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Full-Text Articles in Oceanography
Sponges Structure Water-Column Characteristics In Shallow Tropical Coastal Ecosystems, Marla M. Valentine, Mark J. Butler Iv
Sponges Structure Water-Column Characteristics In Shallow Tropical Coastal Ecosystems, Marla M. Valentine, Mark J. Butler Iv
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Sponges can have powerful effects on ecosystem processes in shallow tropical marine ecosystems. They drive benthic-pelagic coupling by filtering dissolved and particulate organic matter from the water column, alter water chemistry in association with their symbiotic microorganisms, and increase habitat structural complexity. Anthropogenic degradation of coastal waters is widespread and can reduce the density and diversity of foundation species such as sponges, potentially diminishing their contributions to ecosystem processes. We used a novel mesocosm design that minimized artifacts associated with traditional single-species and closed-system filtration experiments to examine the effects of water turnover and sponge biomass on water-column properties. Using …