title: Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Food Web Structure in Different Environmental Settings.
abstract: This study compares the structure of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) meadows and associated food webs in two eelgrass habitats in Denmark, differing in exposure, connection to the open sea, nutrient enrichment and water transparency. Meadow structure strongly reflected the environmental conditions in each habitat. The eutrophicated, protected site had higher biomass of filamentous algae, lower eelgrass biomass and shoot density, longer and narrower leaves, and higher above to below ground biomass ratio compared to the less nutrient-enriched and more exposed site. The faunal community composition and food web structure also differed markedly between sites with the eutrophicated, enclosed site having higher biomass of consumers and less complex food web. These relationships resulted in a column shaped biomass distribution of the consumers at the eutrophicated site whereas the less nutrient-rich site showed a pyramidal biomass distribution of consumers coupled with a more diverse consumer community. The differences in meadow and food web structure of the two seagrass habitats, suggest how physical setting may shape ecosystem response and resilience to anthropogenic pressure. We encourage larger, replicated studies to further disentangle the effects of different environmental variables on seagrass food web structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thormar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.|Nordic Center for Earth Evolution (NordCEE), University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hasler-Sheetal
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Fiskebäckskil, Sweden.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baden
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Environmental and Marine Biology, Åbo Akademi University, Åbo, Finland.
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boström
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Kalø, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kevin Kuhlmann
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Clausen
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Silkeborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Dorte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Krause-Jensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Olesen
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jonas Ribergaard
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Carl Johan
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Svensson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holmer
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D020387:Food Chain; D035962:Zosteraceae