Browsing by Author "King, Nathan G."

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    Multiscale Spatial Variability and Stability in the Structure and Diversity of Bacterial Communities Associated with the Kelp Eisenia cokeri in Peru
    (2023) King, Nathan G.; Uribe, Roberto; Moore, Pippa J.; Earp, Hannah S.; Gouraguine, Adam; Hinostroza, Diego; Perez-Matus, Alejandro; Smith, Kathryn; Smale, Dan A.
    Ecological communities are structured by a range of processes that operate over a range of spatial scales. While our understanding of such biodiversity patterns in macro-communities is well studied, our understanding at the microbial level is still lacking. Bacteria can be free living or associated with host eukaryotes, forming part of a wider "microbiome," which is fundamental for host performance and health. For habitat forming foundation-species, host-bacteria relationships likely play disproportionate roles in mediating processes for the wider ecosystem. Here, we describe host-bacteria communities across multiple spatial scales (i.e., from 10s of m to 100s of km) in the understudied kelp, Eisenia cokeri, in Peru. We found that E. cokeri supports a distinct bacterial community compared to the surrounding seawater, but the structure of these communities varied markedly at the regional (similar to 480 km), site (1-10 km), and individual (10s of m) scale. The marked regional-scale differences we observed may be driven by a range of processes, including temperature, upwelling intensity, or regional connectivity patterns. However, despite this variability, we observed consistency in the form of a persistent core community at the genus level. Here, the genera Arenicella, Blastopirellula, Granulosicoccus, and Litorimonas were found in >80% of samples and comprised similar to 53% of total sample abundance. These genera have been documented within bacterial communities associated with kelps and other seaweed species from around the world and may be important for host function and wider ecosystem health in general.
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    Spatiotemporal variability in the structure and diversity of understory faunal assemblages associated with the kelp Eisenia cokeri (Laminariales) in Peru
    (2024) Uribe, Roberto A.; Smale, Dan A.; Morales, Robinson; Aleman, Solange; Atoche-Suclupe, Dennis; Burrows, Michael T.; Earp, Hannah S.; Hinostroza, Juan Diego; King, Nathan G.; Perea, Angel; Perez-Matus, Alejandro; Smith, Kathryn; Moore, Pippa J.
    Kelp species function as foundation organisms in coastal marine ecosystems, where they alter environmental conditions and promote local biodiversity by providing complex biogenic habitat for an array of associated organisms. The structure and functioning of kelp forest ecosystems in some regions, such as along the Peruvian coastline, remain critically understudied. We quantified the structure and diversity of faunal assemblages within both holdfast and understory reef habitats within Eisenia cokeri forests. We sampled both habitat types within four subtidal kelp forests on multiple occasions between 2016 and 2020, and quantified fauna at a fine taxonomic level (mostly species). We recorded a total of similar to 55,000 individuals representing 183 taxa across the study, with holdfast assemblages typically exhibiting higher richness, abundance and biomass values compared with understory reef-associated assemblages. Holdfast assemblages were structurally and functionally dissimilar to those on reef surfaces and were less variable and consistent across sites and sampling events. Even so, assemblages associated with both habitat types varied significantly between sites and sampling events, with variation in upwelling strength, ocean currents, and grazing pressure among potential drivers of this ecological variability. Overall, E. cokeri supports diverse and abundant holdfast assemblages and functions as a foundation organism in Peru. Given that no other habitat-forming kelp species persist at the low latitudes of E. cokeri in mid-to-north Peru, the lack of functional redundancy suggests that effective management and conservation of this species is vital for wider ecosystem processes and biodiversity maintenance.