Spatial and Temporal Variability in Processes Regulating Estuarine Fouling Communities - Livestream

Estuarine invertebrates experience high interannual variability in abiotic conditions. Additionally, estuaries are hotspots for biological invasions, and increased stress-tolerance among introduced species could change invertebrate species interactions. Using sessile invertebrates, I investigated how processes influencing communities change spatially and temporally in Tomales Bay, CA. Over the summers of 2018 - 2020, I conducted experiments to determine how effects of predators differ inside seagrass, across the estuarine gradient, and over multiple years. I found that the introduction of non-native predators and prey to this system resulted in different outcomes than what is predicted by ecological theory, and effects of predators are not consistent across habitats, the estuarine gradient, or even at the same site over multiple years. While the complexity of these results makes it difficult to predict what will happen to future estuarine communities, climate change will continue to squeeze estuarine ecosystems, favoring non-native species and altering estuarine food webs.

Speaker: Ben Rubinoff, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

See weblink for Zoom registration