Mass Mortality of Foundation Species on Rocky Shores: Testing a Methodology for a Continental Monitoring Program

María M Mendez,Gregorio Bigatti,Juan P Livore,Federico Márquez

doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.620866

María M Mendez, Gregorio Bigatti + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.620866

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Abstract

Global concern around substantial losses of biodiversity has led to the development of a number of monitoring programs. Networks were established to obtain appropriate data on the spatial and temporal variation of marine species on rocky shores. Recently, the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network Pole to Pole of the Americas (MBON P2P) program was established and is coordinating biodiversity surveys along coastal areas throughout the continent. The goal of this paper was to test the usefulness and adequacy of a methodology proposed for the MBON P2P program. Changes in benthic assemblage cover were studied on monitored sites in northern Patagonia before and after the 2019 austral summer. Long-term dynamics of mussel bed is described based on existing data. Results showed that assemblages before the 2019 austral summer were different from assemblages after it. Thus, a mussel mass mortality event could be detected with this methodology. It took less than a year for mussel cover to drop from 90 to almost 0%; even where substantial changes in mussel bed cover were not registered in the previous ~20 years at the study area. This simple methodology is an adequate tool for monitoring rocky intertidal habitats. Yearly monitoring is needed, as a minimum, to perceive this kind of process timely. Real-time detection offers the opportunity of properly understanding the causes that lead to the loss of key community components, such as these foundation species. Furthermore, it would provide early warning to decision-makers enhancing the chances of conservation of natural environments and their ecosystem services.

Highlights

Rocky shores are one of the most widely distributed coastal habitats throughout the world (Thompson et al, 2002)
similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) analysis showed that scorched mussels were responsible for most of the similarity between sites in the before samplings (Table 1)
This study shows how a simple low-cost and non-extractive methodology was able to detect changes in mid intertidal rocky shore assemblages, as a scorched mussel mass mortality event on Patagonian coasts

Summary

Introduction

Rocky shores are one of the most widely distributed coastal habitats throughout the world (Thompson et al, 2002). The Natural Geography in Shore Areas (NaGISA) project of the Census of Marine Life (CoML) program (2000–2010) and its sequel the South American Research Group on Coastal Ecosystems (SARCE) (since 2011), together monitored rocky shores over more than 60◦ of latitude across 150 sites. Such monitoring described and analyzed biodiversity patterns across latitudinal gradients and linked them with ecosystem functioning and human stressors (Miloslavich et al, 2016; Cruz Motta et al, 2020). In 2016, the Pole to Pole project of the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON P2P) was established with a goal of using common methods for the collection of biological information in coastal habitats throughout the American continent (Canonico et al, 2019; Duffy et al, 2019)

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