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Replication Data for: Salinity controls rocky intertidal community structure via suppression of herbivory

Emry, Sandra

Salinity controls rocky intertidal community structure via suppression of herbivory

This dataset relates to a project conducted in the Salish Sea, British Columbia to examine the indirect effects of salinity on intertidal community composition. The dataset is comprised of (a) environmental data for 6 sites, 3 in a low salinity region and 3 in a high salinity region, (b) site by species matrix for transect surveys in the same 6 sites, (c) laboratory salinity tolerance experiments for a primary producer and two herbivore species, and (d) a site by species matrix for a herbivore manipulation study conducted in the same 6 sites.

Metadata for each dataset and variables therein can be found in the README text file. Information about methodology used to obtain data can be found in the manuscript preprint (https://doi.org/10.32942/X2RK56).

Abstract:

Climate change impacts ecosystems directly through differences in species specific responses as well as indirectly through changes to the strength of species interactions. To predict how species will be impacted by ongoing environmental change, we need to better understand the relative roles of these direct and indirect effects. Salinity is a strong driver of ecological patterns and processes, and salinity regimes in coastal regions are expected to be altered by climate change through intensification of the hydrological cycle and via climate-driven shifts in the timing and strength of the spring freshet. We hypothesized that hyposalinity can indirectly affect the intertidal community by excluding a dominant herbivore. To test this hypothesis, we 1) conducted intertidal diversity surveys in regions of high vs. seasonally low salinity in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, 2) conducted laboratory salinity tolerance trials for two important grazers (Lottia pelta and Lottia digitalis) and one primary producer (Ulva sp.), and 3) experimentally manipulated the abundance of grazers in these two regions. We show that rocky intertidal shores from two regions of disparate salinity regimes are distinct in their intertidal communities: low salinity sites were composed primarily of Mytilus trossulus, Fucus distichus and Ulva sp., whereas high salinity sites were dominated by Chthamalus dalli, Lottia spp., and Mastocarpus sp. Our laboratory trials confirmed that freshwater inputs experienced in the low salinity region resulted in hyposaline levels which exceeded the tolerance of Lottia spp., but not that of Ulva sp. Further, we show that by excluding grazers in high salinity sites, these communities more closely resemble that of the low salinity sites than they do of other high salinity sites with grazers present. Together, these results demonstrate that the pattern of distinct estuarine intertidal communities in low vs. high salinity regions in the Strait of Georgia may be largely driven by the indirect effects of freshwater inputs, mediated by salinity-driven differences in herbivore population size and thus grazing pressure.

Dataset

University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0433571

https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/W5JEJM

Canada