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Macroalgal blooms alter community structure and primary productivity in marine ecosystems.
Glob Chang Biol. 2014 Sep; 20(9):2712-24.GC

Abstract

Eutrophication, coupled with loss of herbivory due to habitat degradation and overharvesting, has increased the frequency and severity of macroalgal blooms worldwide. Macroalgal blooms interfere with human activities in coastal areas, and sometimes necessitate costly algal removal programmes. They also have many detrimental effects on marine and estuarine ecosystems, including induction of hypoxia, release of toxic hydrogen sulphide into the sediments and atmosphere, and the loss of ecologically and economically important species. However, macroalgal blooms can also increase habitat complexity, provide organisms with food and shelter, and reduce other problems associated with eutrophication. These contrasting effects make their overall ecological impacts unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the overall effects of macroalgal blooms on several key measures of ecosystem structure and functioning in marine ecosystems. We also evaluated some of the ecological and methodological factors that might explain the highly variable effects observed in different studies. Averaged across all studies, macroalgal blooms had negative effects on the abundance and species richness of marine organisms, but blooms by different algal taxa had different consequences, ranging from strong negative to strong positive effects. Blooms' effects on species richness also depended on the habitat where they occurred, with the strongest negative effects seen in sandy or muddy subtidal habitats and in the rocky intertidal. Invertebrate communities also appeared to be particularly sensitive to blooms, suffering reductions in their abundance, species richness, and diversity. The total net primary productivity, gross primary productivity, and respiration of benthic ecosystems were higher during macroalgal blooms, but blooms had negative effects on the productivity and respiration of other organisms. These results suggest that, in addition to their direct social and economic costs, macroalgal blooms have ecological effects that may alter their capacity to deliver important ecosystem services.

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Publisher Full Text (DOI)

Authors+Show Affiliations

Lyons DA
University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Arvanitidis C
No affiliation info available
Blight AJ
No affiliation info available
Chatzinikolaou E
No affiliation info available
Guy-Haim T
No affiliation info available
Kotta J
No affiliation info available
Orav-Kotta H
No affiliation info available
Queirós AM
No affiliation info available
Rilov G
No affiliation info available
Somerfield PJ
No affiliation info available
Crowe TP
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AnimalsBiodiversityBiotaEcosystemEutrophicationHarmful Algal BloomInvertebratesMarine BiologyOceans and SeasPhototrophic ProcessesPopulation DynamicsSpecies Specificity

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Meta-Analysis
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review
Systematic Review

Language

eng

PubMed ID

24890042

Citation

Lyons, Devin A., et al. "Macroalgal Blooms Alter Community Structure and Primary Productivity in Marine Ecosystems." Global Change Biology, vol. 20, no. 9, 2014, pp. 2712-24.
Lyons DA, Arvanitidis C, Blight AJ, et al. Macroalgal blooms alter community structure and primary productivity in marine ecosystems. Glob Chang Biol. 2014;20(9):2712-24.
Lyons, D. A., Arvanitidis, C., Blight, A. J., Chatzinikolaou, E., Guy-Haim, T., Kotta, J., Orav-Kotta, H., Queirós, A. M., Rilov, G., Somerfield, P. J., & Crowe, T. P. (2014). Macroalgal blooms alter community structure and primary productivity in marine ecosystems. Global Change Biology, 20(9), 2712-24. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12644
Lyons DA, et al. Macroalgal Blooms Alter Community Structure and Primary Productivity in Marine Ecosystems. Glob Chang Biol. 2014;20(9):2712-24. PubMed PMID: 24890042.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Macroalgal blooms alter community structure and primary productivity in marine ecosystems. AU - Lyons,Devin A, AU - Arvanitidis,Christos, AU - Blight,Andrew J, AU - Chatzinikolaou,Eva, AU - Guy-Haim,Tamar, AU - Kotta,Jonne, AU - Orav-Kotta,Helen, AU - Queirós,Ana M, AU - Rilov,Gil, AU - Somerfield,Paul J, AU - Crowe,Tasman P, Y1 - 2014/07/04/ PY - 2013/10/17/received PY - 2014/04/14/revised PY - 2014/05/02/accepted PY - 2014/6/4/entrez PY - 2014/6/4/pubmed PY - 2015/3/31/medline KW - biodiversity KW - ecosystem functioning KW - green tide KW - harmful algal bloom KW - macroalgal bloom KW - macroalgal mat KW - species richness SP - 2712 EP - 24 JF - Global change biology JO - Glob Chang Biol VL - 20 IS - 9 N2 - Eutrophication, coupled with loss of herbivory due to habitat degradation and overharvesting, has increased the frequency and severity of macroalgal blooms worldwide. Macroalgal blooms interfere with human activities in coastal areas, and sometimes necessitate costly algal removal programmes. They also have many detrimental effects on marine and estuarine ecosystems, including induction of hypoxia, release of toxic hydrogen sulphide into the sediments and atmosphere, and the loss of ecologically and economically important species. However, macroalgal blooms can also increase habitat complexity, provide organisms with food and shelter, and reduce other problems associated with eutrophication. These contrasting effects make their overall ecological impacts unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the overall effects of macroalgal blooms on several key measures of ecosystem structure and functioning in marine ecosystems. We also evaluated some of the ecological and methodological factors that might explain the highly variable effects observed in different studies. Averaged across all studies, macroalgal blooms had negative effects on the abundance and species richness of marine organisms, but blooms by different algal taxa had different consequences, ranging from strong negative to strong positive effects. Blooms' effects on species richness also depended on the habitat where they occurred, with the strongest negative effects seen in sandy or muddy subtidal habitats and in the rocky intertidal. Invertebrate communities also appeared to be particularly sensitive to blooms, suffering reductions in their abundance, species richness, and diversity. The total net primary productivity, gross primary productivity, and respiration of benthic ecosystems were higher during macroalgal blooms, but blooms had negative effects on the productivity and respiration of other organisms. These results suggest that, in addition to their direct social and economic costs, macroalgal blooms have ecological effects that may alter their capacity to deliver important ecosystem services. SN - 1365-2486 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/24890042/Macroalgal_blooms_alter_community_structure_and_primary_productivity_in_marine_ecosystems_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -