Plant-animal trophic relationships In the <i>Posidonia oceanica</i> ecosystem of the Mediterranean Sea: a review
-
- V Zupo
- Laboratorio di Ecologia del Benthos, Stazione Zoologica ‘Anton Dohrn’ di Napoli, Ischia, Napoli, Italy
説明
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>In the Mediterranean Sea, beds of the endemic phanerogam Posidonia oceanica, characterized by both high subsurface and high photosynthetic biomass, form one of the most productive systems of the basin. The biomass values can exceed those of other phanerogams and the plant shows distinct partitioning, often mainly directed into the lignified rhizomes, which can account for up to 90 per cent of total biomass. Leafborne algal flora can at times contribute up to 30 per cent of overall production. Part of the energy produced by the plant is exported to adjacent systems through leaf detritus, but the major part is stored by the plant and recycled within the system. Because of some intrinsic features of P. oceanica living tissue few direct herbivores, apparently relatively unselective or generalist feeders (such as echinoids, isopods or the fish Sarpa salpa), have been found. Yet ‘herbivores’ and ‘herbivores-deposit feeders’ constitute the dominant feeding categories among the animal communities of the leaf stratum.</jats:p>
収録刊行物
-
- Plant-Animal Interactions in the Marine Benthos
-
Plant-Animal Interactions in the Marine Benthos 165-188, 1992-03-26
Oxford University PressOxford