Community dynamics and ecosystem simplification in a high-CO2 ocean.

ABSTRACT: Disturbances are natural features of ecosystems that promote variability in the community and ultimately maintain diversity. Although it is recognized that global change will affect environmental disturbance regimes, our understanding of the community dynamics governing ecosystem recovery and the maintenance of functional diversity in future scenarios is very limited. Here, we use one of the few ecosystems naturally exposed to future scenarios of environmental change to examine disturbance and recovery dynamics. We examine the recovery patterns of marine species from a physical disturbance across different acidification regimes caused by volcanic CO2 vents. Plots of shallow rocky reef were cleared of all species in areas of ambient, low, and extreme low pH that correspond to near-future an

SUBMITTER: Kroeker KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3732985 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature