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Dataset: Biodiversity Experiments

DOI:10.1575/1912/bco-dmo.715422.1
Project: 
Principal Investigator: 
John J. Stachowicz (University of California-Davis, UC Davis)
Co-Principal Investigator: 
Richard K. Grosberg (University of California-Davis, UC Davis)
Susan L. Williams (University of California-Davis, UC Davis-BML)
Contact: 
Laura K. Reynolds (University of Florida, UF)
BCO-DMO Data Manager: 
Shannon Rauch (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)
Version: 
1
Version Date: 
2017-09-15
Restricted: 
No
Validated: 
Yes
Current State: 
Final no updates expected

Biodiversity experiments: Effects of diversity in feeding trials, conducted at Bodgea Marine Laboratory, using detritus from eelgrass (Zostera marina) genotypes (clones) as a food source and either one or a combination of invertebrate grazers
Abstract: 
Seagrass meadows are among the world's most productive ecosystems, and as in many other systems, genetic diversity is correlated with increased production. However, only a small fraction of seagrass production is directly consumed, and instead much of the secondary production is fueled by the detrital food web. Here, we study the roles of plant genetic diversity and grazer species diversity on detrital consumption in California eelgrass Zostera marina meadows. We used three common mesograzers—an amphipod, Ampithoe lacertosa, an isopod, Idotea resecata, and a polychaete, Platynereis bicanaliculata. In a series of five independent experiments, we manipulated grazer species diversity and number of eelgrass clones and measured the resulting detrital consumption. Under monospecific grazer assemblages, plant genetic identity but not diversity influenced detritus consumption. However, more realistic, diverse mesoconsumer communities combined with high plant-detrital genotypic diversity resulted in greater consumption and grazer survival. These data are illustrated in figures 4 and 5 Reynolds et al., 2017 (DOI:10.1111/oik.04471).

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Description

In this project, we examined the effect of eelgrass genetic and invertebrate species diversity on detrital consumption and animal survival rates in a series of laboratory experiments. This dataset contains data on feeding rates of monospecifc and diverse grazer communites when presented with detrital Zostera marina from a single or a mixture of clones.

Abstract:
Seagrass meadows are among the world's most productive ecosystems, and as in many other systems, genetic diversity is correlated with increased production. However, only a small fraction of seagrass production is directly consumed, and instead much of the secondary production is fueled by the detrital food web. Here, we study the roles of plant genetic diversity and grazer species diversity on detrital consumption in California eelgrass Zostera marina meadows. We used three common mesograzers—an amphipod, Ampithoe lacertosa, an isopod, Idotea resecata, and a polychaete, Platynereis bicanaliculata. In a series of five independent experiments, we manipulated grazer species diversity and number of eelgrass clones and measured the resulting detrital consumption. Under monospecific grazer assemblages, plant genetic identity but not diversity influenced detritus consumption. However, more realistic, diverse mesoconsumer communities combined with high plant-detrital genotypic diversity resulted in greater consumption and grazer survival.

These data are illustrated in figures 4 and 5 of the manuscript:
Reynolds LK, KM Chan, E Huynh, SL Williams, and JJ Stachowicz (in press) Plant genotype indentity and diversity interact with mesograzer species diversity to influence detrital consumption in eelgrass meadows. DOI:10.1111/oik.04471

Data Files
File
biodiv_exp.csv
(Comma Separated Values (.csv), 329 bytes)
MD5:a664f948bef93c44c3bf0e2b387d40cb
Primary data file for dataset ID 715422
More Information about this dataset