Benthic Final Exam All Papers

Brush et al. 2016

• oystercatchers are a semimigratory bird speices

• diet composed primarily of oysters and other bivalves (capable of eating crabs)

Grabowski 2004

• mud crabs use vertical space for refuge from toadfish 

• wave buffering and substrate providing habitat 

Lenihan 1999

• infaunal substrate on oysters (worms, isopods, etc..) 

• structures wave flow, substrate, and refuge for all organisms in the habitat 

Power et al. 1996

• keystone should be used within the context of the environment

• keystone species have a disproportionate imapct relative to biomass

• response and evolution of the keystone debate by Mills et al. 1993

• names L. littorea and N. lapillus as keystone

Mills et al. 1993 

• keystone should not be used 

• did not include biomass

• different roles of keystone

• keystone predator definition

  • modulates biodiversity through consumption

  • absence releases grazers from competition or predation

Menge 1976

• wave exposure and mussel/barnacle cover

• at high wave exposure N. lapillus takes more time to feed because of dislodgement risk 

• smaller size at high wave exposure 

• increased metabolic cost of food and attatchment for mobile predators at high wave exposures

Lubcheno and Menge 1978

• M. edulis at exposed areas, less S. balanoides (loose competition) and less algae 

• predator exclusions and competition between algae species create communitiy sturcture in the intertidal 

• these communities vary based on wave exposure 

• L. littorea correlated inversely with epipytic green algae

•  populations of mobile predators and grazers are reduced due to increased risk of dislodgement from wave work at high wave exposed areas

• higher sessile organism densities at high wave exposures (Mytilus edulis and Semibalanus balanoides)

• higher populations of crabs and mobiles at low wave exposures (Cancer spp.)

Nisbet et al. 2000

• dynamic energy budgets

• context and life stage based analysis

• trade off between growth and reproduction

• changing food and resource density in complex environments (capture the impacts of variability on an ecosystem energy budget)

• formula with k and k-1

• body plan development vs metabolic energy cost of surviving with high drag forces

Sanford et al. 1994

• barnacles systematically change from active to passive suspension feeding based on food and flow environment

• in high nutrient areas barnacles can switch to active (high maintenance high reward)

Neu et al. 2025

• increased food in leads to increased digestion and maintenance costs for crab species (Carcinus maenas) 

Jian and McGaw 2022

• Starved crabs have more metabolic costs than regularly fed crabs 

• Cancer irroratus

Wendin et al. 2024

• sunbleached algae has less usable protein content due to photosynthetic apparatus degradation 

Watson and Norton 1985

• littorina littorea food preference 

• green ulva then fucoids then calcaerous (increased digestion cost) 

Brown et al. 2004

• temperature impact on kinetics (increased temp = increased metabolic activity) 

Newell and Pye 1974 

• metabolic rate increased with increased temperature due to enzymatic activity 

Lillebjerka et al. 2023

• increased temperature results in snails reaching developmental maturity faster and can trigger early spawning events due to temperature changes

Connell 1978

• IDH (intermediate disturbance)

• nonequilbirum model of climax communities

• succession and colonization-competition framework

Fox 2013a

• IDH should be abandoned

• empirically and theoretically incorrect

• box 1

• nonadditive and nonlinear dynamics

Sheil and Burslem 2013

• Focus on developing the IDH to better represent the world

• brings some validity to the IDH

• different perspective on foundational theories

Bertness 1992 

• Salt marsh succession after a disturbance 

• trait advantage and resource dyanmics (nonadditive and nonlinear) 

Bertness et al. 1999 

• Algal canopy ameliorates rocky intertidal conditions in the high intertidal

• reduces desiccation stress, refuge, substrate, etc…

• increases the consumption stress by L. littorea on algal recruits 

• Use in essay on barnacle recruitment with algal (A. nodosum) canopy

Beermann et al 2013

• net neutral effect of algal canopies on S. balanoides recruitment

• positive ameliorating affects at low tide

• negative whiplash affects at high tide 

• barnacles settle where barnacles are already present 

• used in question on S. balanoides recruitment essay 

Hurlbert 1984 

• pseudoreplication and experimental design 

• four facets: control, replication, randomization, and interspersion 

• Independent experimental units (usually site level) cannot be impacted by the same wave, slope, etc… 

• sources of confusion 

  • controlled for except for experimental error, demonic intrusion (uncontrollable) 

• nondemonc intrusion minimization 

Chamberlin 1965 

• multiple working hypotheses 

• paternal biases 

• nuance involved in methodology and data analysis 

• use in survey methods essay to back choices for different experimental questions; desiccation algae experiment (avoid these things); menge vs power (power advocates with chamberlin mores) 

• perspective and unbiased methodologies for research question 

Lessios 1996

• survey techniques and methods

• habitat delineation (urchin experiment- reduction in Diadema sp.), spatial heterogeneity

• random stratified sampling

• haphazard sampling

• sampling logistics subtidal, hard to see, waves, etc…

• used in essay on survey techniques

Bernard et al 2013

• Observer bias during fish surveys 

• double-observer approach to correctly gauge fish (disproportionate amount of rare fish sighted) 

• mathematical variation in the distance people can estimate underwater 

• volunteers and non-equivalent distributed skills etc.. 

• use in survey methods essay 

Menge and Sutherland 1987 

• environmental stress model 

• Species diversity should be less at moderate stress levels, as competitive factors take over

• use in the essay on survey techniques method and snail/fucus paper

Lubchenco 1980 

• algal zonation in the rocky intertidal 

• abiotic desiccation stress

• snails in the intertidal and where they live

• eating fucus juvenile 

• herbivory and competition

  • remove the lower and the upper will colonize the more  benign  

• use in essay on algal zonation, a nodosum removal,  fucus and snail placement

Bertness and Calloway 1994 

• positive community interactions 

• increasing physical stress = increasing positive community interactions 

• less physical stress = consumer interaction and competition 

• complicated by the Menge and Sutherland ESM (1987) 

• use in the A. nodosum removal

Bertness and Leonard 1997

• positive impacts of hummocking to buffer wave force 

• use in A. nodosum removal 

Jenkins et al. 2004

• removal of A. nodosum caused fucus growth in experimental plots 

• turf algae decreased because no ameliorating canopy (desiccation stress) 

• grazer increases as more juvenile algae begins to settle 

• use in A. nodosum, use in trophic interaction essay, use in fucus and snail essay

Connel 1961

• relocation of Cthalamtus stellaus to range of S. balanoides 

• C stellatus death from competition but can survive there 

• use in A nodosum essay 

Bertness 1991

• salt marsh transplantation experiment 

• transplant S. patens (sporoblus pumila) to S. alterniflorus and Distichlis spiticata. 

• Reverse relationship to rocky intertidal 

• similar mechanisms 

• use in A. nodosum essay 

Schonbeck and Norton 1978

• tolerance of higher brown algae to desiccation and temperature 

• uppermost limits of algae tested by neap tide with drought conditions 

• F. spiralis, Asco, and F. distichus 

Veenhof et al 2022

• gametophytes of Ecklonia radiata experience grazer pressure

• gametophytes can also remain in a vegetative state for up to 7 months on the benthos despite herbivore activity

• filmanetous forms rather than turf are more grazed upon

• use in hetermorphic essay

Silva et al 2022

• gameotphyte form trigged to do reproduction/change generations upon temperature conditions 

• gametophyte forms of Laminaria digitata can survive under less light and colder temperatures than bladed sporophyte 

• winter vs summer reproductive conditions 

• use in heteromoprhic essay 

Delebecq et al 2015 

• L digitata gametophytes experiences more tolerance to desication and temperature stress 

• good at short-term heat stress 

• use in hetermorphic essay 

Bessho and Iwasa 2009

• mathematical model of benefits of hetermorphic vs isomorphic alternation of generations 

• isomorphic life-history strategies are better suited to long-lived, slow growth strateiges in constant climates  in Ulva pertusa (equivalent generation length)

• often herbivore protected growth 

• sporophyte forms for short-lived, maximum productivity 

• use in hetermorphic essay 

Couciero et al 2015

• Ectocarpus crouaniorum and siliciousus are isomoprhic but adapting the niche differentiation techniques 

• the excpetion to the rule

• adapted like hetermorphy to differential selective pressure 

• use in hetermorphy essay 

Power 1992

• bottom-up primary for trophic regulation

• primary productivity underlies most trophic cascade and top-down trophic modelling

• nuance must be incorporated into arugment, bring in combination of bottom-up and top-down but ultimately is bottom-up

• spatiotemporal variety, disturbances, feedback predator-prey interactions/behaviors

• use in last essay

• plants and primary producers have primacy in determining ecosystem structure

• ominvory, predator movement, habitat delineation as problems

• n+1

Menge 1992

• top-down experimental removal/exclusion experiment

• explains site result differences with bottom-up theory (not evidence) 

• attempts to bring the top-down and bottom-up concepts together

• weaker and more dilute argument 

• use in last essay

Paine 1966

• pisaster ochraceous starfish removed from rocky intertidal

• trophic cascade (mussels everywhere)

• support for top-down trophic regulation

• use in last essay (sparingly)

• keystone concept

Ellis et al. 2007

• top down control of the rocky intertidal by gulls 

• gull exclusion led to crab increase and their prey crab decrease 

• snail not significant 

• plant productivity not impacted 

• top-down trophic cascade

• < 2 (almost 3)  trophic levels down

• gulls also migratory

• mesopredators decrease in population

Cole et al. 2011 

• pelagic nutrients in the GOM and NS pelagic waters impact barnacles recruitment 

• low nutrients = low recruitment of S. balanoides 

• high nutrients = high recruitment of S. balanoides 

Wells et al. 2023

• snail gradients in the rocky intertidal

• L. saxatilis pushed by comp with littorea and crab predation, edures hardship 

• L. littorea, generalists (tolerates dessication less than saxatilis) 

• L. obtusata, fucoid specalists, uses cryptic mimicry 

• use in fucus and snail experiment 

Koehl 1982

• ecohydraulics

• short, thin, parallel, and flexible = reduces drag and lift force

• rigid bodies experiences lots of force

• tall fluffy anemone in low vs short, green anemone in high

• morphologies that cause higher or lower drag force 

• bluff body in protected area can cause more stress than slim body in high wave exposure area 

Carrington 2002

• seasonal changes in byssal thread strength of M. edulis corresponding to wave strength

• adhesion strength

• decreased gonad size when stronger threads represents energy partitioning

Cheng and DeMont 1996

• Placoplecten magellanicus water propulsion movement based on clamping movement of adductor muscle

• lift force depends on timing and water flow around scallop, additive relationship between fluid force and muscles

Denny 2000

• Limpets used maximized tenacity in addition to the ecohydraulic form to attach to the substrate

Trussel 1997

• L. obtusata displays larger foot sizes at high wave exposures

Ahlefeld and Benavides unpublished

• L. littorea has a larger relative foot size at higher weighted fetch

Johnson 2001

• collective drafting of Chondrus crispus

• edges of canopy experiences more drag than the middle

• taller = more shear force

• Algal canopies increase sedimentation due to a reduction in erosion from reduced wave force

• buffering capacity and creation of the flow microenvironment

Boller and Carrington 2006

• C. crisupus alters shape and size to reduce drag forces

• bluff bodied adaptation

Jones et al. 1994

• ecosystem engineer defintion

• organisms that physically change and modulate resource quantities though presence in an ecosystem

• do not become the resource themselves

Smith et al. 2016

• sea urchin ecosystem engineer on the West Coast

• kelp overgrazing results in the production of urchin barrens, devoid of biodiversity and primary productivity

Estes et al. 1978

• sea otters are a keystone organism

• consume sea urchins, stopping overgrazing of kelp

• immense biodiversity through indirect trophic interaction

Bertness 1984

• L. littorea ecosystem engineer

• scraping of sediment

• The absence of L. littorea results in increased sedimentation and rhizomes

• lack of snails leds to increased ephemeral algae and infaunal organisms

• decreased success of rocky substrate organisms (calcerous aglae)

• labels for L.littorea

Morello and Etter 2017

• N. lapillus is a keystone predator in the rocky intertidal

• complicated by wave exposure and population densities

• short-term fluctuations in N. lapillus removal resulted only in short term ecosystem fluctuations and long term return 

Meysick et al. 2022

• eelgras modulates the sediment dynamics and wave force of meadows

• stabilize sediment and reduce erosion

• increased infaunal organisms (L. bathica)

Hovel et al. 2016

• density of eelgrass meadows impacts predator behavior but not success

• juvenile giant kelpfish different hunting behaviors in different density meadows

Hasegawa et al. 2007

• dissolved organic nitrogen/phosphorus modification by eelgrass, taken up by roots

• seasonally variable uptake based on if the eelgrass is building canopy or losing biomass in the fall

• source vs sink interaction with nutrient

• governs benthic and overall nutrient flux in the system

Peller et al. 2021

• metacommunity interaction

• seagrass meados transport resources to at least five different ecosystems (soft, hard, other eelgrass, etc…)

Prazukin et al. 2022

• diatoms are positioned in vertical space on eelgrass according to PAR levels

• productivity of all epipihytic diatoms ranges between 20-80% of productivity of eelgras biomass

• fuels trophic interaction

Williamson and Fitter 1996

• the tens rule (1 in 10 imported —> introduced, 1 in 10 introduced —> established, 1 in 10 establied —> pests )

• 5-20% in actuality

Catford et al. 2009

• PAB (H) propagule pressure, abiotic, and biotic factors influence by human interaction fuel introduction and establishment

• disperal major factor

Venkatarman et al. 2025

• C. maenas exhibits extensive range and thermal tolerance due to extreme phenotypic plasticity

Tan and Beal 2015

• C. maeanas has dispersed into soft-sediment ecosystems and preys on juvenile Mya arenaria

Smith et al. preprint 2025

• blue crabs eat green crabs

• green crab management implications

Lubchenco 1978

• L. littorea is a keystone species

• governs distribution of ephermal algae in the intertidal

Carman et al. 2007

• Didemnum vexillum invasive managment plan using biological control of L. littorea

• destroys fishing equipment and docks with biofouling

• attatches to bivalve shells and filters out nutrients

Ordonez et al 2015

• D. vexillum reproductive regime increases in strength in cold months before spring gamete dispersal

• wide thermal range of the tunicate

• self-sustaining population in Europe/mediterranean