Abstract
Benthic species and communities are linked to pelagic zooplankton through life‐stages encompassing both benthic and pelagic habitats and through a mutual dependency on primary producers as a food source. Many zooplankton taxa contribute to the sedimentary system as benthic eggs. Our main aim was to investigate the nature of the population level biotic interactions between and within these two seemingly independent communities, both dependent on the pelagic primary production, while simultaneously accounting for environmental drivers (salinity, temperature, and oxygen conditions). To this end, we applied multivariate autoregressive state‐space models to long (1966–2007) time series of annual abundance data, comparing models with and without interspecific interactions, and models with and without environmental variables included. We were not able to detect any direct coupling between sediment‐dwelling benthic taxa and pelagic copepods and cladocerans on the annual scale, but the most parsimonious model indicated that interactions within the benthic community are important. There were also positive residual correlations between the copepods and cladocerans potentially reflecting the availability of a shared resource or similar seasonal dependence, whereas both groups tended to correlate negatively with the zoobenthic taxa. The most notable single interaction within the benthic community was a tendency for a negative effect of Limecola balthica on the amphipods Monoporeia affinis and Pontoporeia femorata which can help explain the observed decrease in amphipods due to increased competitive interference.
Highlights
Marine ecosystems and communities are influenced by climate change through precipitation-driven salinity decrease in marginal seas, warming, and hypoxia or anoxia (Hoegh-Guldberg &Bruno, 2010; Kabel et al, 2012; Thompson et al, 2015)
We were not able to detect any direct coupling between sediment-dwelling benthic taxa and pelagic copepods and cladocerans on the annual scale, but the most parsimonious model indicated that interactions within the benthic community are important
The most notable single interaction within the benthic community was a tendency for a negative effect of Limecola balthica on the amphipods Monoporeia affinis and Pontoporeia femorata which can help explain the observed decrease in amphipods due to increased competitive interference
Summary
Marine ecosystems and communities are influenced by climate change through precipitation-driven salinity decrease in marginal seas, warming, and hypoxia or anoxia This calls for joint investigation of biotic interactions and extrinsic variables in forming and maintaining community dynamics (Walther, 2010 and references therein) This is important in systems with few species, where a single species can substantially influence the carbon cycling, such as the bivalve Limecola balthica in the Baltic Sea (Ehrnsten et al, 2019; Elmgren, 1984; Elmgren & Hill, 1997). The benthic zone is an important source of energy for higher trophic levels (Kiljunen et al, 2020) How these organic matter fluxes are affected by mesozooplankton in natural systems is not well quantified, but high numbers of pelagic grazers have the potential to reduce the sedimentation of primary production (Tamelander et al, 2017). We investigate whether biotic interactions can be separated from abiotic effects on several taxa at community level
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
