Figure S1
Table S1: Methods for rapid ecosystem function assessment in marine systems (see also Figure S1).
Ecosystem function / Target variable / Field method / Description / Lab / Time-effort / RefPrimaryproducers
Recruitment / Sessileorganismal recruitment (rate) / Settlement plates / Individualsadhering to plate counted/biomass weighed after standardized duration / Y / L-H, depending on organisms / [13,14]
Aboveground biomass production / Macroalgal density / Ring counts / Shoot density counted within standardized area / N / L / [15,16]
Microalgal abundance / Chlorophyll concentration / Algae collected and pigments extracted, absorbences converted to biomass estimates / Y / M / [16,17]
Macroalgal growth / Hole-punch / Growth calculated from elongation of fixed points / N / M / [16]
Macroalgal/macrophyte biomass / Direct harvest / Material directed harvested, dried and weighed / Y / L/H / [18]
Belowground biomass production / Root biomass / Corers / Core inserted and belowground material sorted and weighed / Y / L-H, depending on habitat / [18]
Decomposers
Decomposition / Organic material break-down / Tea bag assay / Mass loss in standardized mesh bag / N / M / [19]
Elemental cycling / Elemental concentrations / Sensor probes / Sondes deployed to measure elemental concentrations (e.g., O2, pH) / N / L / [20]
Concentrations of chemical compounds / Spectrophotometry / Water samples subjected to spectrophotometry to convert absorbances to dissolved chemical concentrations / Y / M/H / [21]
Sediment organic matter / Sediment plugs / Identify sediment carbon through combustion / Y / L / [22]
Chemical fluxes / Incubations / Fluxes measured from sediment cores kept in controlled chambers / Y / H / [23]
Recruitment / Fouling organismal recruitment (rates) / Settlement plates / Organisms adhering to plate counted/biomass weighed / Y / L-H, depending on organisms / [13,14]
Consumers
Recruitment / Sessile/fouling/mobile organismal recruitment / Artificial habitat units / Individualscolonizing bare substrate counted/biomass weighed after standardized duration / Y / L-H, depending on organisms / [24]
Photophilic mobile organism activity / Light traps / Individuals migrate to lighted traps and captured / N / M / [25]
Sessile/fouling organismal recruitment (rates) / Settlement plates / Individualsadhering to plate counted/biomass weighed after standardized duration / Y / L-H, depending on organisms / [13,14]
Predation / Prey removal / Tethers / Prey tethered and loss recorded after standardized duration / N / M / [11,26]
Prey reduction / Exclusion / Predators excluded via direct removal or through physical cages / N / H / [27,28]
Biomass production / Mobile organism abundance / Net / trap samples / Individuals trapped using nets or baited traps / N/Y* / M/H, depending on gear deployed / [29]
(Small) mobile organismal abundance / Suction samples / Individuals collected using vacuum machine / Y / M / [30]
Mobile organismal abundance / Anesthetism / Individuals stunned using anesthetic (e.g., clove oil, rotenone) / N/Y* / M / [31,32]
Sessile/mobile organismal abundance / Observation / video / Individuals abundance/length recorded via visual census or video recording / Y / M/H, depending on duration and water clarity / [33]
Herbivory / Herbivory rates / Tethers / Plant material tethered and loss recorded after standardized duration / N / M / [34]
Plant biomass reduction / Exclusion / Herbivores excluded through physical cages or chemical deterrent (e.g., copper paint, carbaryl) / N / H / [34-37]
Granivory / Seed removal / Seed boards / Seeds pinned to board and loss recorded after standardized duration / N / M / [38]
Notes:Lab refers to whether this is an additional post-processing or analysis that must occur in the laboratory. This does not include preparation, construction, calibration, or any other work to take place before sampling. Time-effort refers to the amount of time and effort needed to conduct and extract data from the sample, from deployment to laboratory post-processing (not including time left alone for the process under investigation to occur). L = low (≤ 15 min), M = medium (≤ 1 h), H = high (>1 hour).
*Depending on whether specimens are retained
Bibliography
11Duffy, J.E. et al. (2015) Squidpops: A simple tool to crowdsource a global map of marine predation intensity. PLoS One 10, e0142994
13 Sutherland, J.P. (1974) Multiple Stable Points in Natural Communities. Am. Nat. 108, 859–873
14 Osman, R.W. and Whitlatch, R.B. (2004) The control of the development of a marine benthic community by predation on recruits. J. Exp. Mar. Bio. Ecol. 311, 117–145
15 Orth, R.J. and Moore, K.A. (1986) Season and year-to-year variations in the growth of Zostera marina L. (eelgrass) in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Aquat. Bot. 24, 335–341
16 Short, F.T. and Coles, R.G. (2001) Global seagrass research methods, Elsevier Science B.V.
17 Jeffrey, S.W. and Humphrey, G.F. (1975) New spectrophotometric equations for determining chlorophylls a, b, c1 and c2 in higher plants, algae and natural phytoplankton. Biochem Physiol Pflanz BPP
18 Bertness, M.D. and Ellison, A.M. (1987) Determinants of pattern in a New England salt marsh plant community. Ecol. Monogr. 57, 129–147
19 Keuskamp, J. a. et al. (2013) Tea Bag Index: a novel approach to collect uniform decomposition data across ecosystems. Methods Ecol. Evol. 4, 1070–1075
20 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1986) 150.1, 360.1. In Quality criteria for water pp. 150.1, 360.1
21 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1986) 353.2, 350.1. In Quality criteria for water
22 Middelburg, J.J. et al. (1993) Organic matter mineralization in marine systems. Glob. Planet. Change 8, 47–58
23 Miller-Way, T. et al. (1994) Sediment Oxygen-Consumption and Benthic Nutrient Fluxes on the louisiana continental shel: A Methodological Comparison. Estuaries 17, 809–815
24Edgar, G.J. (1991) Artificial algae as habitats for mobile epifauna: factors affecting colonization in a Japanese Sargassum bed. Hydrobiologia 226, 111–118
25 Doherty, P.J. (1987) Light-Traps: selective but useful devices for quantifying the distributions and abundances of larval fishes. Bull. Mar. Sci. 42, 423-431.
26Aronson, R.B. and Heck, K.L. (1995) Tethering experiments and hypothesis testing in ecology. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 121, 307–310
27 Paine, R.T. (1966) Food web complexity and species diversity. Am. Nat. 100, 65–75
28 Hall, S.J. et al. (1990) Predator-Caging Experiment in Marien Systems: A reexamination of their value. Am. Nat. 136, 526–543
29 Serafy, J.E. et al. (1988) Quantitative sampling of small fishes in dense vegetation : Design and field testing of portable “pop-nets.” J. Appl. Ichthyol. 4, 149–157
30Orth, R.J. and van Montfrans, J. (1987) Ultilization of a seagrass meadow and tidal marsh creek by blue crabs Callinectes sapidus. I. Seasonal and annual variations in abundance with emphasis on post-settlement juveniles. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 41, 283–294
31 Robertson, D.R. and Smith-Vaniz, W.F. (2008) Rotenone: An essential but demonized tool for assessing marine fish diversity. Bioscience 58, 165–170
32Griffiths, S. P. (2000). The use of clove oil as an anaesthetic and method for sampling intertidal rockpool fishes. J. Fish Biol. 57, 1453—1464
33 Edgar, G.J. and Stuart-Smith, R.D. (2014) Systematic global assessment of reef fish communities by the Reef Life Survey program. Sci. Data 1, 1–8
34 Hay, M.E. (1981) Herbivory, Algal Distribution, and the Maintenance of Between-Habitat Diversity on a Tropical Fringing Reef. Am. Nat. 118, 520-545
35 Silliman, B.R. and Bertness, M.D. (2002) A trophic cascade regulates salt marsh primary production. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99, 10500–10505
36 Carpenter, R.C. (1986) Partitioning Herbivory and Its Effects on Coral Reef Algal Communities. Ecol. Monogr. 56, 345–364
37Range, P. et al. (2008) Field experiments with “cageless” methods to manipulate grazing gastropods on intertidal rocky shores. J. Exp. Mar. Bio. Ecol. 365, 23–30
38Manley, S.R. et al. (2015) The roles of dispersal and predation in determining the seedling recruitment patterns in a foundational marine angiosperm. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 533, 109–120