Since the discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in 1977, chemosynthesis-based ecosystems have been found in a wide range of habitats, such as hydrocarbon seeps, coastal sediments and terrestrial caves. Several invertebrates found in dark ecosystems harbor chemosynthetic bacteria (epibionts) on the ...
On these cays, subtidal prop roots of mangroves at water's edge often extend 1—2 m below lowest low water before anchoring in the substrate and host a community of algal and invertebrate epibionts dominated by massive sponges. Live sponges transplanted onto otherwise bare roots increased root ...
environmental variability4,5. Classic mutualism is found in the associations between ants and plants6in which ants are generally attracted by specific plant structures (e.g., food bodies, extrafloral nectaries, or shelter) and provide important indirect defence against herbivory, pathogens, or intrusi...
Belinda the surprisingly busy sea sponge takes a whole day to sneeze • Jan. 9, 2025, 1:45 AM ET (CBC) The Porifera often grow on or near other organisms, sometimes killing those they cover; the sessile (attached) barnacle Balanus balanoides, for example, may be killed in this way....
Droughts are increasing in severity and frequency, yet the mechanisms that strengthen ecosystem resilience to this stress remain poorly understood. Here, we test whether positive interactions in the form of a mutualism between mussels and dominant cordgr
FOCUS ON MUCOSAL MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS Shifting the balance: antibiotic effects on host–microbiota mutualism Benjamin P. Willing*§, Shannon L. Russell*‡§ and B. Brett Finlay*‡ Abstract | Antibiotics have been used effectively as a means to treat bacterial infections in humans and ...
Understanding the effects of species diversity on ecosystem function in the legume–rhizobia mutualism is inherently complicated by the differing definitions, or species concepts, that are commonly used for organisms on either end of the partnership (Box 1). While traditional species concepts are employ...