Costa Valentina, Chemello Renato, Iaciofano Davide, Lo Brutto Sabrina, Rossi Francesca
MARBEC Laboratory, CNRS-University of Montpellier, Pl E Bataillon, Montpellier, France.
Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, University of Palermo, CoNISMa, Via Archirafi 20, 90123, Palermo, Italy.
Mar Environ Res. 2021 Oct;171:105474. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105474. Epub 2021 Sep 3.
Seagrass detritus can attract numerous invertebrates as it provides food and substrate within the meadow or in adjacent environments. Nonetheless, several factors could modify the invertebrate response to this habitat. In this study, we tested if epifaunal colonisation of Zostera noltei detritus was related to substrate availability rather than food and whether colonising assemblages were similar according to the meadow structural complexity. Litterbags filled with natural or artificial detritus were deployed within an eelgrass meadow in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Thau lagoon, France). Colonisation appeared to be driven by the presence of detritus, with similar assemblages in natural and artificial substrate, but with more individuals than the empty bags, used as controls. There were also no differences according to habitat complexity. These findings show that detritus, acting as a faunal magnet, plays an important role in maintaining biodiversity, as epifauna is a critical trophic link between primary producers and consumers.
海草碎屑能吸引众多无脊椎动物，因为它在海草草甸或邻近环境中提供了食物和基质。尽管如此，有几个因素可能会改变无脊椎动物对这种栖息地的反应。在本研究中，我们测试了诺氏大叶藻碎屑的表栖生物定殖是否与基质可用性而非食物有关，以及根据草甸结构复杂性，定殖群落是否相似。装有天然或人工碎屑的垃圾袋被放置在地中海沿岸泻湖（法国的陶泻湖）的鳗草草甸内。定殖似乎是由碎屑的存在驱动的，天然和人工基质中的群落相似，但个体数量比用作对照的空袋子更多。根据栖息地复杂性也没有差异。这些发现表明，碎屑作为动物的磁体，在维持生物多样性方面起着重要作用，因为表栖生物是初级生产者和消费者之间关键的营养纽带。
