Effects of moderate eutrophication on saltmarsh food webs

Project Leader:

Linda Deegan

Project Fellows:

Amanda Davis

James Nelson

Project Investigators:

David S. Johnson (MBL)

Partners:

Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory

Local & County Governments and Organizations

Massachusetts Conservation Commissions

State agencies

Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management

Status:

Completed

Overview

We examine the impacts of moderate nutrient enrichment on the production mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, as part of a 10-year whole ecosystem experiment in a Plum Island Sound saltmarsh. In the initial stages of nutrient enrichment we observed a classic bottom up stimulation response in fish production. However, after the first six years fish production declined rapidly. The mechanism for the decline is not known but we hypothesize indirect interactions with other saltmarsh consumers may play an important role, as well a habitat alteration. Our results demonstrate that long-term nutrient enrichment can have complex impacts on the production of saltmarsh fish that are not predictable by classic bottom up/ top down control theory. Our findings suggest that eutrophication and climate change induced sea level rise will have synergistic negative effects on the production of saltmarsh fish primarily through habitat alteration and loss. In 2016, we conducted a 15N tracer experiment to test the concept of bottom up vs creek edge and marsh platform control of mummichog production and have been processing and analyzing samples.

Publications

Howard, E. M., Forbrich, I., Giblin, A. E., Lott, D. E., Cahill, K. L., & Stanley, R. H. R. (2018). Using Noble Gases to Compare Parameterizations of Air-Water Gas Exchange and to Constrain Oxygen Losses by Ebullition in a Shallow Aquatic Environment. Journal Of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 123, 2711-2726. http://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004441 (Original work published Jan-09-2018)

Langley, A., Chapman, S. K., La Pierre, K. J., Avolio, M., Bowman, W. D., Johnson, D. S., et al. (2018). Ambient changes exceed treatment effects on plant species abundance in global change experiments. Global Change Biology. http://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14442 (Original work published Jun-10-2018)

Nelson, J. A., Johnson, D. S., Deegan, L. A., Spivak, A. C., & Sommer, N. R. (2018). Feedbacks Between Nutrient Enrichment and Geomorphology Alter Bottom-Up Control on Food Webs. Ecosystems. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-018-0265-x (Original work published May-05-2018)

Wigand, C., Watson, E. B., Martin, R., Johnson, D. S., Warren, S., Hanson, A., et al. (2018). Discontinuities in soil strength contribute to destabilization of nutrient-enriched creeks. Ecosphere, 9, e02329. http://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2329 (Original work published Jan-08-2018)

Crosby, S. C., Angermeyer, A., Adler, J. M., Bertness, M. D., Deegan, L. A., Sibinga, N., & Leslie, H. M. (2017). Spartina alterniflora Biomass Allocation and Temperature: Implications for Salt Marsh Persistence with Sea-Level Rise. Estuaries And Coasts, 40, 213-223. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-016-0142-9 (Original work published Jan-01-2017)

Kearney, W. S., Mariotti, G., Deegan, L. A., & Fagherazzi, S. (2017). Stage-discharge relationship in tidal channels. Limnology And Oceanography: Methods, 15, 394-407. http://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10168 (Original work published Jan-04-2017)

Johnson, D. S., Warren, S., Deegan, L. A., & Mozdzer, T. J. (2016). Saltmarsh plant responses to eutrophication. Ecological Applications, 26. http://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1402 (Original work published Oct-26-2016)

Crosby, S. C., Sax, D. F., Palmer, M. E., Booth, H. S., Deegan, L. A., Bertness, M. D., & Leslie, H. M. (2016). Salt marsh persistence is threatened by predicted sea-level rise. Estuarine, Coastal And Shelf Science, 181, 93-99. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2016.08.018 (Original work published Nov-05-2016)

Kearns, P. J., Angell, J. H., Howard, E. M., Deegan, L. A., Stanley, R. H. R., & Bowen, J. L. (2016). Nutrient enrichment induces dormancy and decreases diversity of active bacteria in salt marsh sediments. Nature Communications, 7, 12881. http://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12881 (Original work published Sep-26-2016)

Davis, J. L., Currin, C. A., O'Brien, C., Raffenburg, C., & Davis, A. (2015). Living Shorelines: Coastal Resilience with a Blue Carbon Benefit. Plos One, 10, e0142595. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0142595.s001 (Original work published Nov-15-2015)

Johnson, D. S. (2014). Weeds Making Waves. Science. http://doi.org/10.1126/science.344.6181.255-c (Original work published April 2014)

Johnson, D. S., & Short, M. I. (2012). Chronic Nutrient Enrichment Increases the Density and Biomass of the Mudsnail, Nassarius obsoletus. Estuaries And Coasts, 36, 28-35. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9555-2 (Original work published 8-Dec-2012)

Deegan, L. A., Johnson, D. S., Warren, S., Peterson, B. J., Fleeger, J. W., Fagherazzi, S., & Wollheim, W. M. (2012). Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss. Nature, 490, 388-392. http://doi.org/10.1038/nature11533 (Original work published 18-Oct-2012AD)

+8 more

Presentations

Chronic Nutrient Press Differentially Alters Salt Marsh Ecosystem Functions. L. Deegan. Joint Aquatic Science Meeting, Portland, Oregon. May 19-26, 2014.

MBL Undergraduate Research Symposium. The effect of diet on fatty acid content and assimilation efficiencies in Fundulus heteroclitus. Alison Hall (Carelton College Biology Department and Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory Ecosystems Center), James Nelson (Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory Ecosystems Center) and Amanda Spivak (Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute) Aug 20, 2014.

Other

Undergraduate Honors Thesis: Bethany Williams, Florida State University: Sea-level rise effects on the coffee-bean snail, Melampus bidentatus
Nelson, James A., Johnson David S., Deegan Linda A., Spivak Amanda C., Moore Nathalie R. Geomorphology modifies bottom-up control on food webs. Ecological Applications.

Products and Tools

The Tide Project- The TIDE project is long-term experimental ecology at the scale of the ecosystem and unique in the world. http://thetideproject.org/