Bored to Death: Community-Wide Effect of Predation on a Foundation Species in a Low-Disturbance Arctic Subtidal System.

ABSTRACT: The strength of top-down control by consumers is predicted to decrease with latitude, but most data confirming this assumption come from latitudes <60°, while empirical studies of predation in sub-arctic and arctic marine habitats are few. A barnacle Balanus crenatus is a native foundation species in the shallow subtidal of the White Sea (65° N), hosting a diverse (250+ species) assemblage of macrobenthic organisms. On mixed sediments live barnacles share primary substrates (shells and gravel) with numerous empty barnacle tests, 7% of which had drill holes of an unidentified origin. We manipulated the densities of (i) adult muricid whelks Boreotrophon clathratus (of previously unknown feeding habits), to check if they prey on barnacles, (ii) other predators to reveal their effect on juveni

SUBMITTER: Yakovis E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4506121 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature