Publications

Effects of herbivory, nutrients, and reef protection on algal proliferation and coral growth on a tropical reef

Faculty Opinions recommendation of Phenotype-environment mismatches reduce connectivity in the sea.

Collaborating “ocean ecologists” assess achievements, prepare for challenges

Remarkable advances in our understanding of the biology and ecology of the world's oceans are leading to a newer, more integrative approach to investigations of those oceans. The approach, which we have called “ocean ecology” is blurring previous distinctions between marine ecology and biological oceanography. Researchers in those fields now collaborate and trade methods and scientific perspectives and, as a result, find themselves part of the intellectual underpinnings and histories of subdisciplines other than their own. Collaboration comes none too soon. One of the greatest challenges facing ocean ecologists in the present and coming decades is understanding and resolving anthropogenic versus natural variability and change. The need is urgent to focus investigations on coastal ocean degradation and its acceleration and to deal effectively with environmental change wrought by humans.

Fish—Seaweed Interactions on Coral Reefs: Effects of Herbivorous Fishes and Adaptations of Their Prey

Response to Comment on "Opposing Effects of Native and Exotic Herbivores on Plant Invasions"

Our investigation found that non-native plants were more susceptible to native generalist herbivores than were native plants. Ricciardi and Ward's finding that non-native plants without native congeners are more susceptible to native herbivores than are non-natives with coexisting native congeners supports our hypothesis that evolutionary naïveté leaves plants at greater risk of attack by newly encountered generalist herbivores.

Faculty Opinions recommendation of Resource-use efficiency and plant invasion in low-resource systems.

Faculty Opinions recommendation of Global biogeography of coral recruitment: tropical decline and subtropical increase.

Amphipods Are Not All Created Equal: A Reply to Bell

L-methioninase production by some gram-negative bacteria.

Competitors as accomplices: seaweed competitors hide corals from predatory sea stars

Indirect biotic effects arising from multispecies interactions can alter the structure and function of ecological communities—often in surprising ways that can vary in direction and magnitude. On Pacific coral reefs, predation by the crown-of-thorns sea star, Acanthaster planci , is associated with broad-scale losses of coral cover and increases of macroalgal cover. Macroalgal blooms increase coral–macroalgal competition and can generate further coral decline. However, using a combination of manipulative field experiments and observations, we demonstrate that macroalgae, such as Sargassum polycystum , produce associational refuges for corals and dramatically reduce their consumption by Acanthaster . Thus, as Acanthaster densities increase, macroalgae can become coral mutualists, despite being competitors that significantly suppress coral growth. Field feeding experiments revealed that the protective effects of macroalgae were strong enough to cause Acanthaster to consume low-preference corals instead of high-preference corals surrounded by macroalgae. This highlights the context-dependent nature of coral–algal interactions when consumers are common. Macroalgal creation of associational refuges from Acanthaster predation may have important implications for the structure, function and resilience of reef communities subject to an increasing number of biotic disturbances.

CCDC 665922: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.

Faculty Opinions recommendation of The latitudinal gradient in recent speciation and extinction rates of birds and mammals.

Faculty Opinions recommendation of Janzen-Connell effects in a broadcast-spawning Caribbean coral: distance-dependent survival of larvae and settlers.

James A. Estes: An ecologist’s quest to understand nature

For five decades, Jim A. Estes studied sea otters in the Aleutian archipelago of Alaska, discovering how otters structured entire communities. By consuming sea urchins, otters released kelp from herbivory, kelp beds flourished, and kelps sheltered a diversity of fishes, and invertebrates. When otters were extirpated by paleohumans, modern humans, or killer whales, urchins proliferated, reduced kelp forests to “urchin barrens,” and species-rich assemblages of fishes and invertebrates were lost. These losses affected seals, eagles, sea gulls, fishes, and sea stars that depended on these prey as well as adjacent habitats that had been nourished by exported kelp production. Jim’s research became the poster child for keystone species, trophic cascades, and the critical role of predators in structuring ecosystems. Similar discoveries followed in freshwaters, forests, and grasslands.

Responses of temperate reef fishes to alterations in algal structure and species composition

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 134:37-47 (1996) - doi:10.3354/meps134037 Responses of temperate reef fishes to alterations in algal structure and species composition Levin PS, Hay ME Reef habitats in the South Atlantic Bight comprise only a small proportion of the available benthic habitat, but support enormous densities of fishes, invertebrates, and algae. Because these reefs are distant from shore and in deeper waters (usually &GT20 m), we know very little about the factors affecting the distribution of fishes or the structure of fish assemblages on these reefs. Our goal in this study was to determine how variance in macroalgal structure and species composition on reefs off the coast of North Carolina affects reef fishes. Manipulations of algal density and species composition in artificially created 1.5 m2 plots indicated that: (1) patches with Sargassum filipendula had greater numbers and higher species richness of reef fishes than patches without algae; (2) fishes responded to variability in Sargassum density with high fish abundance in patches with higher algal density, but this response varied among fish species; (3) greater numbers of individuals and species of fish used Sargassum patches compared to patches of 2 other brown algae common in this region (Zonaria and Dictyopteris); (4) fish densities were higher in patches with taller algae and greater percent cover of algae. Many of the fishes using experimental patches were small, young-of-the-year individuals. Our results indicate that variability in the structure of seaweed beds on reefs in the South Atlantic Bight can influence the distribution and abundance of reef fishes. Although the algal beds in the South Atlantic Bight are more diminutive and less extensive than kelp beds of cold temperate waters, they may be a critical habitat for juvenile reef fishes in this region, and the algal species dominating the beds will have a large effect on their value as juvenile habitat. Reef fish . Temperate reef . Habitat structure . Macroalgae . South Atlantic Bight . North Carolina . Sargassum . Recruitment Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 134. Publication date: April 25, 1996 Print ISSN:0171-8630; Online ISSN:1616-1599 Copyright © 1996 Inter-Research.

Rapid identification of triterpenoid sulfates and hydroxy fatty acids including two new constituents from <i>Tydemania expeditionis</i> by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

Tydemania expeditionis Weber–van Bosse (Udoteaceae) is a weakly calcified green alga. In the present paper, liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection and electrospray mass spectrometry was developed to identify the fingerprint components. A total of four triterpenoid sulfates and three hydroxy fatty acids in the ethyl acetate fraction of the crude extract were structurally characterized on the basis of retention time, online UV spectrum, and mass fragmentation pattern. Furthermore, a detailed liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis revealed two new hydroxy fatty acids, which were then prepared and characterized by extensive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses. The proposed method provides a scientific and technical platform for the rapid identification of triterpenoid sulfates and hydroxy fatty acids in similar marine algae and terrestrial plants. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Faculty Opinions recommendation of Increased consumer fitness following transfer of toxin tolerance to offspring via maternal effects.