Genetic connectivity in sandy beach macroinfauna with contrasting life histories and zonation patterns
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, Karien
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Fishes -- Genetics , Seashore ecology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45944 , vital:39380
- Description: Open-ocean sandy beaches are highly dynamic ecosystems that continuously respond to waves, tides and storms. These beaches support a suite of uniquely adapted fauna that exhibits a high degree of endemism. This diversity, which also includes some economically important resource species, contributes to the great socio-economic and ecological value of sandy beach systems, which provide ecosystem services such as nutrient recycling and water purification, fish nursery habitat (surf zone), and natural buffering against storms. Despite their broad global distribution comprising ~70 % of the world’s ice-free coastline, beaches are naturally fragmented by other intertidal marine habitats and extensive coastal development. Sea-level rise is now threatening beaches, particularly along developed coasts through coastal squeeze, with an increased risk of habitat loss and exacerbated fragmentation. Such habitat loss has important implications for population and species persistence, depending on the level of connectivity among populations. While sandy beach macroinfauna tend to be highly mobile across and along shore, they also show a strong bias towards direct, or aplanktonic, development; the latter could reduce opportunities for dispersal and sustained population connectivity. However, comparatively little is known about population connectivity on sandy beaches, limiting scientifically sound management of much of the world’s coastline. This study aims to address this knowledge gap by working towards a conceptual model quantifying population connectivity, and by investigating the specific roles of life history, across-shore zonation, and geographic range as putative indicators and possibly drivers of genetic differentiation (ΦST) and connectivity (gene flow) among beach macroinvertebrate populations. The main hypotheses are that 1) species with a pelagic larval stage will display lower genetic differentiation with higher rates of gene flow among populations than species with a benthic lecithotrophic larval stage or direct development; and 2) genetic differentiation among populations will decrease along an across-shore axis, from the supratidal to the low water mark. Two opposing hypotheses were tested concerning the relationship between genetic structure and distributional range: 3a) Species with a large range (measured as distance and number of latitudes) will show less genetic differentiation than those with a narrow range, because they are more able to disperse; or 3b) more widely distributed species may occur across more phylogenetic | v breaks, and thus show higher genetic differentiation than species restricted to a smaller ranges and single biogeographic provinces. First, the extent and likely drivers of population connectivity were investigated for a suite of temperate South African macroinfauna. Very low, non-significant genetic differentiation was demonstrated for the beach clam Donax serra, thus supporting the hypothesis that pelagic larval dispersers display low/no genetic differentiation among populations (Chapter 2). Statistical power of the COI locus was, however, low in this species, due to reduced genetic variability which could be attributed to an expansion from a small source population into extant habitats. The results highlighted the need for caution when interpreting a lack of genetic differentiation as evidence for population connectivity. Nevertheless, COI sequences verified that D. serra occupying the cool and warm-temperate regions of the South African coast, constitute a single species, despite morphological and behavioural differences between inhabitants of these two bioregions. D. sordidus, a congener of D. serra, and endemic to the warm-temperate (Agulhas) bioregion of South Africa, was investigated to test two opposing hypotheses (Chapter 3): 1) this pelagic larval disperser lack genetic differentiation with high rates of gene flow across its range, or alternatively 2) these clams are genetically structured across their range due to the influence of freshwater input (measured as distance to nearest estuary), and morphodynamics of the surf zone (represented by surf-zone width). Significant global ΦST was estimated for D. sordidus, with differentiation predominantly driven by haplotype frequencies at a single study site and estimates of gene flow among most sample locations generally high. Tentative evidence suggested that natural selection driven by differences in water salinity due to estuarine runoff and surf-zone width, might be maintaining two dominant haplotypes across the range of this species. Beach clams from the Southern Hemisphere, occupying different distributional ranges, were compared to test the hypothesis that genetic structure decreases with an increase in range. This hypothesis was poorly supported by the results; opposite (yet mostly non-significant) trends demonstrated for ΦST and haplotype diversity, thus providing some support for the alternative hypothesis that more phylogeographic breaks in broad-ranging species results in higher estimates of genetic structure in these species.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Sandy beach food webs and trophic linkages with estuaries: a stable light isotope approach
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, Karien
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Stable isotopes in ecological research -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Food chains (Ecology) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10694 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1269 , Stable isotopes in ecological research -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Food chains (Ecology) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Two pocket sandy beaches, Eastern Cape, South Africa, were investigated, to determine whether these beaches were subsidised by an adjacent mangrove estuary, by using stable light isotope (δ 13C and δ 15N) analyses. The trophodynamics and macrofaunal food webs of these two beaches, situated between the Mgazi and Mgazana estuaries (in a warm-temperate/subtropical transition zone,), were described. Two to 2.5 trophic levels were identified for the macrobenthic community, with suspension feeders and omnivorous scavengers as the primary consumers, and carnivores as the secondary consumers. Mangrove material and terrigenous inputs were not driving the sandy beach food webs. Instead, marine allochthonous inputs (carrion, macroalgae), possibly phytoplankton, sediment organic matter, and resident macroinfauna were the dominant food sources. Cattle dung could have been the only important terrigenous food source utilised by the beach benthos. The macroinfauna displayed generalist/omnivorous feeding strategies, but within the limits of predominantly marine food sources. There was evidence that carnivores actively preyed on resident beach fauna. Omnivory and intraguild feeding might also be important biological processes in these communities. Seasonal and spatial variability in stable isotope composition of the fauna was observed, but few patterns were evident. There was a general trend of more enriched δ 15N and δ 13C composition of animal tissues in summer as opposed to winter. This was accompanied by a general decrease in C:N ratios in summer. It was hypothesised that these isotopic and biochemical changes were in response to increased food availability during summer. Although mangrove material appeared not to play an important role in the nutrition of these sandy beach communities, it was suggested that a high retention time of particles in the bay could enhance bacterial decay of particulate mangrove material, which could then act as fine, bacterial-enriched particulate food to the macrobenthos. This remains to be tested.
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- Date Issued: 2010