Negative and positive interspecific interactions involving jellyfish polyps in marine sessile communities
Sessile marine invertebrates on hard substrates are one of the two canonical examples of communities structured by competition, but some aspects of their dynamics remain poorly understood. Jellyfish polyps are an important but under-studied component of these communities. We determined how jellyfish...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
PeerJ Inc.
2023-02-01
|
| Series: | PeerJ |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/14846.pdf |
| _version_ | 1827610911124226048 |
|---|---|
| author | Jade Boughton Andrew G. Hirst Cathy H. Lucas Matthew Spencer |
| author_facet | Jade Boughton Andrew G. Hirst Cathy H. Lucas Matthew Spencer |
| author_sort | Jade Boughton |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sessile marine invertebrates on hard substrates are one of the two canonical examples of communities structured by competition, but some aspects of their dynamics remain poorly understood. Jellyfish polyps are an important but under-studied component of these communities. We determined how jellyfish polyps interact with their potential competitors in sessile marine hard-substrate communities, using a combination of experiments and modelling. We carried out an experimental study of the interaction between polyps of the moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita and potential competitors on settlement panels, in which we determined the effects of reduction in relative abundance of either A. aurita or potential competitors at two depths. We predicted that removal of potential competitors would result in a relative increase in A. aurita that would not depend on depth, and that removal of A. aurita would result in a relative increase in potential competitors that would be stronger at shallower depths, where oxygen is less likely to be limiting. Removal of potential competitors resulted in a relative increase in A. aurita at both depths, as predicted. Unexpectedly, removal of A. aurita resulted in a relative decrease in potential competitors at both depths. We investigated a range of models of competition for space, of which the most successful involved enhanced overgrowth of A. aurita by potential competitors, but none of these models was completely able to reproduce the observed pattern. Our results suggest that interspecific interactions in this canonical example of a competitive system are more complex than is generally believed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:57:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-69dd7cf93e234385806a27ec4988dc8f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:57:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-69dd7cf93e234385806a27ec4988dc8f2023-12-03T00:52:31ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592023-02-0111e1484610.7717/peerj.14846Negative and positive interspecific interactions involving jellyfish polyps in marine sessile communitiesJade Boughton0Andrew G. Hirst1Cathy H. Lucas2Matthew Spencer3Faculty of Sciences, International Master of Science in Marine Biological Resources (Consortium, EMBRC), University of Ghent, Ghent, BelgiumSchool of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Brackenhurst Campus, Nottingham Trent University, Southwell, United KingdomNational Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, United KingdomSchool of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United KingdomSessile marine invertebrates on hard substrates are one of the two canonical examples of communities structured by competition, but some aspects of their dynamics remain poorly understood. Jellyfish polyps are an important but under-studied component of these communities. We determined how jellyfish polyps interact with their potential competitors in sessile marine hard-substrate communities, using a combination of experiments and modelling. We carried out an experimental study of the interaction between polyps of the moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita and potential competitors on settlement panels, in which we determined the effects of reduction in relative abundance of either A. aurita or potential competitors at two depths. We predicted that removal of potential competitors would result in a relative increase in A. aurita that would not depend on depth, and that removal of A. aurita would result in a relative increase in potential competitors that would be stronger at shallower depths, where oxygen is less likely to be limiting. Removal of potential competitors resulted in a relative increase in A. aurita at both depths, as predicted. Unexpectedly, removal of A. aurita resulted in a relative decrease in potential competitors at both depths. We investigated a range of models of competition for space, of which the most successful involved enhanced overgrowth of A. aurita by potential competitors, but none of these models was completely able to reproduce the observed pattern. Our results suggest that interspecific interactions in this canonical example of a competitive system are more complex than is generally believed.https://peerj.com/articles/14846.pdfCompositional data analysisJellyfish polypsInterspecific interactionsMarine sessile communities |
| spellingShingle | Jade Boughton Andrew G. Hirst Cathy H. Lucas Matthew Spencer Negative and positive interspecific interactions involving jellyfish polyps in marine sessile communities PeerJ Compositional data analysis Jellyfish polyps Interspecific interactions Marine sessile communities |
| title | Negative and positive interspecific interactions involving jellyfish polyps in marine sessile communities |
| title_full | Negative and positive interspecific interactions involving jellyfish polyps in marine sessile communities |
| title_fullStr | Negative and positive interspecific interactions involving jellyfish polyps in marine sessile communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Negative and positive interspecific interactions involving jellyfish polyps in marine sessile communities |
| title_short | Negative and positive interspecific interactions involving jellyfish polyps in marine sessile communities |
| title_sort | negative and positive interspecific interactions involving jellyfish polyps in marine sessile communities |
| topic | Compositional data analysis Jellyfish polyps Interspecific interactions Marine sessile communities |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/14846.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jadeboughton negativeandpositiveinterspecificinteractionsinvolvingjellyfishpolypsinmarinesessilecommunities AT andrewghirst negativeandpositiveinterspecificinteractionsinvolvingjellyfishpolypsinmarinesessilecommunities AT cathyhlucas negativeandpositiveinterspecificinteractionsinvolvingjellyfishpolypsinmarinesessilecommunities AT matthewspencer negativeandpositiveinterspecificinteractionsinvolvingjellyfishpolypsinmarinesessilecommunities |