Reduction and recovery of keystone predation pressure after disease-related mass mortality.

ABSTRACT: Disturbances such as disease can reshape communities through interruption of ecological interactions. Changes to population demographics alter how effectively a species performs its ecological role. While a population may recover in density, this may not translate to recovery of ecological function. In 2013, a sea star wasting syndrome outbreak caused mass mortality of the keystone predator Pisaster ochraceus on the North American Pacific coast. We analyzed sea star counts, biomass, size distributions, and recruitment from long-term intertidal monitoring sites from San Diego to Alaska to assess regional trends in sea star recovery following the outbreak. Recruitment, an indicator of population recovery, has been spatially patchy and varied within and among regions of the coast. Desp

SUBMITTER: Moritsch MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5916292 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature