFUSE project. It will thus catalyze integration of several formerly independent research efforts.

Data:
Data are expected to be submitted in 2014. Data will include plant and animal responses to top-down and bottom-up manipulations in eelgrass (Zostera marina) habitat from 16 sites across the northern hemisphere (in Japan, USA, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Portugal).

Publications produced as a result of this research:
Poore AGB, Campbell AH, Coleman RA, Edgar GJ, Jormalainen V, Reynolds PL, Sotka EE, Stachowicz JJ, Taylor RB, Vanderklift MA, Duffy JE. 2012. Global patterns in the impact of marine herbivores on benthic primary producers. Ecology Letters. DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01804.x
Naeem S, Duffy JE, Zavaleta E. 2012. The Functions of Biological Diversity in an Age of Extinction. Science, v.336,  p. 1401. DOI: 10.1126/science.1215855
Cardinale BJ, Duffy JE, Gonzalez A, Hooper DU, Perrings C, Venail P, Narwani A, Mace GM, Tilman D, Wardle DA, Kinzig AP, Daily GC, Loreau M, Grace JB, Larigauderie A, Srivastava D, Naeem S. 2012. Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature, v.486, 2012, p. 59. DOI: 10.1038/nature11148
Hooper DU, Adair EC, Cardinale BJ, Byrnes JEK, Hungate BA, Matulich KL, Gonzalez A, Duffy JE, Gamfeldt L, O'Connor MI. 2012. A global synthesis reveals biodiversity loss as a major driver of ecosystem change. Nature, v.486, p. 10. DOI: 10.1038/nature11118

Additional publications produced as a result of this research:

Duffy, J. E., P. L. Reynolds, C. Boström, J. A. Coyer, M. Cusson, S. Donadi, J. G. Douglass, J. S. Eklöf, A. H. Engelen, B. K. Eriksson, S. Fredriksen, L. Gamfeldt, C. Gustafsson, G. Hoarau, M. Hori, K. Hovel, K. Iken, J. S. Lefcheck, P.-O. Moksnes, M. Nakaoka, M. I. O'Connor, J. L. Olsen, J. P. Richardson, J. L. Ruesink, E. E. Sotka, J. Thormar, M. A. Whalen, and J. J. Stachowicz. 2015. Biodiversity mediates top-down control in eelgrass ecosystems: a global comparative-experimental approach. Ecology Letters 18:696–705.

Reynolds, P. L., J. Paul Richardson, and J. Emmett Duffy. 2014. Field experimental evidence that grazers mediate transition between microalgal and seagrass dominance. LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY 59:1053–1064.

Duffy, J. E., P.-O. Moksnes, and A. R. Hughes. 2013. Ecology of Seagrass Communities. Pages 271–297 in M. D. Bertness, J. F. Bruno, B. R. Silliman, and J. J. Stachowicz, editors. "Marine Community Ecology and Conservation". Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

Whalen, M. A., J. E. Duffy, and J. B. Grace. 2013. Temporal shifts in top-down versus bottom-up control of epiphytic algae in a seagrass ecosystem. Ecology 94:510–520.



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Funding

Funding SourceAward
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE)

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