Multiple Indirect Mechanisms Research Articles

Bottom–up and top–down mechanisms indirectly mediate interactions between benthic biotic ecosystem components

The loss or decline in population size of key species can instigate a cascade of effects that have implications for interacting species, therewith impacting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We examined how top–down and bottom–up interactions may mediate knock-on effects of a coastal deposit-feeding clam, Macomona liliana (hereafter Macomona), on sandflat meiobenthos densities. Therefore we manipulated densities of Macomona in combination with predator exclusion and experimental shading that was expected to alter microphytobenthos biomass. We show that Macomona regulated densities of meiobenthic (38–500μm) nematodes, copepods, polychaetes, turbellarians, and ostracodes during the three months of incubation via indirect mechanisms. Predator pressure on Macomona by eagle rays (Myliobatis tenuicaudatus) was found to have a negative effect on densities of some meiobenthic taxa. Furthermore, experimental shading resulted in the loss of a positive relation between Macomona and microphytobenthos biomass, while concurrently increasing the density of some meiobenthic taxa. We suggest that this observation can be explained by the release from bioturbation interference effects of the cockle Austrovenus stutchburyi that was found to thrive in the presence of Macomona under non-shaded conditions. Our results highlight the importance of interactions between macrofaunal bioturbation, microphyte biomass, sediment stability, and predation pressure for the structuring of benthic communities. This experiment illustrates that manipulative field experiments may be particularly suitable to study such multiple indirect mechanisms that regulate ecosystem diversity and related functioning because such approaches may best capture the complex feedbacks and processes that determine ecosystem dynamics.

Temperature Dependence of the OH–+ CH3I Reaction Kinetics. Experimental and Simulation Studies and Atomic-Level Dynamics

Direct dynamics simulations and selected ion flow tube (SIFT) experiments were performed to study the kinetics and dynamics of the OH(-) + CH3I reaction versus temperature. This work complements previous direct dynamics simulation and molecular beam ion imaging experiments of this reaction versus reaction collision energy (Xie et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 2013, 117, 7162). The simulations and experiments are in quite good agreement. Both identify the SN2, OH(-) + CH3I → CH3OH + I(-), and proton transfer, OH(-) + CH3I → CH2I(-) + H2O, reactions as having nearly equal importance. In the experiments, the SN2 pathway constitutes 0.64 ± 0.05, 0.56 ± 0.05, 0.51 ± 0.05, and 0.46 ± 0.05 of the total reaction at 210, 300, 400, and 500 K, respectively. For the simulations this fraction is 0.56 ± 0.06, 0.55 ± 0.04, and 0.50 ± 0.05 at 300, 400, and 500 K, respectively. The experimental total reaction rate constant is (2.3 ± 0.6) × 10(-9), (1.7 ± 0.4) × 10(-9), (1.9 ± 0.5) × 10(-9), and (1.8 ± 0.5) × 10(-9) cm(3) s(-1) at 210, 300, 400, and 500 K, respectively, which is approximately 25% smaller than the collision capture value. The simulation values for this rate constant are (1.7 ± 0.2) × 10(-9), (1.8 ± 0.1) × 10(-9), and (1.6 ± 0.1) × 10(-9) cm(3)s(-1) at 300, 400, and 500 K. From the simulations, direct rebound and stripping mechanisms as well as multiple indirect mechanisms are identified as the atomic-level reaction mechanisms for both the SN2 and proton-transfer pathways. For the SN2 reaction the direct and indirect mechanisms have nearly equal probabilities; the direct mechanisms are slightly more probable, and direct rebound is more important than direct stripping. For the proton-transfer pathway the indirect mechanisms are more important than the direct mechanisms, and stripping is significantly more important than rebound for the latter. Calculations were performed with the OH(-) quantum number J equal to 0, 3, and 6 to investigate the effect of OH(-) rotational excitation on the OH(-) + CH3I reaction dynamics. The overall reaction probability and the probabilities for the SN2 and proton-transfer pathways have little dependence on J. Possible effects on the atomistic mechanisms were investigated for the SN2 pathway and the probability of the direct rebound mechanism increased with J. However, the other atomistic mechanisms were not appreciably affected by J.