Natural and anthropogenic disturbances have led to rapid declines in the amount and quality of available habitat in many ecosystems. Many studies have focused on how habitat loss has affected the composition and configuration of habitats, but there have been fewer studies that investigate how this loss affects ecosystem function. We investigated how a large‐scale seagrass die‐off altered the distribution of energetic resources of three seagrass‐associated consumers with varied resource use patterns. Using long‐term benthic habitat monitoring data and resource use data from Bayesian stable isotope mixing models, we generated energetic resource landscapes (
Macrophyte foundation species provide both habitat structure and primary production, and loss of these habitats can alter species interactions and lead to changes in energy flow in food webs. Extensive seagrass meadows in Florida Bay have recently experienced a widespread loss of seagrass habitat due to a Thalassia testudinum mass mortality event in 2015 associated with prolonged hypersalinity and bottom-water anoxia. Using stable isotope analysis paired with Bayesian mixing models, we investigated the basal resource use of seven species of seagrass-associated consumers across Florida Bay in areas affected by the 2015 seagrass die-off. Three years after the die-off, basal resource use did not differ for species collected inside and outside the die-off affected areas. Instead, consumers showed seasonal patterns in basal resource use with seagrass the most important in the wet season (58%), while epiphytes were the most important in the dry season (44%). Additionally, intraspecific spatial variability in resource use was lower in the wet season compared to the dry season. We were unable to detect a legacy effect of a major disturbance on the basal resource use of the most common seagrass-associated consumers in Florida Bay.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10369409
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ICES Journal of Marine Science
- Volume:
- 79
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 1054-3139
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 1831-1842
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Zostera marina
