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      A bioturbation classification of European marine infaunal invertebrates

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          Abstract

          Bioturbation, the biogenic modification of sediments through particle reworking and burrow ventilation, is a key mediator of many important geochemical processes in marine systems. In situ quantification of bioturbation can be achieved in a myriad of ways, requiring expert knowledge, technology, and resources not always available, and not feasible in some settings. Where dedicated research programmes do not exist, a practical alternative is the adoption of a trait-based approach to estimate community bioturbation potential (BP c). This index can be calculated from inventories of species, abundance and biomass data (routinely available for many systems), and a functional classification of organism traits associated with sediment mixing (less available). Presently, however, there is no agreed standard categorization for the reworking mode and mobility of benthic species. Based on information from the literature and expert opinion, we provide a functional classification for 1033 benthic invertebrate species from the northwest European continental shelf, as a tool to enable the standardized calculation of BP c in the region. Future uses of this classification table will increase the comparability and utility of large-scale assessments of ecosystem processes and functioning influenced by bioturbation (e.g., to support legislation). The key strengths, assumptions, and limitations of BP c as a metric are critically reviewed, offering guidelines for its calculation and application.

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          Depletion, degradation, and recovery potential of estuaries and coastal seas.

          Estuarine and coastal transformation is as old as civilization yet has dramatically accelerated over the past 150 to 300 years. Reconstructed time lines, causes, and consequences of change in 12 once diverse and productive estuaries and coastal seas worldwide show similar patterns: Human impacts have depleted >90% of formerly important species, destroyed >65% of seagrass and wetland habitat, degraded water quality, and accelerated species invasions. Twentieth-century conservation efforts achieved partial recovery of upper trophic levels but have so far failed to restore former ecosystem structure and function. Our results provide detailed historical baselines and quantitative targets for ecosystem-based management and marine conservation.
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            Species loss and aboveground carbon storage in a tropical forest.

            Tropical forest biodiversity is declining, but the resulting effects on key ecosystem services, such as carbon storage and sequestration, remain unknown. We assessed the influence of the loss of tropical tree species on carbon storage by simulating 18 possible extinction scenarios within a well-studied 50-hectare tropical forest plot in Panama, which contains 227 tree species. Among extinction scenarios, aboveground carbon stocks varied by more than 600%, and biological insurance varied by more than 400%. These results indicate that future carbon storage in tropical forests will be influenced strongly by future species composition.
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              Long-term effects of warming and ocean acidification are modified by seasonal variation in species responses and environmental conditions.

              Warming of sea surface temperatures and alteration of ocean chemistry associated with anthropogenic increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide will have profound consequences for a broad range of species, but the potential for seasonal variation to modify species and ecosystem responses to these stressors has received little attention. Here, using the longest experiment to date (542 days), we investigate how the interactive effects of warming and ocean acidification affect the growth, behaviour and associated levels of ecosystem functioning (nutrient release) for a functionally important non-calcifying intertidal polychaete (Alitta virens) under seasonally changing conditions. We find that the effects of warming, ocean acidification and their interactions are not detectable in the short term, but manifest over time through changes in growth, bioturbation and bioirrigation behaviour that, in turn, affect nutrient generation. These changes are intimately linked to species responses to seasonal variations in environmental conditions (temperature and photoperiod) that, depending upon timing, can either exacerbate or buffer the long-term directional effects of climatic forcing. Taken together, our observations caution against over emphasizing the conclusions from short-term experiments and highlight the necessity to consider the temporal expression of complex system dynamics established over appropriate timescales when forecasting the likely ecological consequences of climatic forcing.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Ecol Evol
                Ecol Evol
                ece3
                Ecology and Evolution
                Blackwell Publishing Ltd
                2045-7758
                2045-7758
                October 2013
                17 September 2013
                : 3
                : 11
                : 3958-3985
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Plymouth Marine Laboratory Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, U.K
                [2 ]The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, NR33 OHT, U.K
                [3 ]Department of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, U.K
                [4 ]EPOC – UMR5805, Université Bordeaux 1- CNRS Station Marine d'Arcachon, 2 Rue du Professeur Jolyet, Arcachon, 33120, France
                [5 ]Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, University of Nordland Postboks 1490, Bodø, 8049, Norway
                [6 ]Department for Marine Research, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung Südstrand 40, Wilhelmshaven, 26382, Germany
                [7 ]Marine Biology Research Group, Ghent University Krijgslaan 281/S8, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
                [8 ]Bio-Environmental Research Group, Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries Research (ILVO-Fisheries) Ankerstraat 1, Ostend, 8400, Belgium
                Author notes
                Ana M. Queirós, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, U.K. Tel: +44 1752 633 476; Fax: +44 1752 633 101; E-mail: anqu@ 123456pml.ac.uk

                Funding Information Funding was supported by the Western Channel Observatory, part of the UK Natural Environmental Research Council's National Capability (Queirós, Somerfield and Widdicombe), the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under Science-Level Agreement SLA31 (Birchenough), the Conseil Régional d'Aquitaine and the University of Bordeaux 1 (Romero-Ramirez), and the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research (Van Colen).

                Article
                10.1002/ece3.769
                3810888
                24198953
                bf510250-82f2-4975-a26b-ae8583737a11
                © 2013 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

                Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation.

                History
                : 01 May 2013
                : 06 August 2013
                : 12 August 2013
                Categories
                Original Research

                Evolutionary Biology
                biodiversity,biogeochemical,ecosystem function,functional group,good environmental status,marine strategy framework directive,process,trait

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