Roles of the seasonal dynamics of ecosystem components in fluctuating indirect interactions on a rocky shore.

Abstract

Accurately evaluating the strengths of direct (i.e., consumptive and non-consumptive) effects and indirect (density- and trait-mediated) interactions is crucial for understanding the mechanisms of the maintenance and dynamics of an ecosystem. However, an in situ evaluation has not been conducted for a long enough period of time to fully consider the seasonality and life histories of the community components. We conducted a 9-month (from summer to spring) field experiment in an intertidal rocky shore ecosystem involving the carnivorous snail, Thais clavigera, its prey, the limpet Siphonaria sirius, and their resources, the cyanobacterium (blue-green alga) Lithoderma sp. and the green algae Ulva spp. From summer to autumn, the predation pressure was high, and the consumptive and non-consumptive effects of the predator had opposite (positive and negative, respectively) effects on the prey. Both the density- and trait-mediated indirect interactions decreased the coverage of Lithoderma and increased the coverage of Ulva. As the predation pressure decreased in autumn, the predator affected both the adults and the new recruits of the prey. The trait-mediated interactions still existed, but the density-mediated interactions were not detected. From winter to spring, no direct effects or indirect interactions were detected because of the low predation pressure. Our investigation highlights previously unnoticed processes-showing that the strengths of the direct effects and indirect interactions fluctuate greatly with the seasonality of the ecosystem components.