Marine Nearshore Biodiversity—2nd Edition

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 3804

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Maine Coastal Program, Department of Marine Resources, West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575, USA
Interests: biodiversity; conservation biology; marine biology; biogeography; nearshore ecology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nearshore ecosystems contain most of the ocean’s highly productive waters and varied habitats that support a range of phyla more diverse than that which terrestrial ecosystems hold. This band of water spanning continents and islands extends seaward from the intertidal zone out through the subtidal to a depth of 90 meters and envelops most of the marine biodiversity hotspots. The valuable services provided by nearshore ecosystems are as diverse as their plant and animal inhabitants. Among the marine ecosystems, nearshore biodiversity has the deepest history of exploration, exploitation, and benefits to society. Yet, as coastal sea water temperatures, sea levels, sea water chemistries, and coastal currents change, the populations of the nearshore benthos are reduced, restructured, and replaced. These consequences are understood through the altered phenology of life histories, changed abundance and genetic diversity, species range shifts, and modified ecosystem functions.

This Special Issue will highlight recent advances in research on nearshore biodiversity, covering its relationship with biogeography, coastal oceanographic processes, ecosystem functions, species introductions and range shifts, community ecology and genetics. Research concerned with the interactions of commercial harvesting, aquaculture and pollution with nearshore biodiversity is also invited. In summary, this collection aims to present, in a broad sense, a global comparison of nearshore biodiversity and the drivers of change.

Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Trott
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biogeography
  • oceanography
  • range shifts
  • coastal
  • distributions
  • community ecology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

35 pages, 6301 KiB  
Article
Multi-Biomarker Analysis Uncovers High Spatio-Temporal Stability of a Subarctic Rhodolith (Lithothamnion glaciale) Bed Food Web
by Sean Hacker Teper, Christopher C. Parrish and Patrick Gagnon
Diversity 2024, 16(10), 597; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16100597 - 27 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1808
Abstract
We used lipid, fatty acid, and stable isotope analyses to investigate variation, over nine months, in the trophodynamics of 10 dominant cryptofaunal, macroalgal/algal, and environmental components from two sites within a rhodolith (Lithothamnion glaciale) bed in southeastern Newfoundland (Canada). There was [...] Read more.
We used lipid, fatty acid, and stable isotope analyses to investigate variation, over nine months, in the trophodynamics of 10 dominant cryptofaunal, macroalgal/algal, and environmental components from two sites within a rhodolith (Lithothamnion glaciale) bed in southeastern Newfoundland (Canada). There was an overall shift from a diatom-based food web following the spring phytoplankton bloom to a kelp/algae-based food web during fall, accompanied by preferred use of EPA (20:5ω3) over DHA (22:6ω3) in most cryptofauna. The food web contained three trophic levels that encompassed: (1) direct feeding relationships from primary producers (e.g., rhodoliths, macroalgae) to second-order consumers (e.g., sea stars, polychaetes); (2) trophic subsidy from within and outside the rhodolith bed via settlement, resuspension, and consumption of macroalgal fragments and other detrital organic matter; and (3) strong pelagic/benthic coupling. Riverine input did not affect cryptofaunal diets, as shown by the lack of terrestrial biomarkers at the study site nearest to the riverine input, and there were minor differences in trophodynamics between both study sites. The present study’s findings, applicable to relatively broad spatial and temporal domains, as well as those of complementary studies of the same rhodolith bed, uncover high spatio-temporal stability of the rhodolith bed framework and of resident cryptofaunal abundance, diversity, and trophodynamics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Nearshore Biodiversity—2nd Edition)
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22 pages, 5305 KiB  
Article
Decapods of the Southern Tip of South America and the Marine Protected Area Namuncurá–Burdwood Bank: A Nearshore–Offshore Comparison
by Pablo Di Salvatore, Mariano J. Albano, Mariano J. Diez, Federico Tapella, Patricia Pérez-Barros and Gustavo A. Lovrich
Diversity 2023, 15(11), 1143; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15111143 - 15 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1461
Abstract
The Marine Protected Area (MPA) Namuncurá−Burdwood Bank was created in 2013 to protect the benthic community. After five years of multidisciplinary research, it was reorganized, and a second, contiguous MPA Namuncurá−Burdwood Bank II was created. The objectives of this study were to evaluate [...] Read more.
The Marine Protected Area (MPA) Namuncurá−Burdwood Bank was created in 2013 to protect the benthic community. After five years of multidisciplinary research, it was reorganized, and a second, contiguous MPA Namuncurá−Burdwood Bank II was created. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the decapod assemblages in both the previous and current management zones and to compare them with the neighboring areas of southern South America. The decapod fauna was studied integratively by comparing captured species onboard scientific expeditions with online records. Our study showed that the original design of the MPAN−BB had the lowest decapod species richness. However, the constitution of a larger protected area, including the slope, increased the species richness, with unique records of Campylonotus arntzianus and Lithodes couesi. The MPA could be considered ecologically representative as it shares various species with the nearby areas (the Beagle Channel and the Atlantic). Furthermore, we theorize it could act as a “hub” for decapod species as marine currents provide the Burdwood Bank with new individuals from the west and disperse them northward to the Patagonian Shelf and eastward to the Scotia Arc. This result shows the great value of protecting this area, ensuring the conservation of the decapod fauna of southern South America. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Nearshore Biodiversity—2nd Edition)
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