IIMYC   23581
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES MARINAS Y COSTERAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Can a Single Species Challenge Paradigms of Salt Marsh Functioning?
Autor/es:
JUAN ALBERTI; PEDRO DALEO; EUGENIA FANJUL; MAURICIO ESCAPA; FLORENCIA BOTTO; OSCAR IRIBARNE
Revista:
ESTUARIES AND COASTS
Editorial:
SPRINGER
Referencias:
Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2014 vol. 38 p. 1178 - 1188
ISSN:
1559-2723
Resumen:
Over the history of ecology, well-established generalizations were refined or even changed after the appearance or consideration of new evidence. Here, we review results obtained in Southwestern Atlantic salt marshes (between southern Brazil −32° 1′ S- and the Argentinean Patagonia −53° 48′ S-). Most of these salt marshes are inhabited by the intertidal burrowing crab Neohelice granulata, a species that influences many ecological processes through bioturbation and herbivory. The experimental evaluation of these processes shows that in some cases, the results were not consistent with generalizations and models of salt marsh ecological functioning.However, this does not imply that the generalizations grounded 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 uncovercommon 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.