Mussel Shells from Marine Aquaculture Act like Ecosystem Engineers: Legacy Effects on Benthic Communities
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Título: | Mussel Shells from Marine Aquaculture Act like Ecosystem Engineers: Legacy Effects on Benthic Communities |
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Autor/es: | Sanchez-Jerez, Pablo | Casado-Coy, Nuria | Troncoso, Jesus S. | Olabarria, Celia | Valle-Pérez, Carlos | Marí Such, Candela | Sanz-Lázaro, Carlos |
Grupo/s de investigación o GITE: | Biología Marina | Gestión de Ecosistemas y de la Biodiversidad (GEB) | Bioquímica Aplicada/Applied Biochemistry (AppBiochem) |
Centro, Departamento o Servicio: | Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada | Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Ecología | Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio "Ramón Margalef" |
Palabras clave: | Mussel shell accumulation | Environmental impact | Habitat complexity | Aquaculture | Fouling | Polychaeta |
Fecha de publicación: | 25-oct-2023 |
Editor: | MDPI |
Cita bibliográfica: | Sanchez-Jerez P, Casado-Coy N, Souza Troncoso J, Olabarria C, Valle-Pérez C, Marí Such C, Sanz-Lázaro C. Mussel Shells from Marine Aquaculture Act like Ecosystem Engineers: Legacy Effects on Benthic Communities. Coasts. 2023; 3(4):328-344. https://doi.org/10.3390/coasts3040020 |
Resumen: | Ecosystem engineers are organisms that cause changes in the physical state of biotic and abiotic structures that modulate the availability of resources to other species, thus affecting biochemical cycles. Molluscs, especially bivalves such as mussels, are widespread in coastal environments and they are excellent ecosystem engineers because of the durability of their shells, which add complexity and heterogeneity to benthic environments. The presence of mussel farms favours the accumulation of shells in benthic environments and may influence surrounding bare sediments, with potential legacy effects on benthic communities. We studied the effects of the accumulation of mussel shells at finfish farms and mussel farms by experimentally comparing bare sediment and sediment with fragmented shells in terms of the abundance of the most relevant faunal groups, specifically polychaete families as well as physical–chemical variables in sediment water samples, specifically organic matter (OM), redox potential, and acid-volatile sulphides (AVS) NH4+ and PO43−. The experiment was replicated under two environmental conditions over a period of 35 days: eutrophic muddy sediments and oligotrophic sandy sediments. The OM and AVS values were significantly higher in the eutrophic sediment with mussel shells. Only NH4+ was positively affected by the mussel shells in the oligotrophic conditions. Differences between the two environments were observed, and the effect of the mussel shells on the polychaete assemblages was more significant in the oligotrophic conditions. Mussel shell accumulations affected the structure of benthic assemblages by modifying their heterogeneity and complexity, which suggests that the presence of mussel farms above bare sediment may affect ecosystem functioning. Aquaculture has potentially negative or positive effects that must be addressed on a large scale, considering the increased input of organic matter and also the simultaneous presence of mussel shell waste, both of which alter the surrounding environment. This is particularly important in oligotrophic sandy sediment. |
Patrocinador/es: | This research was funded by the project CGL2015-70136-R from the Spanish National Agency for Research (MINECO/FEDER). |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10045/138150 |
ISSN: | 2673-964X |
DOI: | 10.3390/coasts3040020 |
Idioma: | eng |
Tipo: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
Derechos: | © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Revisión científica: | si |
Versión del editor: | https://doi.org/10.3390/coasts3040020 |
Aparece en las colecciones: | INV - BM - Artículos Científicos / Scientific Papers INV - GEB - Artículos de Revistas INV - AppBiochem - Artículos de Revistas |
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