Feeding trials: Effects of diversity in feeding trials, conducted at Bodgea Marine Laboratory, using detritus from eelgrass (Zostera marina) genotypes (clones) as a food source and either one or a combination of invertebrate grazers

Abstract

Seagrass meadows are among the world's most productive ecosystems, and as in many other systems, genetic diversity is correlated with increased production. However, only a small fraction of seagrass production is directly consumed, and instead much of the secondary production is fueled by the detrital food web. Here, we study how plant genotype influences detrital consumption. We used three common mesograzers—an amphipod, Ampithoe lacertosa, an isopod, Idotea resecata, and a polychaete, Platynereis bicanaliculata. Each grazer consumed eelgrass detritus at rates greater than live eelgrass or macroalgae. This detrital consumption, however, was not spread evenly over leaves shed from different eelgrass clones. Palatability and consumption varied because of genotype specific differences in leaf texture, secondary metabolites (phenolics), and nutritional quality (nitrogen). Further, detritus derived from some eelgrass genotypes was palatable to all grazers, while detritus from other genotypes was preferentially consumed by only one grazer species. These data are illustrated in figures 2 and 3 of Reynolds et al., 2017 (DOI:10.1111/oik.04471).

For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/714942