Can a Single Species Challenge Paradigms of Salt Marsh Functioning?

ALBERTI J.; DALEO, P.; FANJUL, E.; ESCAPA, M.; BOTTO, F.; IRIBARNE, O.

ESTUARIES AND COASTS

SPRINGER

Año: 2015 vol. 38 p. 1178 - 1188

1559-2723

Over the history of ecology, well-established generalizationswere refined or even changed after the appearanceor consideration of new evidence. Here, we review resultsobtained in Southwestern Atlantic salt marshes (betweensouthern Brazil −32° 1′ S- and the Argentinean Patagonia−53° 48′ S-). Most of these salt marshes are inhabited by theintertidal burrowing crab Neohelice granulata, a species thatinfluences many ecological processes through bioturbationand herbivory. The experimental evaluation of these processesshows that in some cases, the results were not consistent withgeneralizations and models of salt marsh ecological functioning.However, this does not imply that the generalizationsgrounded mainly on the results from North American sites are not valid. In turn, we suggest that these apparently conflicting results emerged because two major processes, herbivory and bioturbation, have been overlooked until recently. Thus, their relative contribution has not been included in the models of salt marsh functioning. In conclusion, we believe that there is a need for performing parallel and simultaneous experiments comparing distant sites with varying environmental (i.e., abiotic and biotic) conditions to be able to uncover common processes and causes of contingencies. Particularly, Southwestern Atlantic salt marshes could lead the way in providing information to better incorporate herbivory and bioturbation into current models or paradigms about how salt marshes work.