Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are keystone predators that consume a variety of benthic invertebrates, including the intertidal mussel, Mytilus californianus. By virtue of their competitive dominance, large size, and longevity, M. californianus are ecosystem engineers that form structurally complex beds that provide habitat for diverse invertebrate communities. We investigated whether otters affec...

Abstract The northern Adriatic Sea (NAS) hosts numerous biogenic subtidal reefs that are considered biodiversity hotspots. Several studies have already investigated the origin and of these reefs. However, many them still unexplored further knowledge is needed for their conservation. Here, spatial variability, epibenthic community structure, environmental features characterize habitats were inve...

Through their tissues or activities, engineer species create, modify, or maintain habitats and alter the distribution and abundance of many plants and animals. This study investigates key ecological functions performed by an engineer species that colonizes coastal ecosystems. The gregarious tubiculous amphipod Haploops nirae is used as a biological model. According to previous studies, the habi...

Global warming can affect all levels of biological complexity, though we currently understand least about its potential impact on communities and ecosystems. At the ecosystem level, warming has the capacity to alter the structure of communities and the rates of key ecosystem processes they mediate. Here we assessed the effects of a 4°C rise in temperature on the size structure and taxonomic com...

Baseline surveys form the cornerstone of coastal impact studies where altered conditions, for example through new infrastructure development, are assessed against a temporal reference state. They are snapshots taken before construction. Due to scarcity of relevant data prior to baseline surveys long-term trends can often not be taken into account. Particularly in heavily modified waterbodies th...

1. Changes in benthic invertebrate community structure following 16 years of forest succession after logging were examined by estimating benthic invertebrate abundance, biomass and secondary production in streams draining a forested reference and a recovering clear-cut catchment. Benthic invertebrate abundance was three times higher, and invertebrate biomass and production were two times higher...

A benthic-pelagic mesocosm experiment was performed to study how the benthic macrofaunal community responds to a eutrophication gradient. The novel experimental setup allowed the induction of an eutrophication gradient in the water column and the detailed documentation of the response of the benthos in terms of biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Nine mesocosms were deployed in the facilities...

a r t i c l e i n f o The trophic structure of the German Bight soft-bottom benthic community was evaluated for potential changes after cessation of bottom trawling. Species were collected with van-Veen grabs and beam trawls. Trophic position (i.e. nitrogen stable isotope ratios, δ 15 N) and energy flow (i.e. species metabolism approximated by body mass scaled abundance) of dominant species wer...