Search

Many ecosystems are greatly affected by ecosystem engineering, such as coastal salt marshes, where macrophytes trap sediment by reducing hydrodynamic energy. Nevertheless, little is known about the costs and benefits that are imposed on engineering species by the traits that underlie their ecosystem engineering capacity. We addressed this topic by comparing ecosystem engineering efficiency defined as the benefit--cost ratio per unit of biomass investment for two species from the intertidal habitat: the stiff grass Spartina anglica and the flexible grass Puccinellia maritima. These species were selected for their ability to modify their habitat by trapping large quantities of sediment despite their contrasting growth form. On a biomass basis, dissipation of hydrodynamic energy from waves (a proxy for benefits associated with ecosystem engineering capability as it relates to the sediment trapping capability) was strikingly similar for both salt marsh species, indicating that both species are equally effective in modifying their habitat. The drag forces per unit biomass (a proxy for costs associated with ecosystem engineering ability as it relates to the requirements on tissue construction and shoot anchoring to prevent breaking and/or washing away) were slightly higher in the species with flexible shoots. As a result, stiff Spartina vegetation had slightly higher ecosystem engineering efficiency, due to lower engineering costs rather than to a higher engineering effect. Thus, Spartina is a slightly more efficient rather than a more effective ecosystem engineer. Ecosystem engineering efficiency was found to be a species-specific characteristic, independent of vegetation density and relatively constant in space. Analyzing ecosystem engineering by quantifying trade-offs offers a useful way toward developing a better understanding of different engineering strategies. Key words: drag; extended phenotype; niche construction; sediment accretion; trade-offs; waves.

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2008.16892.x Byline: T. J. Bouma, M. Friedrichs, B. K. van Wesenbeeck, S. Temmerman, G. Graf, P. M. J. Herman Abstract: Spartina anglica is an autogenic ecosystem engineer. At a local (within-vegetation) scale, it improves plant growth by enhancing sediment accretion through attenuation of hydrodynamic energy with its shoots. This constitutes a short-range positive feedback. The vegetation also shows a long-distance negative feedback through formation of erosion troughs around the tussock, which are restricting lateral expansion. There is a growing recognition of the important role of such scale-dependent feedbacks for landscape structuring and ecosystem stability. By a series of flume studies, we provide direct experimental evidence that 1) both the local positive and the long-distance negative feedback are strongly density-dependent with clear thresholds, and 2) that both feedbacks are inherently linked via their density dependence, partly as the result of conservation laws. The observed thresholds occurred at vegetation densities commonly found in the field. We demonstrate that threshold densities are affected by external hydrodynamic forcing for the long-distance negative feedback. We expect the same to be true for the local positive feedback (sediment accretion), so that under mild hydrodynamic forcing, this local positive feedback may occur in the absence of a long-distance negative feedback (formation of erosion troughs). The density dependence of nearby positive and the long-distance negative feedback and how external conditions affect the linkage of both feedbacks are important factors shaping the vegetated salt-marsh landscape. Article History: Manuscript Accepted 28 July 2008 Article note: T. J. Bouma (t.bouma@nioo.knaw.nl), B. K. van Wesenbeeck and P. M. J. Herman, Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology, Netherlands Inst. of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), PO Box 140, NL-4400 AC, the Netherlands. - M. Friedrichs and G. Graf, Inst. for Biological Sciences-Marine Biology, Univ. of Rostock, Albert Einstein street 3, DE-18051 Rostock, Germany. - S. Temmerman, Dept of Biology, Univ. Antwerpen, Universiteitsplein 1, BE-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.

Vegetation is traditionally regarded to reduce the erosion of channels in both fluvial and tidal landscapes. We present a coupled hydrodynamic, morphodynamic, and plant growth model that simulates plant colonization and channel formation on an initially bare, flat substrate, and apply this model to a tidal landscape. The simulated landscape evolution is compared with aerial photos. Our results show that reduction of erosion by vegetation is only the local, on-site effect operating within static vegetation. Dynamic vegetation patches, which can expand or shrink, have a contrasting larger scale, off-site effect: they obstruct the flow, leading to flow concentration and channel erosion between laterally expanding vegetation patches. In contrast with traditional insights, our findings imply that in tidal landscapes, which are colonized by denser vegetation, channels are formed with a higher channel drainage density. Hence this study demonstrates that feedbacks between vegetation, flow, and landform have an important control on landscape evolution. Keywords: salt marsh, tidal creek, gully erosion, biogeomorphology.

Biologically mediated modifications of the abiotic environment, also called ecosystem engineering, can significantly affect a broad range of ecosystems. Nevertheless, remarkably little work has focused on the costs and benefits that ecosystem engineers obtain from traits that underlie their ecosystem engineering capacity. We addressed this topic by comparing two autogenic engineers, which vary in the degree in which they affect their abiotic environment via their physical structure. That is, we compared two plant species from the intertidal coastal zone (Spartina anglica and Zostera noltii), whose shoots are exposed to similar currents and waves, but differ in the extent that they modify their environment via reduction of hydrodynamic energy. Our results indicate that there can be trade-offs related to the traits that underlies autogenic ecosystem engineering capacity. Dissipation of hydrodynamic forces from waves was roughly a factor of three higher in vegetation with stiff leaves compared to those with flexible leaves. Drag was highest and most sensitive to hydrodynamic forces in stiff vegetation that does not bend with the flow. Thus, shoot stiffness determines both the capacity to reduce hydrodynamic energy (i.e., proxy for ecosystem engineering capacity) and the drag that needs to be resisted (i.e., proxy for associated costs). Our study underlines the importance of insight in the trade-offs involved in ecosystem engineering as a first step toward understanding the adaptive nature of ecosystem engineering. Key words: autogenic ecosystem engineers: current velocity; drag; extended phenotype; niche construction; sediment accretion; Spartina anglica; trade-offs; waves; Zostera noltii.