Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem

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Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem. / Broman, Elias; Raymond, Caroline; Sommer, Christian et al.
In: Molecular Ecology, Vol. 28, No. 16, 08.2019, p. 3813-3829.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

HarvardHarvard

Broman, E, Raymond, C, Sommer, C, Gunnarsson, JS, Creer, S & Nascimento, FJA 2019, 'Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem', Molecular Ecology, vol. 28, no. 16, pp. 3813-3829. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15179

APA

Broman, E., Raymond, C., Sommer, C., Gunnarsson, J. S., Creer, S., & Nascimento, F. J. A. (2019). Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem. Molecular Ecology, 28(16), 3813-3829. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15179

CBE

Broman E, Raymond C, Sommer C, Gunnarsson JS, Creer S, Nascimento FJA. 2019. Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem. Molecular Ecology. 28(16):3813-3829. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15179

MLA

VancouverVancouver

Broman E, Raymond C, Sommer C, Gunnarsson JS, Creer S, Nascimento FJA. Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem. Molecular Ecology. 2019 Aug;28(16):3813-3829. Epub 2019 Jul 22. doi: 10.1111/mec.15179

Author

Broman, Elias ; Raymond, Caroline ; Sommer, Christian et al. / Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem. In: Molecular Ecology. 2019 ; Vol. 28, No. 16. pp. 3813-3829.

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem

AU - Broman, Elias

AU - Raymond, Caroline

AU - Sommer, Christian

AU - Gunnarsson, Jonas S.

AU - Creer, Simon

AU - Nascimento, Francisco J. A.

N1 - © 2019 The Authors. Molecular Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2019/8

Y1 - 2019/8

N2 - Coastal benthic biodiversity is under increased pressure from climate change, eutrophication, hypoxia, and changes in salinity due to increase in river runoff. The Baltic Sea is a large brackish system characterized by steep environmental gradients that experiences all of the mentioned stressors. As such it provides an ideal model system for studying the impact of on-going and future climate change on biodiversity and function of benthic ecosystems. Meiofauna (animals < 1 mm) are abundant in sediment and are still largely unexplored even though they are known to regulate organic matter degradation and nutrient cycling. In this study, benthic meiofaunal community structure was analysed along a salinity gradient in the Baltic Sea proper using high-throughput sequencing. Our results demonstrate that areas with higher salinity have a higher biodiversity, and salinity is probably the main driver influencing meiofauna diversity and community composition. Furthermore, in the more diverse and saline environments a larger amount of nematode genera classified as predators prevailed, and meiofauna-macrofauna associations were more prominent. These findings show that in the Baltic Sea, a decrease in salinity resulting from accelerated climate change will probably lead to decreased benthic biodiversity, and cause profound changes in benthic communities, with potential consequences for ecosystem stability, functions and services.

AB - Coastal benthic biodiversity is under increased pressure from climate change, eutrophication, hypoxia, and changes in salinity due to increase in river runoff. The Baltic Sea is a large brackish system characterized by steep environmental gradients that experiences all of the mentioned stressors. As such it provides an ideal model system for studying the impact of on-going and future climate change on biodiversity and function of benthic ecosystems. Meiofauna (animals < 1 mm) are abundant in sediment and are still largely unexplored even though they are known to regulate organic matter degradation and nutrient cycling. In this study, benthic meiofaunal community structure was analysed along a salinity gradient in the Baltic Sea proper using high-throughput sequencing. Our results demonstrate that areas with higher salinity have a higher biodiversity, and salinity is probably the main driver influencing meiofauna diversity and community composition. Furthermore, in the more diverse and saline environments a larger amount of nematode genera classified as predators prevailed, and meiofauna-macrofauna associations were more prominent. These findings show that in the Baltic Sea, a decrease in salinity resulting from accelerated climate change will probably lead to decreased benthic biodiversity, and cause profound changes in benthic communities, with potential consequences for ecosystem stability, functions and services.

U2 - 10.1111/mec.15179

DO - 10.1111/mec.15179

M3 - Article

C2 - 31332853

VL - 28

SP - 3813

EP - 3829

JO - Molecular Ecology

JF - Molecular Ecology

SN - 0962-1083

IS - 16

ER -