The role of facilitation and mutualisms in structuring marine communities

Clams in soft-sediment provide a hard surface for algae.

Clams in soft-sediment provide a hard surface for algae.

A large focus for our Lab is understanding how positive interactions promote biodiversity and vital ecosystem functions, and how environmental stress affects these processes. We’re ultimately interested in how we can use positive species interactions to build resilience into coastal ecosystems as they become more stressed.

Research by us and colleagues is providing new insights into how habitat-formers promote other habitat-formers via facilitation cascades and how these cascades can be utilised in the development of conservation and management practices for biodiversity.

Relevant publications

Ravaglioli C; Langeneck J; Capocchi A; Castelli A; Fontanini D; Gribben PE; Bulleri F, 2020, 'Positive cascading effects of epiphytes enhance the persistence of a habitat‐forming macroalga and the biodiversity of the associated invertebrate community under increasing stress', Journal of Ecology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13539

Lanham BS; Poore AGB; Gribben PE, 2020, 'Facilitation cascades create a predation refuge for biodiversity in a novel connected habitat', Ecosphere, vol. 11, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3053

Gribben PE, C Angelini, AH Altieri, MJ Bishop, MS Thomsen and F Bulleri. 2019. ‘Facilitation cascades in marine ecosystems: a synthesis and future directions’, in Oceanography and Marine Biology An Annual Review, Volume 57, CRC Press, pp. 95 - 136, https://tandfbis.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/rt-files/docs/Open+Access+Chapters/9780429026379_oachapter3.pdf

Thomsen MS, AH Altieri, C Angelini, MJ Bishop, PE Gribben, G Lear, DR Schiel, BR Silliman, PM South, DM Watson, T Wernberg, G Zotz. 2018. ‘Secondary Foundation Species Enhance Biodiversity’. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 2.